When Odell Beckham Jr. made that absolutely ridiculous catch last Sunday night, there were lots of people online who criticized the photographer pictured above for seemingly watching the play in amazement instead of doing his job and shooting it with his camera.
Twitter basically fired the dude for getting paralyzed by the moment and missing one of the greatest catches in NFL history. Or so they thought.
The photog, Andrew Mills of NJ Advanced Media, has taken to the Internets to explain exactly what the deal was…and the real story might surprise you.
From NJ.com:
At the end of the first quarter, I was on my way over to pick up [other NJ Advanced Media photographer Bill] Perlman’s compact flash cards and head to the photo work room to transmit early photos for our live blog.
As I passed the Giants bench, the ball was snapped. I stopped inside the 5-yard line to shoot a few frames with a 500mm lens as quarterback Eli Manning rolled out to his right. He reared back and heaved the ball deep.
As the ball left his hand, I switched cameras to the 70-200 hanging over my right shoulder and immediately swung to the center of the field, hunting for the intended receiver, but I couldn’t find one. I swung back toward the bench and spotted Beckham blazing down the sideline right at me, ball in the air.
This is the “Oh, no” point.
I am tracking him, and Beckham is closing fast. Too fast. And I am too close. Way too close. And there’s nothing I can do.
So as I began to lower the 70-200 to desperately grab the wide angle around my neck, the play is unfolding, literally, at my feet. I’m shooting (and twisting the zoom to get as wide as possible) the entire time the camera is being lowered. I was able to capture a frame that’s in focus — remember, a picture is not a picture if it’s not sharp — of the ball on Beckham’s fingertips, but again I’m tight. Way too tight.
So, after all that criticism, the guy actually did manage to capture the moment. And, despite being extremely tight, he actually managed to get a damn good shot:
I think the Internet has some apologizing to do.
Mills says he wishes he was in a better spot but, as his boss put it, “sometimes the meteor hits you.” Otherwise, he’s just glad that he actually still has a job, despite what Twitter thinks.
[NJ.com]
