By Mike Jacquart
Special to The Press Times
GREEN BAY – It makes sense a Green Bay Packers fan with a lifelong interest in photography might eventually take photos at Packers games, but it took a while for those worlds to intersect for Mark Wallenfang.
“I was exposed to the hobby when I was a kid, and my interest kept growing,” said Wallenfang, an Appleton native. “I took pictures for my high school yearbook and wanted to work in a darkroom as an adult.”
A professional photographer and certified picture framer, Wallenfang took photos at all home and away Packers games for the Packer Report from 1994-2001 and Getty Images after that.
The publication was created by hall of fame linebacker Ray Nitschke but is no longer published.
He also took the vast majority of the photos published in the 2004 book, “Favre,” by Brett and
Bonita Favre and Chris Havel.
Wallenfang stopped shooting football games roughly a decade ago, but the 64-year-old continues to serve as president of Shooting Star Photo and Custom Framing in Appleton, something he’s done since 1982.
Wallenfang’s career didn’t take a linear path.
He originally wanted to be a veterinarian and took pre-med classes at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
“There was no veterinary school in the state at the time, so I wasn’t sure what to do,” Wallenfang said.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in botany and plant biology from Oshkosh in 1978 but remained uncertain of a career.
An encounter with the president of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, made Wallenfang realize he had the answer all along – photography.
“I was told, ‘Why not do what you love?’” Wallenfang recalled.
He took the president’s advice, and two months after graduating from Oshkosh, Wallenfang enrolled at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California.
“I got to work on the Shroud of Turin Research Project, which was going on in Italy during that time,” Wallenfang said.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in industrial/scientific and color technology from Brooks in 1980.
Wallenfang then opened the first one-hour photo lab in Appleton.
A decade later, his dad, a Packers’ season ticket holder, learned the Packers Report had an opening for a photographer.
He told his son about it, and Wallenfang got the job.
During this time, the Packers were in the midst of a successful run not seen since the Lombardi years in the 1960s.
That meant Wallenfang got to take pictures at Super Bowls XXXI in New Orleans and XXXII in San Diego, as well as two Pro Bowl games during that span.
“I was at every home and road game, including the preseason,” he said. “One year, that added up to 24 games.”
Of the games Wallenfang shot, he said two of the most challenging occurred in back-to-back weeks in 1997 at Lambeau Field: The Packers’ 35-14 divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers and the NFC Championship Game victory over the visiting Carolina Panthers, 30-13.
In terms of weather conditions, the two contests couldn’t have been any different.
“I had just gotten a $6,000 lens, and then I heard the weather forecast for the game called for rain,” he said about the San Francisco game. “Back then, you had to tie plastic garbage bags around the lens to keep it dry. It’s challenging weather to shoot in.”
Temperatures hovered around freezing, which caused both rain and snow.
As a result, the field became muddy as the game went on, leading sportswriters to dub it the “Mud Bowl.”
Eight days later, Green Bay hosted Carolina for the right to advance to Super Bowl XXXI.
This time, bitter cold, not rain and mud, was the order of the day at Lambeau.
The temperature was 8 degrees at kickoff and below zero with the windchill.
“When it gets that cold, the camera batteries don’t last as long,” Wallenfang said. “Everything freezes up, and the camera gets harder to operate. Your breathing fogs up the lens, too.”
Super Bowl XXXI, played two weeks later at the Superdome in New Orleans, was much warmer, but that didn’t mean the game didn’t present its own set of photographic challenges.
“They shot off fireworks before the game, but the air conditioning vents had banners over them, which created lots of smoke,” said Wallenfang. “So, what did they do at halftime? They shot off more fireworks, which made more smoke – it was unreal.”
Wallenfang said anticipation and knowledge of the sport are integral parts of shooting sports photography.
Those were key to taking solid shots of perhaps the most memorable play in Super Bowl XXXI – Favre’s 54-yard strike to receiver Andre Rison for an early 7-0 Packers’ lead.
“When Brett got up to the line of scrimmage, I saw his eyes light up like saucers,” Wallenfang said. “I thought he was going to audible to a passing play, so I put my camera on Rison. Had I not recognized that, I wouldn’t have been in the right position to take the shots.”
While Wallenfang said the Super Bowls were noteworthy, his most memorable game was a regular-season contest – the Packers’ 41-7 triumph over the Oakland Raiders Dec. 23, 2003, the day after the death of Favre’s dad, Irvin.
“The timing, a Monday night, it seemed like every receiver was coming down with everything Brett threw, including a touchdown pass to Wesley Walls,” Wallenfang said. “What surprised me the most was how emotional and how supportive the Raiders fans were. They hung around after the game, cheering for Brett. That’s not something you usually see in Oakland.”
In terms of the technological advancements he’s seen over the years, Wallenfang said there’s no doubt the digital era is superior to film.
“There’s no comparison,” he said. “The lighting is so much better at stadiums, too. Lambeau used to be dark for night games, but since the renovations, it’s been nice.”
While Wallenfang said good equipment is vital, good photography has more to do with know-how than anything else.
“There’s some luck involved, but you need to know and understand the game and what is going on,” he said. “That would be my advice to any budding photographer. This holds true no matter what you’re shooting – know the subject matter.”
Editor’s note: Mike Jacquart, a freelance writer, editor and author of “A Century of Excellence: 100 Greatest Packers Of All Time,” lives in Iola and wrote this story for Packerland Pride Magazine, another publication in the Multi Media Channels family.