Preseason Football Photo Shoot: Mainland

Video: Mainland Top 25 preseason photo shoot at Daytona International Speedway

Photographer Andrew Bershaw thought it was a long shot when he came up with the idea of using the historic Daytona International Speedway as the backdrop for his photo shoot.

But he figured it did not hurt to ask.

"I originally thought my request would never happen," Bershaw said about asking for permission to stage a photo shoot at the track. "But if you don't ask I will never know the answer. Once I got to the media director at the track and explained we were shooting for MaxPreps/CBS Sports, approval was granted."

It also did not hurt that the campus for Mainland High School is located just down the street from the track along West International Speedway Boulevard.

See the full preview of No. 19 Mainland

"The track is literally the next door neighbor to the high school," Bershaw said. "However, at first it did not even come to mind. I was thinking along the lines of a beach shoot — who doesn't know about Daytona Beach?"

Bershaw, who lives in Orlando and is a member of the MaxPreps Photographers' Network, staged the photo shoot at the track in early May. The shoot involved six top players on the Buccaneers along with head coach Scott Wilson.

Accompanied by the track's media director, Bershaw took photos of the players and the coach at three locations around the speedway. The first stop was the start/finish line, followed by Victory Lane, and the group ended the approximately two-and-half hour shoot inside the theatre, taking photos in front of 2015 Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano's car.

One of the highlights of the day for the players was being able to sign their names on the start/finish line.

"The players really enjoyed themselves and the experience of actually signing their names on the start/finish, seeing the Daytona 500 trophy, taking individual photos with the 2015 winning car and viewing the wall of past winners," Bershaw said.

There was one experience, however, that the players had to overcome during the photo shoot.

"The players were commenting about how hard it was to squat down and stand up at the start/finish line," Bershaw said. "You would think the start/finish line is flat, but it actually lies at an 18-degree angle. When you stand on the stripe at the start/finish line in person you can't appreciate the track angle until we placed a player's helmet on the ground and it began to slide towards the infield under its own weight."
View the entire Mainland preseason photo shoot gallery