The most underappreciated work that goes into this site is that of the photographers. They give up their gamedays, travel across the country, are held to an extremely high standard of professionalism to maintain their on-field credentials, cover their own equipment costs, and we haven't even gotten to the incredible talent and skill that goes into the artwork they create. The pool of photos for any moment of any event we wish to discuss, from a group of professionals with a competence at their craft to rival that of their subjects, is a luxury so incomprehensibly disproportionate to what we do to deserve it we would have to stop writing about Michigan sports to properly address it.

In lieu of something close to appropriate, each year the photographers are asked to do MORE work, choosing their favorites from the season and if they so choose, adding a few words about the thousands they've captured.

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Patrick Barron: Drops

Website: bluebarronphoto.exposure.co/

A strangely bittersweet thing happened to me early in the season. The previous five years I was living in Wisconsin but I had just gotten a new job out west and was about to move to Colorado. Despite this I was still staying committed to covering Michigan's season. My last weekend living in Wisconsin fell on the weekend of the 21st, the weekend of the Wisconsin game in Madison. It was to be the universe giving me the perfect send-off. I envisioned Michigan forcing a repeat of the 2018 Wisconsin game, winning their first game in Camp Randall in 18 years. I envisioned myself ecstatically jumping around at the end of the 3rd quarter. I envisioned myself hitting the bars with my Wisconsin friends afterwards one last time. But none of these things happened (except the bar one, that happened. Less enthusiastically). Reality is often disappointing.

obligatory

The Wisconsin game was a wake-up call that it was about to be a long season. As a photographer I know it makes for a longer road because less and less people will be interested in seeing photos after a loss. The challenge becomes, how do you create interesting visual story telling when people are upset with the results and don't want to re-digest them?

But there was a player all season who was a treat to follow. His story felt like the team's story and his emotions captured it.Ronnie Bell perhaps encompassed the spirit of the team more than any other player I photographed this season. His evolution of a player mimicked the evolution of the offense, the most memorable example being the Penn State game. For a second it almost looked certain that Michigan had clawed back well enough to force overtime, until Ronnie Bell dropped a pass he catches 90% of the time. His 71 yards of offense will always be overshadowed by that one play. Michigan's combative second half efforts will always be overshadowed by the first half performance. Ronnie walked off the field in tears, a feeling we all felt but none as heavily as he did.

Fast forward to the Michigan State game and the offense is finally clicking. After one of Ronnie Bell's big gains on a day in which he had 150 passing yards against an arch-rival, he screamed. He roared. He laughed. Not many people can feel the weight of the world on their shoulders and eventually toss it off. For a few fun weeks, this is what the season felt like. A missed field goal and false start away from a loss to Army, the Wisconsin beat down, the missed heroics against Penn State, and even a close call with Illinois were suddenly tuned out as Michigan fans screamed, roared, and laughed alongside Ronnie.

Patrick's Gallery:

[After the JUMP: The Pool]

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Bryan Fuller: The Paul

Website: www.bryanfullerphotography.com

IG: bryanfullerphotography 

As my kids get older, I have had to continue to scale back on the number of games I shoot, especially when it comes to basketball (plus MG does such an amazing job). But it was still another fun football season to photograph, even if the results didn’t quite go as we hoped.

DPJ’s diving touchdown against Michigan State and his leaping touchdown against Indiana proved to be two of my favorites this year. His world class athleticism really makes him one of the most photogenic players we have had in a long time (and his Paul Bunyan pose is pretty great too)!

I had a few other pretty good ones along the way, but when I went back to determine my favorites of 2019, it really was the year of DPJ!

Fuller's Gallery:

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Marc-Grégor Campredon: Trois Moments

Website (yes he's for hire locally): http://www.marc-gregor.com

I loved 2019. It marked my 5th (full) year in business here in Michigan as a local Photographer. Upon immigrating: I barely spoke English and knew nothing about basketball or college sports. It was very hard to adapt to the midwest culture. No kidding guys, you are some tough cookies.

Peeps here at Mgoblog were some of the first to welcome me. No judgement, just trust, patience and kindness especially from Ace and David. I learned so much about sports, photography, Michigan, American culture, myself and so on.

That Fo-sho played a tremendous part in me feeling at home in Ann Arbor.

1- Juwan’s introduction. Oh boy, a few seasons ago, the Fab5 was unknown to me. One day, during warm up, I started talking to a tall guy with a perfect hairline very casually. Pretty sure Jalen Rose knew that I had no clue who he was. David is still laughing at me for that one. So I spent the following summer reading every book about Michigan Athletics, from Football to Softball to Basketball. Including the Fab5 by Mitch Albom. When you gotta learn, you gotta learn. So for Juwan Howard’s introduction, I was wearing a pair of long black socks.

This moment took place at the center of Crisler. Looking up to recompose himself after a very emotional start, he has to be facing the many banners present in the rafters. Some were removed and some are missing despite being promised to the Fab 5. Juwan said he came back to fulfill those promises.

It was so real, that he got me so pumped for basketball since day 1. I loved John Beilein and I am so thankful for him rebuilding the program but, yeah, Juwan got me all pumped. I was really close to just use Juwan’s photos for my best of the year.

