Photo Of The Week

If there was ever a time to ask for combat pay while working for the Daily Pilot, this was it. My assignment was to shoot the world’s largest dodgeball game at UC Irvine. The photo had to show the utter chaos of nearly 1,500 people pelting each other with rubber balls, which meant I had to be mid-court, lying on my stomach directly in the line of fire. I lost count of how many times I was hit (in the high dozens at least). Things got really bad when players started using me and the other photographers for cover, and I took a nearly point-blank shot between my eyes that had me seeing stars. Still, it was the most fun I’ve had on assignment in years. The game was certified by the Guinness Book of World records as the largest dodgeball game ever played.

—Kent Treptow