Shots that make you go Hmmmmm ...

Mercer's Sharnea Boykin, left, gets the worse of a collision with Georgia Southern
guard Jamie Navarro during the second half of Tuesday's game at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Okay. I love shooting sports, and I'm fairly competent at it. Now, I'm not Bill Frakes–Walter Iooss–John Beiver good. That's crazy good. Those guys just never seem to miss anything, while I still have plenty of times where I never seem to be in the right place at the right time. Especially this year – my gear seems to draw referees like flies. I just can't begin to tell you how many great moments I've captured that are hidden behind black and white stripes. But every once in a while, I can still pull off a doozy.

And I almost didn't get this one because I was contemplating leaving early with the Lady Eagles comfortably ahead by 20+ points in the second half. I did leave, though, after I checked my images while Jamie Navarro shot her free throws. I blew the smoke off the barrel of my lens and got the hell out of Dodge.

This is the beauty of still photography, too. Video would have captured a nasty collision in real time. Sometimes, slow motion can convey something we miss in real time, but it is also fleeting and linear. Only still images can communicate the merging of elements that create something unusual, surprising, and memorable.

Anticipation plays an incredibly important role in photography. It's what separates the best from everyone else. Some things, however, you just can't anticipate, and you look forward to the surprises. You never get tired of that.

Ask anyone who's been doing this for a long time what the best part of the job still is, and they'll probably tell you – it's those shots that make you go hmmmmm.