2- Matthews at the rim. In photography, like any other profession, it is extremely easy to get caught in comfort. You get good and you just bank on it. Two seasons ago, I was growing in confidence on the sidelines of the basketball court. But I wanted more, so I decided to learn more. The obvious next step was a remote camera which takes a lot of investment,  practice and luck. So I tried and failed many times with one single goal of capturing a dunk from above, especially from Charles Matthews.

It took me over a year, until a home victory against Maryland (52-65 on 2/26/19). Matthews scored 14, including that dunk on a break away. I pressed the button as he was jumping and he perfectly grabbed the rim straight in, with his two arms around - Alone. I was hoping my camera worked and got that very precise moment with the ball in the net and the smirk on his face.

Minutes after the game walking up into Crisler rafters I was impatient to see the result. Thanks to Eric Bronson - who taught me everything about remote photography - everything went according to my plan.

3- Galette Saucisse. When the French soccer team won the world cup, I was downtown Ann Arbor with many Frenchies. We cheered, we yelled, we partied. Yes, call me a homer. After the game, the fever went down quickly, while my home country was partying all night in the street. I felt deeply homesick.

At the end of the Barcelona-Napoli game at the Big House the French World Champion Dembele passed by me so I tried to get his attention: “Champion du monde! Allez les bleus!” None of it worked. So I yelled “Galette Saucisse!” It might be weird to you that I used the equivalent of “Deep Dish Pizza”, but he was trained at Stade Rennais, my favorite soccer club and Galette Saucisse is the equivalent of “Go Blue” there. Sadly he was already too far... but Griezman did hear me, and called his partnerWe all exchanged a big laugh and I realized that this is Michigan and this is home.

As Seth called me not long ago, I am most definitely the very model of a modern Frankish Arborite (and a very proud Wolverine).

MG's Gallery:

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J.D. Scott: Sunsets

Website: www.jdscottphotography.com

Three that stood out to me are these images, and the reasons vary.  First, I was lucky enough to travel to Bloomington to cover the Men's Basketball team's blowout win vs. Indiana University. Assembly Hall is one of the iconic arenas in college basketball and this was my first time being there.  Even though Michigan had all but won the game by halftime, the crowd was electric. The image I chose features an Eli Brooks floater but also features the arena itself, with its towering upper-deck.

The next image is from a thrilling walk-off win that Michigan Softball had vs. IU. Mackenzie Nemitz hit the game-winning, 2 RBI double as Michigan came back from trailing 6-4 in the bottom of the 7th inning.  The team surrounded Nemitz at second base and what I really like about the image (beyond the emotion on pitcher Meghan Beaubien's face) is the sole helmet being raised in victory.  They were the team I covered the most in 2019 and this image also speaks to their unity.

The final image I chose was from the perfect ending to a dominant game.  Michigan Baseball's closer, Jack Weisenberger finishing off Michigan State in a 7-0 win for the Wolverines.  I saw that there was an amazing sunset happening and positioned myself to get both Jack, in his pitching motion, and that amazing sky behind him.

2019 was a great year to cover a variety of University of Michigan sports, and many great victories.  I'm looking forward to doing the same in 2020.

JD's Gallery:

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James Coller: Momentum

Website:

2019 was a great year in hockey photography, even if it wasn't a great year in Michigan Hockey. I'm looking forward to catching more of the grit, emotion, and big hits in 2020.

James's Album:

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Dianna Oatridge: Up There

Website: (yes she's for hire)  Facebook.com/competitiveedgephotography or www.instagram.com/dianna_oatridge_photo/

What lifelong University of Michigan fan (and aspiring sports photographer) wouldn't be thrilled to have an opportunity to shoot U of M athletics? To say my experience photographing for MGoBlog in 2019 was thrilling is an understatement. It was absolutely a dream come true and a springboard in my photography career.

I remember the excitement I felt when I saw my first photo published on the blog. It was Coach John Beilein on the sidelines, doing what he does best. Although that image and a Charles Matthews breakaway dunk from December 2018 are my overall favorite photos on MGoBlog's Flickr account (now would be a good time to take a look at that 12-15-18 vs Western Michigan album), it led to opportunities in 2019 to shoot two of my favorite sports at U of M, women's basketball and women's gymnastics.

It was during these events that I discovered how much I enjoy capturing those jubilation images and not just that action shot per se. To me, the reaction images convey more meaning and tell the story far better than the actual action shot. Therefore, you will see many of those in my 2019 favorites album.

I would like to thank everyone involved at MGoBlog for the opportunity to shoot at University of Michigan athletic events. Enjoy my favorite photos of 2019 and give me a follow on Instagram!

Dianna Oatridge
Competitive Edge Photography

Dianna's Album:

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The Pool: Bill Rapai, Paul Sherman, Alexis Rankin, David Wilcomes, and Ben Ludeman

From time time time we have other photographers help out, perhaps because our regulars can't make it to an event, or because they're local for an away game, and always because we're looking for an excuse to feature their work.

The Album:

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The Covers

I made a lot of podcast covers and since they mostly show off the photogs' work I might as well include an album: