Nevada at California Headed just up the road to the beautifully revamped Memorial Stadium for Cal Football's season opener.

Nevada at California In a twist to my usual sports photography, I was covering this game for Pac-12. With their great action coverage, the stills they really needed were not of the game itself but of the game day experience.

Nevada at California With my background as a Cal student and having shot for Cal Athletics, it was awesome to go back to shooting what inspired me to get into sports photography, the excitement of college football!  The players "March to Victory" when they first arrive at the stadium is so exciting. The path slightly changed to touch the bear and walk up the new steps as they were welcomed back to Berkeley after a year in San Francisco while Memorial stadium was renovated.

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Nevada at California The experience that can only happen when you have a college stadium that is a part of the campus and surrounding community is also very exciting. Having a game day rally on campus, on the same steps where so many student activists have gathered for generations, connected to the surrounding community, with the Campanile in the background, redwood groves and Strawberry Creek nestled within an urban community, I just felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to have been able to attend and graduate from such an awesome university.

Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California With all this history, I'm so impressed that Cal Athletics and the construction team were able to update Memorial Stadium to maintain it's status as a pioneer in engineering, design, and athletic competition, while maintaining historical character that makes college football SO much more than football.

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It was fun to cover everything that surrounds the game, from the fans, to the media as Pac-12 Networks was on site to broadcast live from the game.

Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California Nevada at California It was great to be able to shoot for Pac-12 because I could wear my Cal hat without interfering with the idea of being an unbiased editorial member of the media. A hat you can see when myself and 12 other people got stuck in the elevator before the game.  I was worried that I was going to miss the game until the fire department responded to come rescue us! Yay! I guess there's still a few bugs to work out.

Nevada at California Unfortunately, Cal Football didn't quite have the debut we all would have liked to see as they fell to the Nevada Wolfpack 31-24. But still a great day to be a bear in a beautiful stadium on a beautiful day in the bay area!Nevada at California