Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb, center, finds a hole in the South Carolina defensive line, during their game in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick)

On Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, Flashnick Visuals owner and photographer, Brett Flashnick was on assignment for the Associated Press to cover the Auburn Tigers as they came to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. to face the No. 10 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, some of his thoughts and a gallery of his images are available after the jump.

Below are a few of my thoughts from the game, a gallery of 20 images and a list of gear used. If you’d like an actual recap of the game check out the article by my AP colleague Pete Iacobelli over at usatoday.com.

While going through my mental gear checklist before heading out to the field to cover the Auburn at South Carolina I checked in with my editor at the AP Sports Photo Desk in New York to make sure everything was set. At the end of our conversations he said “… One more thing, be prepared for an upset.”  Being a “neutral third-party” here to cover both teams I knew that was a real possibility, even though I always want to see the home team (especially one I grew up watching) do well.  With that in mind my game plan was to focus on South Carolina during the first quarter. Over the past four games, I knew that their offense had been struggling, and realized that if they were showing the same signs of weakness during the first quarter against Auburn, the defending BCS champions and a team they lost to twice last year (once during the regular season, and once for the SEC title game), I knew an upset was a real possibility even though this was a much younger, and less experienced team.

After a very long first quarter with South Carolina only up by 3, I made the decision to start focusing more heavily on Auburn.  This proved to be a good decision by the end of the first half Auburn led South Carolina 9-6. The Auburn defense had found a way to contain South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore and quarterback Stephen Garcia’s passing was everything except accurate. Auburn’s offensive line had started to wear down the Gamecock’s defense, and quarterback Barrett Trotter and running backs Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb were finding holes on almost every play.  I began to doubt this decision when Lattimore scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown during the third quarter, but a last minute, game-winning touchdown by tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen, erased those doubts.

Its always stressful for a game to be this close, especially coming down the the last minute and thirty seconds. But thankfully my editor had prepared me for this possibility and I listened. Even though all of my friends here in Columbia, S.C. left the stadium feeling dejection, I was able to walk out knowing I delivered the images AP needed to tell the story of this game.

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Gear Used

Cameras: Canon EOS 5D MKII & EOS 7D (both cameras with their respective battery grips)
Lenses: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS
Camera Support: (w/ 300mm f/2.8): Manfrotto 679B
Memory: Sandisk Extreme 8gb CF & Lexar Professional 8gb CF***
Computer/Software: Apple MacBook Pro, PhotoMechanic (workflow), Adobe Photoshop CS4 (color correction, cropping, etc.)

Error Message re: Corrupted Lexar Compact Flash card

***Ever since I got these cards I have been having issues with my SanDisk CF readers (both the FW800 and USB 2.0) reading the cards accurately.  When inserted the read indication light will flash rapidly indicating an inability to read.  Typically this can be resolved by removing, and re-inserting the CF card into the reader.  However during my ingest of photos at half-time the card from my 5DMK II was corrupted during this process.  I have tried running Image Rescue 4 on the card to recover images to no avail. I am planning to give Lexar a call this morning to see if they can advise on this issue, and help me figure out a way to recover the first-half images.  I will update with a post in the “Gear” section as soon as I have a definite answer.

I am completely humbled that I have been selected as the Columbia Regional Visitors Center ”Artist of the Month” for November 2010. Photographic prints will be on display and available for purchase throughout the entire month of November at the Visitors Center located inside the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (1101 Lincoln Street).

We are kicking things off with a happy hour drop-in on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010. Please join us for beer, wine and light hors d’oeuvres from 5:30-7:30pm at the Visitors Center in the Vista.

If you can’t make it to the happy hour, I will be at the Visitors Center all day, so feel free to stop by when you have a moment. These photographic prints make unique Christmas gifts. To help you get started with your holiday shopping all prints will be discounted 10-25% from 8:30am-7:30pm on the 4th.

The view from the dock at Charles house on Mosquito Creek, near Bennetts Point, SC.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend some time on the coast at one of my favorite places in the world, my friend Charles’ river house on Fenwick Island.  The best thing about Fenwick is that it is private, and with the exception of about 5 houses which are all owned by members of the Baldwin family, it is completely un-spoiled by the meddling of man.  Wild, un-touched, and completely cut off, this is the perfect place for me to get back in touch with my personal vision, explore, and have an adventure fishing off-shore, and have deep philosophical discussions with others much wiser than I.

The sun sets over Mosquito Creek on Fenwick Island, near Bennetts Point, SC.

Having the ability to create and share images like these, from places that most of the world will never see, and adventures that most will never have, has become one of the forces that drives my photography in recent months.  At one point in time, I had thought it was about just telling the stories of the people which inhabited these places, however, as I have seen so many places around me become over developed, mistreated, and forgotten my goals as a photographer have shifted.  With that thought, I have created the Coastal Print Collection over on my digital archive, and I invite everyeone to take a moment, and flip through the collection of images that are there already, and will be growing in the coming months.

Sunrise over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Prepping the boat for off-shore fishing, as the sun rises over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

A Palmetto and Live Oak trees draped with Spanish Moss are silhouetted by the first light in the sky, as the sun rises over Bennetts Point in Green Pond, SC, on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Finally, if you have a place that which is holds a special place in your heart, with natural beauty that may be in danger of disappearing all too soon, that you think I should visit, photograph, and spend some time exploring, let me know.  If I make my way there a signed print from what I find, could be on its way to you.

Lately I’ve been taking my job a little to seriously, and it is becoming something I do to have an income, instead of something I love to do. But then again lately I’ve been taking life a little to seriously. I suppose that is the curse of making something that you love to do your career. In some ways its inevitable to just take something lightly as you get older, because you begin to realize that you need to be able to make a car payment, rent, insurance, food, etc… But when you worry about all of that stuff you tend to forget why you really started doing this in the first place. Perhaps its just time to stop taking everything so seriously, and start having fun again. Maybe then things will just fall into place. Who knows how everything will work out in the long run, and if we did know that… what would be the fun in living life. Its time to get up off of the couch and go explore the world, have some fun, and see what happens. Its time to take the point and shoot out, like I did at the beach the other day, because its more about the journey than the resullts. In that moment when I wasn’t thinking about shutter speeds, f-stops, and iso, so I get to remember the sunrise, instead of how I photographed the sunrise. I think the line from the movie is “Don’t take life to seriously, you’ll never get out alive.”

Peace

Last night I got to shoot an event that I never thought I would see, my alma mater (WKU) taking on the University of South Carolina in the first round of the NIT. It was a completely surreal experience. I don’t think I can count the number of times I’ve covered WKU at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. as a student, and USC at the Carolina Coliseum or their new home the Colonial Center, as a freelancer.

On one hand I have spent my entire life growing up around the Gamecocks, and on the other I have spent the last four years of my life, eating, sleeping (or lack thereof) and breathing the photojournalism program at WKU. So needless to say both schools are very near and dear to me.

The first two things I saw when walking on to the court made me do a double take, first the all too familiar red towel, and second a very good friend of mine from WKU, Tyler Pelan, whom I hadn’t seen in over a year.

It was nights like last night that make me thankful that I am able to be a photographer, because of the relationships we have with each other, the love we all share for making photos, and the ability to be in the situation where you don’t have to pick a team you are pulling for because you have to stay “neutral” to document the assignment.

Aside from all of of the business stuff I am finally shooting again. Enclosed are two of my favorite shots from the game.