Who's in town?

Jim Kleinsasser. John Cross photo

Oh, yeah! That's right! It's Vikings Training Camp season! I was wondering why there were so many cars going the wrong way on one way streets in Mankato. Not to mention all the SUVs with tinted windows and chrome spinners.

Don't get me wrong. Those who know me know I'm a BIG football fan (though I tend to root for a different team). I even enjoy having training camp in town (but don't tell anyone. I don't think I'm supposed to like it!). It would have been odd if camp didn't happen in Mankato this year due to the lockout. Training camp is a good time to see some of my Twin Cities colleagues and shoot photos of something that gets national exposure. How can I NOT like it?

Of course, I can do without the circus atmosphere, the crazy drivers, the piles of extra work and the general nuttiness that goes with camp. It seems that once 90 famous (or semi-famous) people invade town everyone kind of loses their minds a bit.

Not me. A photographer once told me on one of my first assignments shooting famous people to "act like you've been there, cause you have. Just shoot. They're still people, right?" Words I continue to live by.

I haven't been up to MSU yet. I'm scheduled to shoot the Thursday practice, when all the free agents hit the practice fields. I'm kinda looking forward to it. In the meantime, John and I have created a running photo gallery we'll update each day we're at camp. I posted it below, though it's sized to fit our website's column space, so you'll have to hit the full screen square in the right corner. You can also see it here.