Author Archives: Grayson West

(Photo by Christopher Kamrani / The Park Record)

In college I always teased the staff photographers, saying I could “out-shoot” them at a sporting event. A couple of times, they lent me a camera to shoot some Runnin’ Utes basketball games. I shot a pretty cool photo of former Ute Carlon Brown throwing it down. That was my impromptu claim-to-fame.

But last Thursday I borrowed a camera because our photographer had a few assignments prior to a high school football game in Heber. So I drove to Kamas to shoot the first round 2A playoff game between Grand and South Summit. It was the last legitimate warm day of 2011 and the lighting was (pun alert) “picture-perfect.” If there was a sport I could get away with shooting, it would be football. I have watched many friends over the years (who are now pros) shooting football on the sidelines and simply took mental notes.

In the second quarter of South Summit’s 33-0 romp over Grand, I found an ideal spot between two team parents and saw Wildcats QB Matt Rydalch pitch the ball to junior RB Hayden Packard who broke the run toward the outside. The Grand safety was converging, and like my friends have so aptly described to me before, I saw the play through my lens. I shot Packard’s arm lifting, preparing to put on a pretty vicious stiff arm. It’s just one photo from a keyboard jockey, but I must say, it felt pretty cool knowing I got such a cool photo—and in focus, nonetheless.

These days, seemingly every one is a “photographer” or a “writer.” After this shot, I guess I could be interpreted as both, but I’m not. I simply got lucky and give credit to those I watched work their magic over the years.

Kamrani’s Blog