Flipping Great

Being one of the select San Antonio wedding photographers, I always have a fine time photographing sporting events… as was the case here.
So, the girls’ game didn’t end as expected. Despite having easily defeated this team with our home court advantage, that just wouldn’t be the case when we entered their house. The opponent’s coach reminded me A LOT of Tennessee’s head basketball coach, Pat Summit. They looked alike, and sounded alike, and evidently, coached their girls to play alike. There was a lot of shoving, elbowing, and reaching that apparently you just couldn’t see unless you were watching the games from the visiting side. The refs just wouldn’t give us the calls we would have liked.

The boys’ basketball game was also a good one! We scored. They scored. We scored. They scored. We’d foul. They hit two free throws. They’d foul. We hit two free throws. One of the guards popped a three. And so on. The game was like that all four periods long, back and forth–a pretty evenly matched game.

In between all the fouling and scoring, there was a bit of a back-and-forth with the teams’ fans. The home team’s cheerleaders seemed to be encouraging this. It was a bit of a contest to see who could get louder. One of the refs must not have minded the separate competition because he would very discreetly let our fans know who was winning the chanting contest. The home team’s cheerleaders would get out on the court between periods and during time-outs, and two would proceed to throw about three or four back hand springs in a row. One of them would slow so much toward the last back hand spring, that it looked as if she just might be in slow action. (I must admit that even in slow motion, she was going a lot faster than I could. One attempt at a back hand spring would probably break my neck.) I did start to have a bad taste in my mouth when someone from the other side started to boo us. Finally, with a little urging from her fellow teammates, one of our cheerleaders got onto the hardwood, jeans and all, and did about eight back hand springs of her own. (Frankly, I lost count after three. It could have been 17 for all I know.) The referee passed and let us know that we won that round, and our side was now up by one.

So, the real game continues into the fourth quarter, and for the last few minutes it appears that it just might end in overtime. (Last week’s game was a triple over-timer.) When suddenly, we scored a basket or two that the opponent just couldn’t answer to. When the final buzzer sounded, we had won. We were up by four points and I hoped one of the boys would do some sort of celebration–tasteful and sportsmanlike, of course.

As the two teams met at center court and shook hands and offered each other the “good game” handshake, I studied the players to see which one would celebrate. I finally picked out two possibilities. By some stroke of luck, I focused on number 30. I hit the jackpot. As he was returning to the visiting bench, he offered up this little standing back tuck just to make things FINAL. We won. We won the basketball game, we won the chanting competition, and we won the tumbling contest. The crowd went wild!

(Pictures are worth 1,000 words. I was very fortunate to be able to capture this picture. Okay, maybe the games didn’t happen exactly as I stated, but the depiction above was a little more exciting. The bottom line is you always have to be prepared for the unexpected. This is something I’ve been trying to get better at the last few months–what happens after the great play. Another 20,000 frames and I might have it down.)

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I am a San Antonio-based wedding and senior photographer who started Ata-Girl Photography Co., LLC in 2010. As one of the up-and-coming San Antonio wedding photographers, I am also available to shoot in Austin, Houston and Dallas and the surrounding areas. I am also available for destination weddings worldwide. Ata-Girl Photography Co. offers an amazing wedding photography service that you won’t soon forget.  As professional photographer, my sole purpose is to provide you the absolute best photography experience.

I am a professional photographer who enjoys documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. When I’m not photographing a wedding, family or high school senior, I enjoy watching my daughter play softball, hiking, cycling, reading, and listening to Elvis!

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