Travel/Photo Blog: Denver Double OT Divisional Game

TRAVEL/PHOTO BLOG: DENVER DOUBLE OT DIVISIONAL GAME 
By Andy Lopusnak, AndysPictures.com
January 9-13, 2013

Wow! What a game in the Mile High City. In my over 200 NFL games with CBS Sports, this was without a doubt one of the best if not the greatest. More on fourth longest game in NFL playoff history later.  

The last time I was in Denver, Kyle Orton was the QB and rookie Tim Tebow scored his first NFL touchdown on a running play with the Broncos losing 24-20 to the New York Jets in October of 2010. Things have changed a lot since that game to say the least for the Broncos, Jets, Orton and Tebow.  

Like last year’s divisional playoff game when I photographed various players from Baltimore and Houston in a studio setting, I was tasked with doing the same for this game. I arrived in Denver Wednesday night for a Thursday morning shoot with the Broncos.

BRONCOS PHOTO SHOOT

I photographed seven Broncos players: running back Knowshon Moreno, linebackers Von Miller & Wesley Woodyard, receivers Eric Decker & Demaryius Thomas and tightends Joel Dreessen & Jacob Tamme. Sadly, I was unable to get Peyton Manning and Champ Bailey because of scheduling conflicts.

This shoot was my first exclusively using my three speedlites instead of the constant lights mixed with my on-camera 580 EX flash. I dabbled with a mix of the constants and two flashes for the shoot with Temple last week. I must say that the look is just stunning with the stark white high-key background. In the past, I’d need to go into Photoshop and brighten the background to mimic the high-key look. This time, it was perfect straight from the camera.

XMAS LIGHTS STILL ON

After the shoot, I went back to the hotel to download the images. When it was close to sunset, I walked down to the City and County Building, which is directly across from the state capital. This horseshoe-shaped building is lit up with various colors for the holidays and at 6pm was treated to a light show. Here’s a video I took of the show. If I had known that the show was going to be like this I would have brought my 50mm f/1.4.

TIME LAPSE: CITY AND COUNTY BUILDING LIGHTS

After the light show, I took over a 100 shots of the building and compiled them into this time lapse.

RAVENS PHOTO SHOOT

CBS used my shots from last year’s divisional round with a mix of new shots. Last year, the background was black, so it was modified to “look” like a white background in Photoshop. Baltimore provided three players: QB Joe Flacco, defensive back Bernard Pollard and defensive lineman Paul Kruger. The Ravens arrived in Denver late Friday and the trio were still in their suits when I had them in front of my lens. Here's my best shot from the ravens shoot.

RAVENS 38, BRONCOS 35 (2 OT)

Denver returner Trindon Holliday recorded the greatest return game in league playoff history. He opened the game’s scoring on a 90-yard punt return for a score and added a 104-yard kickoff return for another touchdown to open the second half. Both rank as the longest in NFL playoff history as do his 248 combined return yards.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw three touchdowns, but turned it over three times that led to 17 points for the Ravens, including the 47-yard field goal by rookie kicker Justin Tucker in double overtime. Manning is 0-3 all-time in playoff overtime games and 0-4 in postseason games when the kickoff temperature was under 40 degrees (it was 13 degrees).  

Baltimore QB Joe Flacco tossed three long touchdown strikes (59, 32 and 70) and a personal playoff-best 331 yards. He hit a wide-open Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard score with 31 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The game was just the sixth game ever to go into double overtime and ranks as the fourth longest.

This was a rematch of the December 16 game in Baltimore that I covered with the Broncos winning 34-17. It also marks my fourth straight divisional playoff game that featured the Ravens. Baltimore lost the first two (at Indy and at Pittsburgh) and now have won its last two (vs. Houston and at Denver).

TIME LAPSE: IN THE TRUCK ABOVE MY VIEW

I’ve done numerous time lapses inside the TV trucks. So to mix it up, I placed it directly above me to give you an aerial view of what I do during the game. The new GoPro Hero 3 with the double battery allegedly has a five-hour life, but thus far in the two times I’ve used it, it’s not even close to five. This time, it lasted two hours and 55 minutes with a total of 1068 images (one every ten seconds).

I did another time lapse at the low 50-yard line where CBS has its video cameras. However, the below freezing conditions killed the five-hour double battery in two hours. It took 145 total images on a two full batteries (one every 30 seconds) and didn’t even last until kickoff.

TIME LAPSE: CORNER VIEW

I was a little scared to put the Canon 40D out in below freezing weather for so long. Unlike the crappy battery life of my two GoPros, the 40D lasted the entire game. It took 894 images (one every 26 seconds) for six hours and 43 minutes until I got it after the game.

UP NEXT: KANSAS AT TEXAS

Nearly a year to the day, I was in Austin for the Kansas-Texas game and will be back in the Lone Star capital for the same contest. I got some great shots of Austin last year and hope to add more this time. Click here to view my day and night Austin galleries.

BEST OF THE BLOG

Here’s a selection of my best shots from this weekend in Denver.