Light

Daniel McColl in the gloaming last week,
Sept. 9, Week 3 of the football season.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

Light is a wondrous thing.

"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

One of the ways I track light as a photographer is noticing how much light there is and where it's coming from at sports events.

Last week, early in La Jolla's home football game against Country Day, I was caught off guard by the sun shining right at me on the home (east) sideline.

I had been busy getting pregame comments and checking on the roster for the visiting Torreys, and assorted other things.

Then, as the national anthem was to be played (it didn't work--after several aborted tries, the home fans starting singing it a cappella), I hustled to face the Viking players to get some great face shots as they observed the flag.

Suddenly, the opening kick was over and I was shooting the first offensive series. The sun, though descending over the visitors stands on the east side of the field, was blasting straight at me!

That is not a good position for shooting good, clear action shots.

I decided to go with it, instead of packing up my stuff and running around the end of the field to the other sideline to shoot photos.

It would only be for a while.

I also thought, photos taken into the sun do have a quality of their own and can be quite dramatic.

Look at the one of Daniel McColl carrying the ball above: The light is a golden glow. Daniel is silhouetted as he rushes forward into the Country Day defense.

Not bad for art. But posting it on my website, I didn't take to it. Sitting alongside clear action photos taken later in the game (without the gloaming look), it just wasn't an action shot that was easy to see.

Thinking ahead to tonight's game, again at home, I realize I will probably have a little less sun at the start of the game against Coronado. One more week has passed. It's September 16. We're starting to lose that abundance of sun that we had when we were in the full flow of Daylight Saving Time (no "s" in "Saving").

By October, it's going to be colder out on the gridiron. And games will start, and end, with the sun completely down. By then, I will miss the light we do have--at least at the start of games--in the early part of the schedule.

Week 4: That means how many weekly games we are into the football schedule. It's also a way to measure light.