Photo/Travel Blog: Two capitals, two shoots and a hoops game

Photo/Travel Blog: I'll take two capitals, two shoots and a hoops game

By Andy Lopusnak, AndysPictures.com

January 4-6, 2013

Like every year, it's basketball time the NFL Wild Card weekend since my NFL crew is off this week. This year, I journeyed to Lawrence, Kansas for the Temple-Kansas men's basketball game. Unlike football, I don't take a lot of pregame shots since basketball players are in warmups and not in full pads like the football players. 

JAYHAWKS PHOTO SHOOT

After landing in Kansas City, I drove the 40 miles to Lawrence to do a photo shoot with the starting five Jayhawks. This is my second time doing portraits of the Jayhawks. My first was at the 2012 Final Four in New Orleans. Kansas advanced to the title game, but lost to Kentucky. Three of the five were ones I got last season. One of the new faces is redshirt freshman guard Ben McLemore, who NBAdraft.net currently has projected as the #2 pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Here's my favorite shot of McLemore, who tallied 13 points and five rebounds against Temple.

OWLS PHOTO SHOOT

Temple arrived in Lawrence late Saturday afternoon and I photographed four of the star players and got a team huddle shot with the five starters. Here's my favorite shot from the shoot of Scootie Randall.

KANSAS 69, TEMPLE 62

Temple took a lead midway through the second half, but went cold quickly and hitting just one field goal in a span of 20 possessions that let Kansas come back for its 30th straight home win over a non-conference victory. Kansas center Jeff Withey blocked nine shots to go along with eight points and 11 boards. 

In a losing effort, Temple guard Khalif Wyatt scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half.

TIME LAPSE: HIGH CORNER

I got a wide, mid-court time lapse last time I was here back in January of 2011. Click here to view.  So this time, I set up my Canon 40D in the high corner up by the rafters. An image was taken every 25 seconds.

TIME LAPSE: SETTING UP MY LIGHTS

I arrived at the Jayhawks photo shoot about an hour earlier than normal and decided to use the GoPro Hero 3 to record me setting up the lights. It took me about 30 minutes, but I sped up the video to make it look like a time-lapse video.

BACK TO TOPEKA

After the Jayhawks photo shoot, I drove half an hour to Kansas' state capital to re-shoot Topeka. Last time I was here in 2010, the day was bland and there was construction on the capital's dome. Sadly, it was still under construction, but I was there right as the sun was setting during the "magic hour" and nabbed this shot of it. I like the reflection on the bottom from melted snow.

LINCOLN BECOMES #37

After snapping Nebraska's state capital building, it made 37 of the 50 U.S. state capitals that I've photographed. Check them all out by clicking here. I'm super stoked that at the end of the month when I do the Maryland-Duke game that I'll add both Carolinas.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE BIG BOARD

Here's a look at the map of the United States with the state capitals I've photographed in pink. I need just 13 to complete the map. I'm hoping that this summer, the wife and I will be driving around the northern midwest on a photo/food tour for a week around our anniversary. Would love to shoot Mount Rushmore on the Fourth of July! If so, we would hit Iowa, both Dakota's, Montana and Idaho. Also, we've decided to hit Nevada's capital, Carson City, sometime separately in the summer for a weekend and hit Tahoe - it's a three-hour drive from Walnut Creek. If that happens along with the additions of both Carolinas later this month, I'd be up to 45. Those last five are going to be very tough.

XM TO THE RESCUE

I don't know how I could've driven the six+ hour roundtrip from Lawrence to Lincoln without the Sirius/XM Radio. Musical highlights included: Weird Al's "Amish Paradise," Jim Croce's "I've Got a Name," Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and E-40's "U & Dat."  

TWO STADIUMS WITH THE SAME NAME

I added the exteriors of the football stadiums for Kansas and Nebraska over the weekend. Each was locked and I'm sure the field was covered with snow. Both have the same name - Memorial Stadium. When you do a Google search for "memorial stadium," the one in Lawrence (built in 1921) comes up as the first item then the one in Lincoln (built in 1923). Both were dedicated for the residents of each state the died in World War I. 

UP NEXT: AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF AT DENVER

I end my 2012 NFL season with a playoff tilt between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos. Like last season, I will be doing photo shoots with both teams for the broadcast. This marks my fourth straight divisional playoff game with the Ravens: (2009 loss at Indy; 2010 loss at Pittsburgh; 2011 win vs Houston). 

BEST OF THE BLOG
Here's a selection of my top shots from this weekend.