Boca Juniors v Colorado Rapids
Given my past playing career as a soccer player and my love of photography. It soon became a dream of mine to be able to shoot a professional soccer game.
Some of you may not know that I have a part-time job with Major League Soccer overseeing the Colorado Rapids. The sole reason I accepted the job with MLS; was I didn't know what doors it could open for myself. Low and behold, it opened a door I didn't think would.
Being at almost every home game for the Rapids, I have gotten to meet some incredible people. One of those people is a freelance photographer named John A. Babiak. I met John my very first game of the season, and I somewhat told him of my aspirations on becoming a photographer. It wasn't until almost 4 months into the season. I finally grew the courage to go sit down and talk with John. During my conversation with John, I asked him, "what it took to be on the sidelines with my camera?" John explained how I would go about getting credentials, and it was honestly a lot simpler than I originally thought. He then, however, offered me an opportunity to shadow him for a friendly of Colorado Rapids v Boca Juniors. This was an opportunity I absolutely couldn't refuse.
Up until this point, I never considered myself a "professional photographer." John was introducing me to multiple Rapids FO staff as, "This is Austin, he is a professional photographer from Summit County." Even after securing the job with Vail as a full-time photographer, it still never fully sank in. Hearing someone of John's status call me that, made it all too real.
“You’re too self-effacing; it’s not manly. If you’re a writer, declare yourself the best writer!!”
During the entirety of the game; I took over 3K pictures. Although I was completely focused on capturing pictures of each moment. There were a few times; I pulled away from my viewfinder and just looked around. I was soaking in my environment, realizing what it was I was doing. I couldn't help but smile. It wasn't that long ago this was a hobby on my days off, now it's my career.
Soccer. Fútbol. Fußball. Football. There are many names for the game, it doesn't matter where you come from, or what language you speak. The ball is a universal language we all understand. This is what makes it, The Beautiful Game.
