A photograph can be powerful. It possesses the ability to capture the raw emotion of a singular moment and preserve an otherwise fleeting snippet of time, telling a story in the process.
Over the next several weeks, we're going to take a look back at 10 of the best photos from the 2023-24 season along with commentary from Chiefs' Director of Photography Steve Sanders. Unlike in previous years, this isn't a countdown of Sanders' top images, but rather the chronological story of the Chiefs' championship season told through some of his favorite photos.
We'll begin with No. 10:
"Silhouette in the Storm"
Setting: Chiefs Training Camp
The Subject: Head Coach Andy Reid walks off the practice field as a storm rolls into training camp.
Taken By: David Gray
Camera Model: Canon EOS R3
Focal Length: 28 mm
Exposure Time: 1/2,000
Aperture: f/3.5
Steve Sanders' Thoughts:
Q: What was going on here, and why did you pick this photo to kick off our collection?
Sanders: "We were having some volatile weather at training camp, and kind of at the last minute, the sky turned a deep, gray black," Sanders said. "The horn sounded, everybody started coming off the field, and Coach Reid – the captain of the ship – he was the last one out there making sure everybody got off the field. David ran over to where everybody was coming off the field and got this iconic photo of Coach. You can't clearly see it's him, but you just know it's Coach based on the outline of the silhouette. You can imagine that when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame one day, this is one of those pictures that goes into the show."
Q: Can you speak to David's readiness to capture this moment on the fly?
Sanders: "David was always trying to create a picture, and through his time here, he shot a lot of silhouettes," Sanders said. "This was one of the first ones that he shot, and he made an iconic image out of it. He ran to where Coach was going to go, and everything just worked out perfectly to make this picture."
