NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown

I got a call from Action Marketing Group based out of Boulder, Colorado last week asking if I was available to do a photo shoot of a basketball player who has been selected as a finalist in the 2010 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown. The Showdown will take place in February as part of NBA All-Star Weekened in Dallas and it involves amateur "dunkers" from all over the U.S. who have competed in various preliminary events held throughout the U.S. The "dunker" involved in my photo shoot is Haneef Munir, a young man from Los Angeles who won the L.A. preliminary contest and is set to go to Dallas to compete against the other finalists. Since he is currently living in Tallahassee (he's a student at Florida A&M), they needed a local photographer and somehow they found me.

The photo shoot was a laborious process to set up, mostly because Haneef was unable to locate a suitable outdoor basketball court for the shoot. My preference was an outdoor shoot - good light, no noise issues and hopefully the luxury of having the basket all to ourselves. After several days of sruggling to identify a location, we settled on the Leach Center (FSU student athletic facility with indoor basketball courts), which is right next door to the FSU Tennis Center. I was already committed to shooting the FSU Men's and Women's tennis matches Saturday morning, so I dovetailed the tennis matches with the dunk shoot. I had received a shot list from the company that hired me and it was fairly straight forward: one good dunk, or action, shot; one "playful", candid pose; and one portrait-type shot.

The trick was to make the images look as good as possible given two unsavory choices - since we were going to shoot indoors, that meant either shooting at ISO 1600 (and possibly higher since the lighting at the Leach Center courts is akin to a high school gym) or set up strobes. I did not want to take the time or expend the effort to set up artificial lighting, considering the fee I was charging for the shoot; but I also knew my name would go on these images and they are going to be published in the NBA All Star Game Program. I compromised. I shot all the portrait-type shots at ISO 400 with my D3, 105mm f2.8 macro lens wide open (sans strobe), and I was able to get a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second (fast enough to get a sharp image as long as Haneef didn't move).

For one of the "playful" shots - the lead photo - I had to use a strobe in order to freeze Haneef. I experimented with different bounce flash positions to minimize any shadows and I was pleased with the image that I posted above. I don't know why I fretted so much about the shadows, considering the images of Haneef will be ultimately have the backgrounds removed, but I still wanted to mimize shadows as much as possible.

All of the dunk photos were shot at ISO 1600 with the D3, 35-70mm f2.8 lens wide open. Thankfully, the D3 came through and although I would much rather shoot at lower ISO's, the noise level was as good as it can possibly get, all things considered. I have e-mailed 72dpi versions of the photos to the company that hired me and I simply wait for them to tell me which ones they want uploaded to their FTP site at 300 dpi. Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy.

More To Come - I have two men's basketball games to process (Virginia Tech and yesterday's Georgia Tech tussle), men's tennis and women's tennis. I haven't decided what to do re: the tennis - I may just do a blog post on how I shoot tennis akin to the post I did recently about basketball. Check back an hopefully all will be posted soon.

I also have a new problem - my D3 is acting up. Midway through the second half of yesterday's Ga Tech game, I fired off a few shots and pressed the button to view the images. The screen came on but it was just a light gray with no image. I went though all the things I typically do when a camera body acts up - turned the camera off/on, changed the battery out, removed and reattached the lens, etc. - all to no avail. I tried to press the Menu button and the screen did the same thing - gray. The only saving grace was that as I pressed the shutter button, I could see that the camera was apparently recording images on the card. I just couldn't preview them, nor could I use the Menu. When I got home and downloaded, all of the images that I shot were on the cards. I called Nikon and got through to a techie who asked me to re-set the camera body (pushing the two green buttons - ISO and White Balance - on the back of the camera simultaneously to "re-set" it) but no good. I will now have to send it off to Nikon for repair and have Nikon Professional Services send me a loaner until mine is repaired. Crap-o-la.

Temple, But Not Of Doom

The Lady 'Noles took on the Temple Owls on January 3 as they prepared to kick off the ACC conference schedule. FSU knocked off Temple in a game that got tight midway through the second half but FSU pulled away to notch a 77-64 win. With a subsequent 68-50 win over a ranked Virginia squad at home, followed by a tough 78-70 loss to Miami (at Miami) and an 80-50 win at Clemson, FSU now stands at 15-3 for the season and is ranked 16th in both national polls. The loss to Miami knocked the women out of the top 10 but the Clemson win has them back on track. FSU plays at home tomorrow at 2:00 pm against North Carolina State, a game which I intend to shoot.

If you've been following along on this blog the past few weeks, you have a pretty good idea of the camera settings and lens combinations that I typically use when shooting basketball. The Temple game was no different in terms of equipment/settings. The only diference between this game and the other basketball games I've shot this year is where I sat.

For men's games, I typically sit on the floor as close to the basket as possible. I've determined that the closer I am to the basket, the closer I am to the TV cameras shooting the game from floor level. Referees are much more conscious of where the TV cameras are located and make more of an effort not to block them as they call the game. Not so with still cameras. During men's games, it is not unusual for the entire baseline to be filled with still photographers. So, pretty much no matter where the referees stand, they will block the view of several still photographers. By sitting as close to the TV camera (right next to the basket support), I have found that I am far less likely to be blocked from getting a shot (due to the rotund rear ends of the zebras). To get this prime piece of real estate, I make sure to arrive early for any game I shoot (1 1/2 hours or so before tipoff) and stake out my spot by placing my camera case where I intend to sit. Doing so is akin to planting a flag on the spot and claiming it as yours. I can then go eat whatever culinary delights are being served in the media dining area at a leisurely pace, return to the floor, set up my camera bodies/lenses, and start shooting pre-game stuff. Before the first half ends, I collect my equipment and get it ready for the sprint to the other baseline as soon as the buzzer sounds ending the first half. Getting to the other baseline first gives me first dibs on the same spot to shoot the second half.

There's a slight twist when shooting a women's game. The ladies' games are not televised as often as the men's games, and for example, there was no TV coverage for the Temple game. No TV coverage means no TV cameras on the floor. No TV cameras means the rolling chair the TV cameraman normally uses right next to the basket support is empty. That's the spot I claim under those circumstances - the chair. Not only does sitting in the chair next to the basket minimize shots of the refs' tushes, by sitting up higher off the floor, I'm not shooting at such a severe upward angle (directly into the banks of overhead lights which surround the ceiling of the arena). A higher vantage point allows me to shoot at less of an upward angle, which excludes a lot of those overhead lights.

So, unless you enjoy having several of your images featuring a zebra's rear end, get to the basketball venue early, stake out your spot, and eliminate cursing the refs under your breath as you preview that great dunk you missed because the play was blocked by an official; and, if you can score the TV cameraman chair, so much the better!

Just Got Signed

Earlier this week, I was contacted by Southcreek Global Media, a wire service that caters primarily to weekly publications (Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, etc.), trading cards and internet media. They were looking for someone to cover all FSU sports and my name had been mentioned to them. After discussions, I have signed a contract to shoot for them on spec basis, which means payment based upon photo sales. If I upload a photo and it is purchased by one of their clients, I receive 50% of the proceeds as my payment. All photos uploaded are archived and available for purchase, so if someone needs a shot of Bobby Bowden two years from now for a story and my image is purchased, it means income down the line.

Since I started this blog, many of you have contacted me with regard to how you might obtain credentials to shoot sporting events. Many of you came to find me and this blog because of the guest blog I did for Scott Kelby last year (How To Break In To Sports Photography) after reading my suggestions on how to obtain credentials for sporting events. In addition to the sugegstions I have previosuly made, you may want to check out Southcreek Global as a means of not only gaining credentials, but also as a means to generate income from images.

For additional information, visit www.southcreekglobal.com/, which is SCG's web site. If you're interested in exploring a relationship with them, navigate to www.southcreekglobal.com/employment.php and follow the steps set forth for becoming a shooter for SGM. In order to shoot for the company, there are certain equipment and technological requirements, so make sure to review everything on the site and ensure that the terms and conditions meet with your approval.

For me, it's a no-brainer. I'm already shooting the events for FSU and Unconquered Magazine, so it's not like I have to out of my way to get images for SGM. Unless I'm on assignment for AP, I can decide which images to upload to SMG and hopefully make a few extra bucks from those photos. For many of you, it may be a great opportunity to hook up with a wire service, obtain credentials for sporting events, and have your images purchased/published.

Bloody Basketball

Football is supposed to a contact sport. Basketball has gone the same route, especially when the season is well under way and teams are trying to position themselves for an invite to March Madness. FSU and Texas A&M Corpus Christi squared off at the Leon County Civic Center with A&M having taken top ranked Texas down to wire in a 76-70 loss at Texas just before coming in to play FSU. The Texas game clearly put FSU on notice that it could not overlook the Islanders and slack off, and once the game started, the physical play was just another reminder that no game at this point is going to be a walk in the park.

Luckily, FSU took care of A&M easily, boosting the season record and serving as justification for FSU's top-25 ranking in the polls, but the blood flowed all night long from thrown elbows and rough play in the paint.

I tried to shoot more horizontally this game if only to shake things up a bit and avoid the same look as my photos from this season's prior games. I seem to always default to shooting vertically if I'm not thinking so I made a concerted effort to rotate the camera this game more so than normal. I tend to do this for most of the sports I shoot and it's just part of my comfort zone, my natural tendency, I guess. Doing something different not only serves the purpose of changing up the look of images, it also keeps me from getting bored just shooting the same stuff the same way. You may want to take a look at how you "default" when you shoot, and if you determine that you have a tendency to shoot one way more often than not, force yourself to do it a different way to see how a different style works. You'll be both surprised and pleased.

Technical Stuff - In addition to making an effort to get more horizontal shots, I also made one other chnage in my routine - when shooting the pre-game festivities, I ramped up the D3 to ISO 3200 in order to get a faster shutter speed. I still can't seem to come to grips with the fact that the D3 delivers quality images even at ISO 3200 and I tend to default to an ISO 1600 setting indoors. Hoping to be able to freeze the players better in the dim, red light that is used during introductions, etc. I made myself push the ISO to 3200. Check out the image of the chest bumping players near the top of the page - that was at ISO 3200, Auto Exposure, 15mm fisheye at f2.8. I have no idea what the shutter speed was since I set the camera on the floor as I knelt right next to the players, angled it upwards and held my breath, but whatever it was, it was fast enough to freeze the players at the top of their leaps. I'll let you folks decide if the noise level is unacceptable for your purposes, but I find it more than serviceable.

All other images were taken at ISO1600, either with a D3 or a D300. Lenses used were the 15mm fisheye, 35-70mm f2.8 and 80-200mm f2.8. I normally use the 35-70mm on the D3 and the 80-200mm on the D300, but this game, I swapped back and forth, again, just for a change of pace. Using the 80-200mm on the D3 made it easier to get some of the horizontal shots as it avoided the 1.5X magnification which is inherent to the D300.

 

More To Come - Women's basketball game versus Temple yielded some nice stuff which I'll post in the immediate future, plus I shot the FSU Men's game against NC State Tuesday night. I've got the women's images cleaned up and turned in, but haven't gotten to the Men's NC State game yet. I hope to have all of it up by Saturday, as the Men return to action at home Saturday evening against Virginia Tech.

Happy New Year, And What A Way To Start It Off!

I am one lucky man. On Thursday morning, December 31, I drove to Jacksonville to check in at the hotel designated for media reps and pick up my credentials for the next day's Gator Bowl. When I arrived, I e-mailed FSU's Sports Information Director to let her know I was there, safe and sound, and that I would wait to hear from her as to where and when she wanted me at the stadium the next morning. Her response caused my jaw to hit the floor - I was one of three photographers selected to have "special access" to Coach Bowden so as to memorialize his last football game as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles.

That meant unique positioning for the pre-game walk from the buses to the stadium, being in the locker room pre and post game, and being allowed onto the field to shadow Coach Bowden pre-game. Finally, with five minutes left in the game, I would be allowed to stand next to him as the waning moments of the game wound down and the scrum began for post game photos. I was told to be at the stadium by 9:30 am with game time set for 1:00 pm. Yabba Dabba Doo.

Unfortunately, upon arriving at the stadium at 9:30 am, it was raining and it was cold. Par for the course this season as every home football game except one was a rain game. I don't think anyone likes shooting in the rain. I hate it. It means rain gear on your body and all photo gear likewise protected. Flexibility in terms of switching lenses is limited. Condensation builds up under your rain gear and by the end of the game, you're almost as wet as if you hadn't put anything on ("breathable" rain gear, hah!). But, it was what it was and I was not going to let some rain spoil what I hoped would be a very memorable day. Fortunately, the rain stopped by the time pre-game warmups began, and by halftime the sun actually came out. The arctic front passed and after that, it was just cold.

So, there I was at 10:00 am shooting Coach Bowden walking through a gauntlet of former players and fans as he and his wife entered the stadium and headed for the locker room. I had been cautioned that Coach Bowden expected the three photographers with special access to be invisible. It was also mentioned that since I have somewhat of a reputation for pushing the envelope in terms of getting into "unique" spots for photos that I was to be on my best behavior. I tried my best to blend into the walls - I was not going to do anything to jeopardize an opportunity that would give me some potentially terrific photos - and managed to make it through the day without getting yanked off the field.

I've posted some of the photos here, but there are too may to post all of them. If you'd like to see more, I've created a slide show (click here to view it) and posted it on my web site.

Tecnical Stuff - Here goes. All shots taken inside the locker room and/or inside the bowels of the stadium were shot with a D3 and a D300 @ ISO 1600. I did not want to use a flash so as to avoid being a distraction to Coach Bowden or the team. I used my 15mm fisheye, 17-35mm f2.8, 35-70mm f2.8 and 80-200mm f2.8, all at f2.8 with the camera bodies on Auto.

Pre-game shots on the field were taken with the same bodies, Auto exposure, ISO 400 at the beginning of the game and I dropped the ISO to 200 after half time when the sun finally peeked out. Lenses used were the 35-70mm f2.8 and 80-200mm f2.8 all stopped down.

For game shots, I used my 200-400mm f2.8 with a 1.4X TC on the D3, Auto exposure, and the 80-200mm f2.0 on the D300 on Auto. Lenses were stopped down (which gave me f4 on the 200-400mm and f2.8 on the 80-200mm). The shot of the band spelling out "Bobby" on the field was taken from the press box at halftime (I had a choice - go into the locker room at halftime or head up to the press box to get the shot of the band. I opted to go up to the press box and nobody else did) with the D300 and the 15mm fisheye, Auto exposure, ISO 400, lens stopped down.

Coming Soon - I shot the women's basketball game against Temple last night and am shooting the men's game tonight against Texas Tech Corpus Christi. For Christmas, I received a couple of new remote triggers that Intend to use at upcoming basketball games with a camera body mounted behind one of the backboards so I can shoot "through the glass" remotely. I'm really looking forward to trying this out and seeing what images I get, so stay tuned. I haven't had a chance to even open up the boxes and do a couple of test runs at home, so I won't be using them tonight.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas, Holiday Season, Hannukah, Festivus, whatever you were inclined to celebrate and a safe New Year's Eve. The new year brings all new opportunitites to shoot and grow as photographers. I can't wait.

Mea Culpa, Mes Amis....

My most humblest of Christmas apologies for taking so long to post something. It's been a busy couple of weeks since I shot the FSU-Florida International basketball game and I said I would follow up with more photos of the game. I had hoped to do so over a week ago, but I just didn't have time. Anyway, here they are.

I mentioned in a prior blog post that this was one game I really wanted to be able to shoot. Although seemingly a relatively meaningless game, former NBA great Isiah Thomas is the Golden Panthers' head coach and so a memorable opportunity to photograph a great athlete. One shot I definitely wanted to get was that of Thomas and FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton interacting before the game began. So, anticipating when the two coaches would meet pre-game, I camped out near the FSU bench and waited for Thomas to come onto the floor. I did not expect the interaction that resulted between Hamilton and Thomas as Coach Hamilton always has his game face on before a game. The lead photo depicts one moment in their interaction.

I tried something different during the remainder of the pre-game activities - I pushed the ISO on the D3 to 3200 in order to get a faster shutter speed when shooting the team's pre-game "circle". I've been getting some interesting shots when shooting this ritual through the legs of one of the players with a 17-35mm at 17mm, but I thought the shutter speed needed a little boost. I've always been reluctant to push my ISO beyond 1600 even though deep down I knew the D3 could handle it with acceptable noise. I'm glad I did because the shutter speed stopped the action marvelously well and I did not see any difference in the noise when compared to what I expect at ISO 1600. The D3 never ceases to amaze me in terms of how it produces some good stuff.

All the other photos were taken with the D3 and a D300. After the game began, I switched lenses on the D3 and went with a 35-70mm f2.8. The D300 had an 80-200mm f2.8. I set the camera to Manual, 1/400th second with f2.8 apertures. ISO was at 1600 on both cameras. I intended to shoot part of this game from the TV camera well located on the top level of the Civic Center at mid court, shooting down at the players. Since I was on assignment from AP, I knew that would be the best vantage point to get shots of both teams. Had Florida International pulled off an upset, photos of FIU players would have been the ones that AP would have been most interested in sending out on the wire. Planning ahead, I packed my 400mm f2.8, but the best laid plans ... I drove a different car to the game (one we just bought recently) and I forgot to grab a monopod from the vehicle I normally drive (in which I always have at least one monopod) before leaving the house. As I was pulling into the Civic Center parking lot, that sinking feeling hit my stomach and I realized all 3 of my monopods were sitting next to my computer at home. Without a monopod, no-can-use the 400mm. So, I shot from the floor and made it a point to fire off a few shots of FIU from their end of the court just in case FIU knocked off FSU. Moral of the story - even when you think you have everything in tow, double check your gear, especially when you're going to use a set up that you usually don't shoot.

Coming Up Next...
I have photos to post from the Georgia State basketball game which I hope to do before Christmas. Then I'll be caugtht up and ready to head to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl adventure - Bobby Bowden's last game ever as a head coach and all that goes with that. I have requested special access to Coach Bowden pre-game and post game, e.g. access to the locker room so I can shoot his last pep talk to the team and follow him around as he takes care of all the pre-game activities in which he's involved, his farewell to the team post-game, etc. I've been told that two of us (myself and one other) will be afforded some degree of access but right now, it's not clear to what extent. Stay tuned after January 1 and hopefully I'll have some very special photos of Coach Bowden to post.

You Gotta Tip Your Hat ...

He's a Gator. That should tell you all you need to know as to why he should automatically be relegated to persona non grata in the eyes of this, and every, die hard Florida State Seminole fan. But he's also a class act, a model student athlete and the consummate teammate. He leads by example and wears his heart on his sleeve. If he wore Garnet & Gold instead of Orange & Blue he would be on a pedestal in Seminole Country, as high or maybe higher than Charlie Ward's and Chris Weinke's.

So today, I choose to look at Tim Tebow desturated of color. Absent the abhorrent colors that raise the hair on the back of my neck, I can't help but admire and respect Messr. Tebow.

 Two National Championships, one Heisman (and possibly a second), perennially in the hunt for every conceivable award, and from all indications, the kind of guy you want watching your back in any kind of situation. Instead of using his celebrity status to cash in, he uses it to make life better for many others. Unselfish with his time, he undertakes missions to bring goodness to those who need it the most.

Selfishly, I'm thrilled Tebow's career as a Florida Gator is over, and with his departure, hope springs eternal that the outcome of next year's FSU-UF game will be different than it has been since his arrival in Gainesville. But we need more Tebows. If only they would don the Garnet & Gold, I wouldn't have to take a deep breath, swallow hard and recognize an amazing young man for what he is - the kind of kid that would make any father proud to have as a son.

I wish you well, Timmy, in whatever you decide to pursue in life. Whether it's lining up as an H back on Sunday afternoons or plowing a field so a third world village will have food to eat. Use your God given talents to make this world a better place. Just lose that putrid Orange & Blue, would you please?

AP Upload

Florida State played the Golden Panthers from Florida International Sunday afternoon, FSU's first home game after a long stretch of games on the road, and came away with a solid 82-62 win that lifted the 'Noles season record to 7-2. I was there and got caught by one of the local paper's photographers as he fired off a few shots for the paper's web site "Fan Cam", a slide show of fan images the paper runs after every FSU or FAMU sporting event. Above is the shot Mike Ewen took as I circled the FSU team during a timeout trying to find an opening between players so I could get a shot of Coach Hamilton barking instructions to the team.

I mentioned in the last blog that I was going to this game on an assignment for AP. I'll be posting more photos from the game later this week, as soon as I have a chance to go through them and clean up the keepers. For now, I thought I'd post the photos I uploaded to AP during/after the game so you can see how I covered the assignment.

The two action photos above were the ones I picked to upload at halftime (it is customary to upload two at halftime). I thought I'd start off with one of my "fisheye/baseline" shots (lead photo) thinking it's not one a lot of photographers upload. Next, I uploaded the above photo of Michael Snaer on a drive because Snaer is a special player and was instrumental in FSU's first half success.

Post game, I went immediately to some shots I had taken of FIU's head coach (and former NBA great) Isiah Thomas during a timeout as he walked his players through what he wanted them to do. I took this shot from the stands behind the bench about 8 rows up. Given Thomas' celebrity status, I figured a photo of him was in order.

Next I thought the papers down in South Florida (from whence FIU hails) might prefer to go with an image of an FIU player as the focal point of an image they might run and I chose the above shot.

From the stats provided by FSU Sports Information, I learned that Deividas Dulkys led the Seminoles in scoring. In my mind, that made him deserving of an uploaded image, so I opted for the above shot of him as I scanned through the Jpegs.

 

Finally, you know I love dunks, and I had to toss one into the mix. Above was my choice.

Technical Stuff...

All shots were either with a D3 (in order, from the top: Fisheye Photo/Second Photo - 15mm f2.8 fisheye, prefocused on a pre-determined spot on the floor, ISO 1600, Manual - f2.8 & 1/400th second; Snaer Photo/Third Photo - 35/70mm f2.8 @ 70mm, same setting as above); Dulkys Photo/Sixth Photo - same as Snaer Photo; and Dunk Photo/Last Photo - same as Snaer Photo) or a D300 (Thomas Photo/Fourth Photo - 80/200mm f2.8 @ 155mm, ISO 1600, Apperture Priority w/lens stopped down; and FIU Photo/Fifth Photo - 80/200mm f2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 1600, Manual - f2.8 & 1/400th second).

Swamped In The Swamp

Saturday's game against the Florida Lizards was one that I was looking forward to shooting as I knew it would the final regular season game for Tim Tebow and the last time I would have a chance to photograph him in action. It was also FSU Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews' last regular season game following his announced retirement. On Saturday, no one had any idea it would also be FSU Head Coach Bobby Bowden's final regular season game of his career - after 34 years as head coach at FSU, Coach Bowden unexpectedly announced his retirement this past Tuesday. In any event, Saturday was a memorable day for one of these three individuals and a nightmare for the other two. Let's just say that the two who wore garnet & gold were the ones who left the field with the bad memories and the one wearing orange & blue will never forget this particular day.

I don't like shooting at Florida Field. The facilities are old and the lighting is really poor. Game time was 3:30 pm and it was a beautiful day. The field was 3/4 shade and 1/4 full sun at game time. As the shade overtook the remainder of the field during the first half, half of the stands (along the FSU sideline) remained in bright light. I couldn't shoot from the FSU side towards the UF side of the field because that meant shooting into the sun and the players would be backlit. Shooting from the UF side meant trying to find a spot in which to squeeze among the horde of people who roam the UF sidelines, plus having to hope for good exposures - remember part shadows and part bright light? That translated into an exposure nightmare - expose for the field and any shots with the stands as a background would be underexposed with highlights blown out. Expose for the light, and all shots would have the players on the field overexposed and dark. By the start of the third quarter, it was finally starting to get dark, but that meant pushing the ISO. To put the lighting into perspective I was at ISO 1600, then 2000, and then 3200 on both camera bodies before the third quarter ended. As great as the D3 and the D300 are in terms of noise at high ISO's, ISO 3200 under stadium lights creates a color shift that detracts from the images and it is impossible to completely correct it. You'd think that a university with the storied football program that the University of Florida has, and with all the well heeled boosters it has, UF would also have its stadium lit so that it is state of the art. Call me quirky, but I guess that's too much to expect from a townfolk who nicknamed their town "Hogtown".

UF also has a new rule that requires all still photographers to shoot from a kneeling position (and thankfully I had packed my knee pads) but anyone with a video or TV camera shoots standing up. That meant that no still photographers would get in the way of video shots, but we had to accept the fact that more often than not, a video guy would periodically block your shot.

I hate to admit it but memorializing Tebow's last home football game made this a must-shoot game. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to shoot in terms of FSU highlights. I've created a slide show with more images from the game that you can view by clicking here. Now for the ....

Technical Stuff

Two camera bodies (D3 & D300); D3 with a 400mm f2.8, stopped down, Aperture Priority, ISO 400 to 3200; D300 with an 80-200mm f2.8, same settings. Wide angle shots were with the D3 and a 17-35mm f2.8, same settings.

Coming Soon

Sunday afternoon, Florida International's basketball team comes in to play FSU. Isiah Thomas of Pistons' fame and Knicks' infamy is FIU's new Head Coach so I had penciled this game in on my can't-miss list. Earlier today, I got the AP assignment to shoot the game for them, so a few extra bucks will come my way but I'll have to upload photos at halftime and right after the game. Photos to come.

A Legend Retires

In typical, understated Bobby Bowden fashion, the retirement of a living legend was announced yesterday by way of a 4-page press release stapled neatly in the upper left hand corner. No ticker tape parade, no hoopla, just paper with words acknowledging the storied career of one of the greatest college football coaches in the history of the game. Much more than that, it was the culmination of a career for a principled man of indescribable character who changed the lives of many, many young men by teaching them the meaning of life and how to be a man.

Bobby Bowden is my neighbor. He lives two doors down from me. His approach to life is simple - do unto others. I can't illustrate just how he truly gave meaning to those words except to tell a brief story.

In 1995, we moved back to Tallahassee after being away for ten years. We bought our home and moved in on a Saturday. Our son was 14 years old at the time and very early the next morning (Sunday), as my wife and I slept our son crawled out of bed, put on his roller blades and skated over to Bowden's house. He knocked on the door holding a baseball cap and Coach opened the door, barefoot, dressed in boxer shorts and a white T-shirt. He looked down at our son and said, "Can I help you, son?" Mikey replied that we had just moved in a couple of doors down. "Those things you're wearing look fast," Bowden said. Mikey told him they were. "You want that hat signed?" asked Coach. "Yes, sir, it's for my girlfriend back home. Her name is Kate," said Mikey. "Well, let's see if we can't do that for her," as he took the hat, signed it and then handed it back. "Now you be careful on those things," said Coach as he shook Mikey's hand, smiled, and went back inside his home.

When Mikey told us the story, we just shook our heads. I can't imagine any other person of Bowden's stature acting the way he did in response to a stranger knocking on his or her door at 7:45 am on a Sunday morning. But, that's Coach Bowden in a nutshell.

In honor of what Coach Bowden accomplished whiloe FSU's head coach, I thought I'd give you a little insight into the man and what he's done:

PERSONAL FACTS

Born : November 8, 1929 in Birmingham, Ala.

High School : Woodlawn High, Birmingham, Ala.

College : Howard (now Samford) 1953
Collegiate Football Experience : University of Alabama (QB), freshman;
Howard (QB), sophomore-senior
Graduate Degree : Peabody College
Wife : The former Julia Ann Estock
Children : Robyn, Steve, Tommy, Terry, Ginger, Jeff

HEAD COACHING HONORS
1977 Southern Independent Coach of the Year; 1979 National Coach of the Year (ABC-Chevrolet); 1979 Southern Independent Coach of the Year; 1980 National Coach of the Year (Bobby Dodd); 1983 Inducted - Florida Sports Hall of Fame; 1986 Inducted - Alabama Sports Hall of Fame; 1987 Region II Coach of the Year; 1991 National Coach of the Year (Walter Camp); 1992 Neyland Trophy Winner; 1993 ACC Coach of the Year; 1996 National Coach of the Year (Home Depot); 1997 ACC Coach of the Year; 1999 National Coach of the Year (Home Depot); 1999 National Coach of the Decade Finalist (Home Depot); 1999 ESPN College Team of the Decade (any sport); 2006 Inducted - National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame; 2008 NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Second winningest coach in major college football history with 388 career coaching victories; The only coach in the history of Division I-A football to compile 14 straight 10-win seasons (1987-2000); Coached the Seminoles to consensus National Championships in 1993 and 1999; His 1999 National Championship team is the first in college football history to go wire-to-wire as the Associated Press' No. 1 ranked team; Set NCAA records with 11 consecutive bowl victories (1985-95) and 14 straight bowl trips without a loss (1982-95); Ranks first among active coaches for winning percentage in bowl games and has led the Seminoles to 27 straight bowl games - the longest current streak in the nation; Has guided FSU to 30 bowl appearances in 33 seasons, including 27 straight; Since 1993, Florida State has played in the national championship game five times (1993 Orange vs. Nebraska, 1996 Sugar vs. Florida, 1998 Fiesta vs. Tennessee, 1999 Sugar vs. Virginia Tech, and 2000 Orange vs. Oklahoma); Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, FSU has reached one of the BCS bowl games six times; Patriarch of the first father-son duo to lead Division I-A programs, let alone to lead them at the same time; National Citizenship Award (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) named after Bobby Bowden in 2004.

Whew!

Godspeed, Coach. I will miss our 2-minute chats at midfield during warmups and the "Hey, Buddy, how you doin'?" when we would meet.

Terrapins, Turkey and Gators

Saturday's game against Maryland was surrealistic in more ways than one. FSU's long time Defensive Coordinator, Mickey Andrews, announced his retirement at the end of this season and a tribute to Coach Andrews was paid pre-game and post-game. The pressure was on Andrews' defense: FSU was starting a redshirt sophomore at quarterback with only one prior start under his belt (last week at Wake Forest); this was Andrews' last home game; and FSU had to win this game in order to become bowl eligible. Becoming bowl eligible was the only goal left for FSU to accomplish this season as it had fallen short of every other goal which was set at the beginning of the year. Also, FSU has the nation's longest streak of consecutive bowl appearances and to have that streak end would have left fans even more upset with the demise of FSU football. No doubt it would have also resulted in more calls for Coach Bowden's (below) head.

FSU came out sporting new uniforms dreamed up and paid for by Nike to honor the Seminole Tribe of Florida. They were supposed to be garnet but they sure looked red to anyone who saw them. They also had some funky looking graphics on the shoulders and on the undershirts - the undershirt sleeves bore what was supposed to be a feather but which reminded me of the Atlanta Falcons logo. Yuck. The helmets were cool, though - black with gold metal flakes and the distinctive spear decal. But the coolest uniform piece were the receivers' gloves. Each hand/glove had half of the Seminole Logo head on the palm side. When the receivers' hands were brought together (right), they formed the complete logo. I'll show you the uniforms below and you can draw your own conclusions.

Before I forget, I'll mention the technical stuff. For the game shots, I used a D3 with a 1.4X TC and an 80-200mm f2.8 lens and a D300 with a 200-400mm f4 lens. For the pre-game shots, I used a 17-35mm f2.8 in lieu of the 80-200mm & a 1.4X TC. Camera bodies were set to ISO 400 as it was a noon kickoff, overcast day with rain predicted (no rain fell, thankfully) and both lenses were effectively f4 stopped down. I used Aperture Priority and never had an issue with shutter speed. As you can see from the images (left and below), the overcast conditions were perect for geting shots of players without any shadows hiding their faces and little or no glare reflecting off helmet visors. You couldn't have asked for better light if you had called ahead and placed an order. Any shots where the sky came into play weren't ideal, so I forced myself to shoot down as much as possible. To me, there is nothing worse than a drab grey sky for a background, both aesthetically and having to deal with it in post-processing. So, while overcast days eliminate shadows and glare, they can pose their own challenges for which you must compensate. It's really no different than when shooting a basketball game with no crowd in the stands to serve as a backdrop - to avoid having a backdrop of empty seats, you compensate and shoot down at the players from as high a vantage point as necessary.

The game actually started off well with FSU building a 14-6 lead, the offense was driving well inside Maryland territory and only a couple of minutes were left in the first half; but an interception followed by an 80 yard return allowed Maryland to score and make it 14-13 at the end of the half. After the break, the FSU offense went to sleep and couldn't seem to sustain a drive. To make matters worse, the defense began to miss tackles and it was not looking good for the home team. The Terps worked their way into the lead and with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game as FSU looked like it was driving to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, FSU's QB tossed another interception (the third one of the day) when the receiver ran the wrong route and Maryland's DB was sitting there waiting for the ball. Luckily, FSU had all 3 timeouts left but now it came down to the defense - it had to stop Maryland and get the ball back to the offense with enough time to score a TD. A filed goal was not going to be enough. Do or die, and basically, what little there was to play for this season was on the line. As 65,000 fans held their breath, FSU's defense was able to stop Maryland and get the ball back for one more try at getting the win.

Maryland punted, and if they had had any sense, they would have punted the ball out of bounds to keep it away from our freshman punt returner, Greg Reid (above and right), who leads the ACC in punt return yards and was fresh off of running one back for a touchdown just last week against Wake Forest. Reid fielded the ball deep in FSU territory near the sideline and took off, returning the ball past midfield. Had he not tripped on the grass, he might very well have run this one back for a TD, but in a way, it was fitting that QB E.J. Manuel had one last chance to redeem imself. Manuel quickly notched two nifty runs (left) that moved the ball to the 7 yard line, and with 40 seconds left, he handed off to RB Lonnie Pryor who appeared to be stopped at the 2 but spun his way into the end zone for the game winning score (below). Maryland got the ball back with 30 seconds left but the FSU defense stepped up and gave Coach Andrews a victory at his last home game on the sidelines at Doak Campbell Stadium. Andrews was fittingly carried off the field on the shoulders of his defensive players (lead photo) and FSU lives to play in a bowl game regardless of what happens in the Swamp this weekend.

 The Elvi were in the house Saturday (below) in full Elvis regalia. Aside from that, it was disappointing to see so many empty seats at both ends of the field. To me, it appeared to be a lower turnout than the previous home game (NC State) but when you have had a disappointing season and you're playing against a 2-8 Maryland team with a noon start to boot, it was not unexpected.

Time to sign off this morning so I can drive home to be with the family for Turkey Day. On Saturday, I trek up to Gainesville for what has every indication of being a thorough you-know-what kicking, not to mention shooting at the worst lit major college football stadium in the history of mankind and getting stuff thrown at me all game long from the stands. Ah, yes ... Gainesville, Florida, where the men are men and the sheep are nervous. I can't wait.

Basketball, Part Deux

FSU took on Stetson University last Wednesday night and completely dominated the Hatters with a convincing win. If you read my post from last Thursday, I tried to identify how I go about shooting a basketball game. For the most part, I followed the same pattern for this game as I did for the Jacksonville game so I will not repeat what was discussed in the prior post except to highlight my camera settings and the lenses used to shoot the Stetson game. Those are as follows: D3 and D300 camera bodies, both set to ISO 1600, Manual, f2.8 on all lenses and 1/400th second shutter speed. I used an 80-200mm f2.8 lens on the D300 and primarily a 35-70mm f2.8 lens on the D3. I did pop on my 17-35mm f2.8 for some of the pre-game shots (e,g., above left) and baseline shots as well as a 15mm f2.8 fisheye.

The more I use the fisheye and the 17-35mm on the baseline, the more I like the look of the images (above - 15mm fisheye). The only problem is resisitng the urge to overuse these lenses as just a few shots with these boys go a long way.

  

To me, there's nothing that looks better than a super tight shot of a dunk (above). A lot of things have to fall into place in order to score a good image: the player has to dunk from the left side (as I sit on the right side of the basket) so as to be facing you as you shoot; no arms or other obstructions (ref) in the way, blocking the play or the dunker's face; and dead on focus, which is a challenge because the player is usually coming right at you and you have to hope that the camera locks in on the right player and stays with him as he moves towards you. But then, virtually every shot requires essentially the same things coming into play. The only difference is that I hate it when I don't get crisp shots on dunks. When they don't turn out the way I had hoped, it's a little more disappointing than when other shots don't quite turn out.

Below are a few more images from the game. Since I have pretty much shot what I needed to get from "my" spot under the basket, I am planning on shaking things up a bit next game and shoot at least one half from the TV camera alcove at mid court, but up high in the nose bleed section. I will probably use a 400mm f2.8 lens on the D3 for these shots with an 80-200mm f2.8 on the D300. This vantage point can make for some interesting shots, but as you can imagine, the best images will result when the players are facing me. I've shot from this spot many times, and many times I have left with nothing really of note - any meanigful images had the players facing in the opposite direction from where I was positioned. I'll try to illustrate what I mean after I shoot the next basketball game. There's no way to avoid this as you can't be on both sides of the floor so I just hope that at least some of the time, the players will be facing me.

Look for photos from the FSU-Maryland football game (I went through well over 600 images during that game, and that's after I deleted a bunch on the cameras as I was shooting) which I hope to post before Thanksgiving but it all depends on whether I have enough time. I will be at the FSU-Florida game Saturday afternoon and those will be posted early next week. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to all and bring on the turkey!

Basketball Jones

I know football is king, but I love basketball. I grew up in Northern Indiana where more people went to a high school basketball game than a football game. I was never very good at basketball as for some reason, I couldn't shoot to save my life. For a guy 5'9" tall, that was pretty much the kiss of death. Even though my basketball skills are limited, I still love to watch the game and better yet, photograph the game. I will try to walk you through how I shoot a game, what I look for and what I use to do it. I'll use Monday's FSU-Jacksonville University game, which was FSU's season opener, to illustrate. FYI, my method applies to situations where you are shooting one specific team. I'll start with equipment.

