Greetings and salutations all, I hope this finds everyone well thus far this week. I've been all right since the end of July, when my regular work started back up again. And things have been challenging yet great. A recent highlight was on Saturday, Sept. 3 when I covered the Advocare Kickoff Classic at NRG Stadium between the University of Houston and the Oklahoma Sooners. It was one of the more exhilarating college football games I've ever covered, especially in terms of atmosphere as both teams battled in front of a sellout crowd of over 71,000 fans. The highly anticipated matchup more than lived up to the hype as #15-ranked Houston took advantage of two third quarter turnovers to pull away from #3-ranked Oklahoma, 33-23. It was a great game in all respects, and I took full advantage, getting many viable images from the game.

Strangely enough, it wasn't until I got home and unpacked that I realized the date, September 3rd. It was on this date five years earlier that I covered the NCAA football game between Houston and UCLA. And the similarities between the two days were pretty eerie: Houston was playing at home in front of a raucous crowd against a higher-ranked opponent and traditional powerhouse, and the Cougars would emerge victorious in both games. (UH defeated the UCLA Bruins, 38-34.) Pretty strange, eh? But there was also personal significance to that date as well.

Sept. 3, 2011 was the first NCAA football game I covered after a nearly two-year exile from shooting professional and college athletics. (Thanks to unfortunate circumstances and my own professional naievete, I didn't shoot any major professional or college athletics between Nov. 2009-Mar. 2011, and certainly no upper-level football during that time.) While I was "out of it", I lost faith that I could make it back to that place, professionally, and was unsure at to what to do with my business and even my life. But I kept at it and took advantage of various opportunities, eventually making it back on the sidelines for Houston Cougar football in 2011.

While I've hit other heights since then and continue to strive to bigger and better things, it was amazing to look back on where I was five years ago and see how far I've come, how far I've grown and what I've survived. Granted I’m still not where I ultimately hope to be, but goddamnit I’m glad I’m not where I once was. I guess if there's a point of this diatribe, it's that never stop working and fighting to achieve your dreams, and don't let anyone tell you they're worthless or not meritorious of your full devotion.

(taken during the UH-UCLA game on Sept. 3, 2011)

(taken during the UH-Oklahoma game on Sept. 3, 2016)

Well, with another diatribe concluded, I hope everyone has a good week and rest of September. Thanks for your time, and until next time, fare thee well.

All images copyright 2011-16 Erik Williams

Greetings and salutations, I hope this finds everyone well. I duely apologize for no entries whatsoever since October of last year, but life kept getting in the way and with 1-2 exceptions, there wasn’t anything ultra special to write about, professionally. Well there was the AFC Wild Card Playoff game in January between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs, but we won’t mention that game for obvious reasons. And I won’t mention the plethora of storms that have ravaged Houston the last eight weeks. Frankly, that horror speaks for itself as well and many thoughts and prayers to all those affected.

Anyways, this year has been a mélange of experiences and emotions thus far, and while I’ve been working less in comparison to this time last year, I’ve been able to put more of myself into my assignments. Two weeks ago, I reprised my coverage of the Southland Conference Baseball Championships at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. Once again, it was a daunting task shooting nearly a dozen baseball games in four days, but it was even more daunting this year thanks to a massive rainstorm that disrupted play on May 27, forcing the tournament to be extended a day.

While it was an unexpected inconvenience, playing the championship game on Sunday proved to be a memorable affair as Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana squared off in “The Dream Final”. I was hoping for a great matchup between the tournament’s top two seeds, and the game did NOT disappoint. After giving up a grand slam early, the Sam Houston Bearkats fought their way back into the game, scratching out seven unanswered runs enroute to a 7-4 victory. The win clinched the Bearkats the Southland tournament title (pairing it with the regular-season title) and a berth in the ongoing NCAA baseball tournament. (Also, Southeastern qualified for the NCAAs as well, securing at at-large bid.) Anyways, I don’t know what it was about the championship game, but I got into a real zone shooting and I captured some pretty good shots all along the way. Maybe it was an adrenaline rush or the oppressive heat and humidity, but I was pleasantly surprised by the images from the showdown.

Well, not much else to say. With summer here, things will be pretty quiet until August when things resume in earnest again. Always keep working hard to achieve your dreams, damn all who get in your way or don’t support you. Thank you for your attention and until next time, Fare Thee Well.

P.S. Many thanks to Diana Porter, Hardy Meredith, Angel “Rick” Leal and the communications staff of the Southland Conference for either helping me or putting up with me between May 24 and 29. It was all VERY much appreciated!

All images copyright 2016 Erik Williams/Southland Conference Sports Information

Greetings and salutations, I hope this finds you all well, and I hope things are going well for everyone, as the year winds down. Things have been stop-start for me in the midst of football season, which is always the busiest time of the year for me. This past weekend, I covered Rice’s home game against the Army Black Knights. Shooting football is always fun, but not when the weather is inclement. And the weather this past Saturday was wet, or as I call it, two-of-every-animal-bad.

Between Friday night and Sunday night, the city of Houston (and all of Southeast Texas) was drenched from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia as perpetual bands of rain lashed all over town. And unfortunately, Rice Stadium was not spared from the deluge. As the game started, even as Rice jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the rain was showering the stadium, but it was as least tolerable. And yes, I took precautions beforehand, dressing for the precipitation and making sure my camera equipment was well-protected. Things held up until the start of the second half when the rain came down harder and harder. At some point in the third quarter, the sky just opened up and it started pouring hard, VERY HARD. The rain was so vicious that I could barely see the action on the field, let alone shoot it. And my main camera was nearly useless as water droplets completely covered the front element, making shooting very difficult. As the quarter progressed, I constantly dried off the front element to at least get shots in focus, but the driving rain made that difficult.

Oh yea, back to the game proper, Rice stretched their lead to 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but Army fought back to tie the slosh-fest with just two minutes and thirteen seconds left, right as the rain started to let up. On Rice’s subsequent possession, they drove 63 yards in 93 seconds, just as another strong line of storms passed over the stadium. Amidst the inappropriately placed heavy rain bands, Rice scored the game winning touchdown with 24 seconds left, winning the contest, 38-31. It was a great win for Rice, a truly memorably one, but it was simply the most miserably football game I’ve ever shot. I’ve shot games in extreme heat and cold and been reasonably fine, but never in rain that consistently fierce. And yes, every single part of my person and gear was completely soaked afterwards. But it was another memory created in a very long year, a year that has been a rollercoaster in many ways. Sometimes life involves doing things you don’t want to and doing things in VERY harrowing conditions. All you can do is push through and fight it out, even if you’re drenched into the stone age in the process.

Well, with all that said, thank you for your time and for reading my blog once again. I hope to have another entry online by mid-December if not sooner. Thank you for the support, and until next time, fare thee well.

All images copyright 2015 Erik Williams/Rice Sports Information