ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — With the New Buffalo Bills stadium opening next year, a certain sentimentality is being shared for the old Highmark Stadium, “Ralph”. RIT recognized this and chose it as the next subject for its annual ‘Big Shot’ event.
RIT’s next Big Shot heading to Highmark Stadium
RIT and the Bills invited fans and community members to the stadium on October 11 to create a unique long exposure night-time photograph that will hang in the new Highmark Stadium, set to open in 2026. The event is called Big Shot; it’s a series meant to capture landmarks and teach RIT photography students about light and exposure.
24 images from 24 cameras make up the 360-degree photograph // (RIT)
Described as “painting with light”, the event utilised over 6,000 volunteers with flashlights and other light sources to light up the stadium for an over two-minute exposure shot (a typical picture is taken with an exposure time of a fraction of a second).
Dan Hughes, right, documents test photographs taken by Eric Kunsman, left // (RIT)
“This Big Shot will be an important event for Western New York as the Buffalo Bills are entering their final season in Highmark Stadium. It will commemorate the history of the stadium for many Bills fans and the public, while providing RIT with an opportunity to showcase both our creative and technological sides,” said Eric Kunsman, co-coordinator of the Big Shot and assistant professor for RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID).
This is the 37th RIT Big Shot event since they began the project in 1987. So far, places like Kodak Tower, the Alamo, and even the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, have been the subjects of the project.
Co-cordinator Dan Hughes said, “Nurturing our photography community has always been our purpose. It was the reason Big Shot began decades ago,” Hughes continued, “Whether attendees are passionate about the Buffalo Bills or photography—or if you love both, like me—the shared excitement when the sun goes down and we paint the stadium with light is what will make this moment memorable.”
All Big Shot projects can be found here, including Highmark Stadium.
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