The USC Trojans haven’t exactly had the best season. Coming into the Pac-10 playoffs seeded 6th and with a 9-9 record, the Trojans were hardly considered for a berth in the NCAA playoffs. That is, until last night, when the Trojans upset the Bruins, the defending Pac-10 champions in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament.
The Trojans defied all stats and odds by never letting up their lead and holding the powerhouse Bruins to 27% from the field. Here are some photos from the game:
DeMar DeRozan with a massive dunk in the first half.
Alfred Aboya celebrates a three-pointer in the first half
Jrue Holiday, Taj Gibson, Nikola Dragovic fight for a rebound in the second half.
Darren Collison commits an offensive foul on Marcus Simmons in the second half.
Marcus Simmons, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Dragovic fight for a rebound in the second half.
Dwight Lewis and DeMar DeRozan celebrate DeRozan’s dunk in the second half.
Taj Gibson celebrates a three-pointer in the second half.
The UCLA bench sits dejected during a free throw late in the second half.
The Trojans face the Arizona State Sun Devils this afternoon in the Pac-10 Championships.
See more photos from the USC–UCLA game.
See the photos from the Washington–Arizona State game.
UPDATE: Defying all odds, the USC Trojans managed to rally back from a nearly-all-game deficit to defeat Arizona State and win the Pac-10 Championship. See photos from the championship game here.
A few weeks ago, I was assigned to photograph the USC men’s water polo team for a feature.
Because of the weather forecasting a severe storm, the coach and my editor both offered to reschedule, and most photographers probably would have done so. However, I figured shooting them in the rain would actually make more interesting pictures, so I stuck with the challenge and I think it worked out for the better (see all the photos here).
The three players I was shooting, Arjan Ligtenberg, Ryan Cummins, and Jovan Vranes, were surprisingly reluctant to stand out in the rain, and they surely weren’t willing to go into the pool. But after a couple of minutes and seeing the photos, they began to have fun with it.
Technical Notes:
To highlight water, or in this case, falling rain, you have to use sidelighting. So, I set up two flashes as rimlights behind the players both to light the rain and to create more dramatic highlighting that would outline the players. For my main light I had wanted to shoot through an umbrella to soften the light, but the high winds forced me to use direct light instead.
As for waterproofing the flashes and my wireless transmitters, I simply rubber-banded clear Ziplock bags over the tops of them. They’re still flashing, so I suppose the makeshift rain covers were effective.
Some favorite shots from USC basketball games taken over the past week:
Arizona State forward Jeff Pendergraph (4) takes a shot over USC’s Taj Gibson (22) during the first half of the USC Trojans’ 67-53 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Galen Center on February 2, 2008.
USC forward Davon Jefferson #5 makes a layup over Arizona’s Jordan Hill #43 in the second half of the Arizona Wildcats 80-69 victory over the USC Trojans at the Galen Center on January 31, 2008.
Oregon’s Nicole Canepa #54, defended by USC’s Hailey Dunham #3, lets out a yell as she drives toward the basket in the first half of USC’s 46-42 victory over the Oregon Ducks on January 26, 2008.
