Illinois beat Missouri at the Annual Braggin’ Rights Matchup in St. Louis on December 23 at the Scottrade Center. Here are my favorite shots:

Chester Frazier has developed into an amazing defender:

I-L-L…

The 1st of Mike Davis’ 2 dunks:

Coach Weber was very upset when several seconds passed before the officials gave him this TO.

Just a little reminder from Davis of who has won 9 straight Braggin’ Rights games.

Dunk #2!

An overview of the Scottrade Center from my spot on the floor:

I think Mike Tisdale took a charge here:

The “Floor General” as one of his tattoos states:

So this is a combined football and basketball post. First is the final Illinois home football game against Ohio State University.

Coming out of the tunnel:

Block “I”

Tackle by Brit Miller

Run by Jason Ford

Donsay Hardeman gets a talking to by Coach Zook

This was some sort of fake play, but I can’t remember exactly what happened! Anyway, the kicker (#84 Eller) was supposed to be in focus, but instead you see #36 Jared Bosch in focus as he’s running to block for the fake.

Now on to basketball. This was the first game I was able to shoot for Scout.com this year. The Illini took on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first regular game of the season.

Mike Davis defends

Demetri McCamey runs up the court with a ton of determination on his face

McCamey with a layup

View of the hall from between the basket and the bench

Mike Tisdale reaches for the tipoff ball

Chester Frazier brings the ball up the court

A portion of the jerseys being honored in the rafters this season

Trent Meacham prepares for a free throw

Team huddle

HBP got a piece of great news this morning when I found out that I am now the sole basketball shooter for InsideIllini.com. This is in addition to the football shooting I already do for them and it tells me that I’m doing a great job!

See the full article here: New InsideIllini.com

The Illini have not played well at home this year, but have played really well on the road, despite a loss to Penn State. So after an emotionally and gratifying win over bitter rival Michigan two weekends ago, the Illini slept in their own beds and played the Big Ten home opener at Memorial Stadium. The offense and defense were both dead in the first half, and despite a scoring surge in the 4th quarter, the Illini came up short 27-20. Here are some shots:

Brit Miller greets his fans prior to kickoff.

Ron Zook had a lot to scream about.

Rejus Benn

Former Illini Tim Brewster gives the ref a piece of his mind.

One of two 4th quarter touchdowns by freshman A.J. Jenkins:

Just shy of a TD on 1st down. The Illini couldn’t convert even on another close run by Juice Williams.

Who knew Dustin Jefferson could fly?

Doug Pilcher and Travon Bellamy

The other late TD by Jenkins was a very acrobatic catch.

This was my first time ever covering a media day. I was anxious about it because I didn’t know what to expect, but it was really laid-back and the players were in good spirits. Here are just a couple (and these are mostly for my grandma… not gonna lie!):

Team photo

Jeff Jordan… if you guess who his dad is, you’ll probably be right.

Memorial Stadium was buzzing on Saturday afternoon as fans awaited the much anticipated home opener game, the first look at stadium renovations, throwback uniforms/helmets, and the return of 47 famed football alumni. The Illini won the game 47-21 over the Eastern Illinois Panthers, and in the process racked up 399 yards of total rushing offense. QB Juice Williams had another career day as well, getting a school record 174 rushing yards. Next Saturday, the Illini take on Louisiana-Lafayette in Champaign.

Mikel LeShoure

Facemask anyone?

Chris Duvalt touchdown

Dick Butkus returned to Champaign for the Renaissance celebration

Daniel Dufrene catches the ball mid-air

Troy Pollard runs with the ball late in the 4th quarter

Vontae Davis brings a panther player down

I should have posted a larger version of this one so you could really see Juice’s face. I love his emotion and determination in this photo.

I’ve taken advantage of the winter photography lull to book some more weddings and to search for houses! Hopefully before wedding season starts up in May, I will be moved into my new house and have all the painting/repairs done!

Here’s a little of what I have been shooting though in the past 2 months…
I also shoot a little basketball occasionally when Scout’s regular basketball photographer isn’t available. So I got this cool shot of Chester Frazier:

And this one of freshman Demetri McCamey:

And you know, the same ol’ same ol’, shooting MICHAEL JORDAN:

Yeah, you don’t see that every day.
Here’s a pic of me on the floor with UI PA announcer Mike Cation:

Mike’s a good friend of mine, and I’m really happy that he got the job.
Lastly, hardly a week goes by that I don’t shoot at least one pic of my adorable nephew, Nevan. He turned 6 months old on 1/31, so we made him a birthday cake and he got his first taste of frosting:

That’s all for now! Thanks for looking!

On Saturday, October 27, the Fighting Illini took on Ball State at Memorial Stadium. The morning skies were very gloomy, but just before halftime the sun broke through, creating more options for us photographers!
Dere Hicks:

Touchdown Rashard Mendenhall:

J Leman with a big tackle:

Touchdown Rashard Mendenhall:

I’ve now shot 4 football games at the University of Illinois: vs. Missouri (in St. Louis), vs. Western Illinois, vs. Penn State, and vs. Wisconsin. The 2nd two were exciting games versus ranked opponents, and I got several photos of huge interceptions. There are three home games left, but this weekend, while the team is on the road in Iowa, I will be shooting a 450-guest wedding. I will write more next week after that!

A few of my favorite shots: