KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Crews put final touches on the stage in front of Union StationTuesday night in preparation for the rally after the Chiefs Kingdom Champions Parade. Fans and visitors have been taking photos of the preparations. And during Wednesday's rally a special one will be taken of fans of the newest Super Bowl champions.
Roy Inman,a retired photojournalist and now official Union Station photographer, will be behind the lens to capture yet another historic moment in Kansas City. He also took the now-iconic image of Royals fans during the 2015 parade.
Chiefs fan Chris Perrey said his children will have their jerseys on for the rally.
"We'll make sure we have our hats, bring our flag and just be waving and making sure everybody can see that we're definitely Chiefs Kingdom," Perrey said.
Perrey and his family plan to show up for the rally around sunrise.
"We have a secret route that we don't want to tell anybody,” Perrey said. “We came to the Royals [parade], so we kind of have it planned out. But [we’re] looking forward to hanging out with our sons. They had a great time five years ago, so we're going to do it again.”
Among their memories is Inman’s photo from the city’s last sports-celebration rally.
"It gives me goosebumps, just the sea of blue," said Megan Cobden, another Chiefs fan.
Inman on Tuesday retraced the steps that led to the image with 41 Action News.
"And so I walked out of the front doors, looked at the crowd and said, ‘Holy cow, can we get to the roof?’" Inman said.
He only had five minutes to get the shot.
"I tend to work a little better and spur the moment, seat of the pants," Inman said. "It led to a little adrenaline rush. So, I stitch these panoramas together. All the horizons were absolutely perfect, even though I had no tripod, and I didn't have time to set a tripod."
Social media made the snapshot go viral.
"It was a magic moment actually,” Inman said. “I did not realize how magic to tell you the truth until I posted a small picture on Facebook and my feed erupted.”
This year, he said, security is “much tighter,” which will present a “different” landscape to shoot.
"But that moment in history, Royals and tomorrow, it's actually a part of history, and I could not be more pleased to have a minor role in it to record that history that magic moment,” he said.
Inman said he plans to take his photos at 1 p.m. He wants to be sure fans are showing Chiefs red proudly for those few minutes.
Union Station plans to sell a commemorative poster of the photo, and sales will support the ongoing preservation of Union Station.
