I can’t believe that this is the second to last week of filming WVU news. As fast as its gone, it’s that much closer to being over. I’ve covered my first stories on smaller sports like rifle, or women’s basketball, but this week it was time to do something more challenging. The WVU football season is right around corner, and spring football is right here right now.

    

This story was the first time I’ve split up my shooting over the course of the day. At noon, I picked up interviews with some staff, and learned quickly how valuable those are to all reporters. For offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, the surrounding human mass was three deep from all sides. I quickly moved to a newer, less known coach. Doug Belk is the new cornerbacks coach for WVU. A Nick Saban prodigy from Alabama, I wanted to take an angle on his first experiences. I picked up some interviews from returning wide receiver David Sills and West Virginia Native Reese Donahue; I had a diverse number of quotes. I left the building to go to class satisfied with what I got. I went to class, with the plan of returning to the practice field and 4:30 to pick up some B-Roll.

I picked up my shooting partner Reghan after class and we were on our way. We waited outside for Head Coach Dana Holgorsen with the rest of the media, and he briefed us about some injuries, position plans, and hopes for the season. If I’m being honest, not much was useful. It was a lighthearted discussion inter mixed with some morsels of knowledge.

That’s when the rain came down. It wasn’t heavy enough to cause a distraction, but enough to stay under a tarp for the sake of the camera. This made shots extremely difficult to mix up and make diverse, so I had to get creative. Some tight shots of blocking drills, wide shots of field goal kicking, and other activities made it enough to work. We only had 30 minutes to shoot that, my standup, and my SOT TZ before they started serious practice, fake crowd noise included.

    

The confidence I’ve gained from this class in my opinion is more valuable than any tidbit of information I’ve received. It’s about creating something when there isn’t and being assertive when you need to be. While I’ll still be doing this in the future, nothing can come close to the first experience of doing something for the first time.