Odu

Old Dominion’s first conference home game of the season took place October 4, 2025 at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk as they hosted the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. It was a 6pm kickoff and it was a beautiful evening for football with temperatures in the low 70’s at kickoff. I was bringing along my Nikon Z9 and Nikon Z8 along with my Nikkor 400mm f/4.5 VR S and Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S lenses.

Old Dominion’s home season kicked off September 6 at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk as they hosted the North Carolina Central Eagles. It was a 6pm kickoff but it was still a very warm evening to start as the day’s high temperature was 95°F. I was bringing along my Nikon Z9 and Nikon Z8 along with my Nikkor 400mm f/4.5 and Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lenses.

Old Dominion was coming off a 27-14 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers and were looking for their first win. Trequan Jones of Old Dominion had a monster game gaining 163 yards on only 5 carries. Three of the carries went for touchdowns including runs of 93 yards and 39 yards. Complete coverage of the game can be found here.

I had the opportunity to shoot a Saturday night Sun Belt matchup basketball game in Norfolk between the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Georgia State Panthers. The Monarchs came out strong in front of their home crowd at Chartway Arena, playing with energy and intensity on both ends of the court. Georgia State made a push in the second half, but ODU held firm down the stretch to secure a 73–66 victory.

JMU traveled from Harrisonburg to take on their in-state rival ODU in Norfolk for a 4pm kickoff. It was another beautiful day for football and the stadium was packed.

I brought my Nikon Z9 body with my Nikkor 400mm f/2.8G lens and my Nikon Z8 body with the Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens. But just before ODU took the field, I realized the 400mm wasn’t going to stay on the monopod. The screw holes in the footer collar were stripped. This was the same issue I had at the Norfolk State game a couple weeks earlier, but I thought I had fixed it.

I finally got to shoot a day football game this year! Every game I’ve shot up until this one had been a night game or early evening game. This game between Texas State and ODU was being played at 3:30pm in Norfolk. And the sun was out!

Texas State rolled into Norfolk with a 4-2 record and were 10 point favorites against the 2-4 Monarchs. ODU jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half and would hold on to win 24-14. ODU has now won 3 of its last 4 games even though the offense is still struggling.

I got to shoot my second ODU football game in a row on Saturday. This time, I was prepared. I would be shooting my Nikon Z9 with the 400mm f/2.8G lens. And I would be using my Nikon Z8 with the amazing Nikon 135mm f/1.8 S Plena. This time it was against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Virginia Tech has had a rough time in Norfolk, losing each of the last two times they’ve played here. Virginia Tech has been notorious for getting their seasons off to slow starts under the current coaching regime, while ODU is struggling to find any semblance of an offense.

I had the opportunity to shoot Saturday night’s matchup between East Carolina University and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, and let’s just say it didn’t go as planned. I came ready with my Nikon Z9 paired with my Nikon 400mm f/2.8G ED AF lens, along with my brand-new Nikon Z8 paired with the Nikon 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens for more close-up work. But, in all my excitement, I forgot the most critical piece of equipment—my Nikon FTZ II mount adapter. Without it, I couldn’t connect the 400mm lens to my Z9! So, I had to shoot the entire game with just the Z8 and 135mm lens.