I use two camera bodies, currently a D3 and a D300. I typically go with a 35-70mm f2.8 lens on the D3 and an 80-200mm f2.8 lens on the D300. The D3 is for shots at the near basket (above, left), the D300 for shots at the far basket and for when I want to get shots of players as they are dribbling down the floor towards me (right). I start by setting the camera bodies to Manual mode, f2.8 aperture and 1/400th second shutter speed at ISO 1600. I take a few test shots during warm ups and adjust the settings if necessary. Use of two camera bodies means that you have to learn how to switch out quickly as play develops. It's tough to have a player screaming down the floor on a breakaway and you're still holding the body with a 1.5X multiplier (D300) and an 80-200mm lens. When that happens, I zoom out to 80mm (which translates to 120mm), focus quickly on the basket and wait for the player to go up for the dunk. It's a quick shot and it's very tight, but if you pre-focus on the basket you will get some good stuff (below). I'd much rather have the 35-70mm in my hands, but you gotta dance with what you brung and make do as best you can with what you have in your hands.

Shots to look for at the far basket include rebounds (below, right) and players on defense while they are facing you. If you're lucky, you can also get players diving to the floor for loose balls or while trying to steal the ball (below). In terms of my preference for positioning, I make it a point to sit as close to the basket support (on the floor) as I possibly can. Many photographers position themselves as far to the side as they can on the baseline because over the years, they have grown tired of getting nothing but the all-too-large rear ends of referees dominating the image. I used to make it a point to shoot from the outside, until I discovered that primo piece of real estate right next to the basket (which is shunned by most others). That's not to say I will shoot every game or every second of every game from this spot as I try to mix up my locations a bit to get a little variety, but my go-to spot is as close to the basket as I can get. The reason is amazingly obvious but yet overlooked - if you're sitting right next to the TV cameras (one of which is always manned on the floor, at both baskets, right next to the basket support), the referees do their best not to block the TV coverage. If you're a few feet away from the basket, you will get repeatedly blocked by a ref's rear end as he positions him or herself to call the game. Hands down, get as close to the basket as you can.

As always, shooting any sporting event includes getting some shots of the ambiance, or pageantry of the game. In basketball, there are a myriad of pageantry shot opportunities, such as cheerleaders/dance teams (above) and pre-game activities (lead photo). Then there's the coaches. I always devote some time to getting shots of FSU's head coach (left) as well as the assistant coaches (right), especially in the second half when I sit beside the basket closest to the FSU team. Whenever a bad call is made or when a player fails to do what he is supposed to do, I can always count on Coach Hamilton to express his feelings and/or make his point with a referee. That's one of the times I will reach for the camera body with the 80-200mm so I can vary shots from head shots to full body shots. I'll post a few more examples below to show you what I mean.

You may be thinking that I've forgotten about the most important aspect of shooting basketball, what with all the stuff about coaches and pageantry - action. After all, that's what it's all about, isn't it? That's where the 35-70mm really shines as far as I'm concerned. To me, it is the most versatile little lens I can have on the floor. On my D3 I can get great shots of dunks and can still nail a player as he takes a jump shot, drives the lane (left), or pulls down a rebound at the near basket. If I switch out and use the 35-70mm on the D300, I get more reach out onto the floor while still having enough flexibility to get dunks or infighting under the basket (below).

A few final thoughts. At some point during most games, I'll grab my 15mm fisheye and place the camera body on the floor, horizontal orientation, tilted up at an angle (approximately 45 degrees). That will produce shots like the one below.

To get some additional variety, I will also use my 17-35mm f2.8 lens on the D3, zoomed out to 17mm, and for the most part, replicate the camera position used with the 15mm fisheye. The one exception is the upward tilt - I decrease the tilt to approximately 30 degrees upward from 45 degrees upward. That is because the 15mm's field of view is greater than the 17-35mm's so you have to compensate some. Here's an example of a shot with the 17-35mm.

The difference is obvious - the 15mm gives you a wider angle view with some stylistic curvature. The 17-35mm is just a super wide angle view with little or no curvature.

Don't overlook free throws (above). They present great opportunities for photos that are always desirable for media purposes. Finally, any chance you get to catch some emotion from players, grab it. I always keep one eye peeled on the bench in case someone is dejected or full of emotion. Player substitutions also present good opportunities to snag a shot or two of players interacting as the guys on the bench will always greet the guys coming off the floor with a high five or a chest bump (left). I have to constantly remind myself to grab the camera with the 80-200mm lens for these shots and if I forget to plan ahead, I will miss shots that definitely add to the mix.

More To Come

I shot the FSU-Stetson basketball game last night so there will definitely be more basketball posted in the near future. Also, FSU's women's basketball team returns home to play Friday night after knocking off the Lizards from Florida Tuesday night. Then there's football versus Maryland Saturday at noon (with rain predicted - making it 6 for 6 in terms of rain games this season - yuck). I still don't know if I can make the women's game Friday night but there's a chance. I'll definitely be at the football game Saturday.

Soccer Weekend

As I mentioned last week, I was hired to photograph the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions as they made their debut in the first round of the NCAA playoffs Friday afternoon and it turned out to be one of my more disappointing efforts. In order to make sure I caught the Lady Lions on offense, I began the first half camped out along the end line on the Lions' side of the field, but after 30 minutes had elapsed I had nothing on my memory cards. I mean I had absolutely nothing - zippo, nada. It's not because of anything I did wrong. Florida State was so much better than SE Louisiana that the ball never crossed midfield during the first 30 minutes and FSU was up 3-0. So, being the diligent professional that I like to think I am, I hiked to the other end of the field so I could at least get some shots of the team, albeit on defense. I just wanted something on the cards with some action and since play was taking place on the other end of the field, that's where I figured I needed to be.

So, what happens? As soon as I get down to the other end of the field, SE Louisiana makes a run and scores on a header (above). Wonderful. I got a shot, as you can see, but certainly not from the right perspective.

Remember, I wanted to try something different - I was going to set up a remote camera to get some shots from behind the goal, but since the game began at 4:30 pm and light was not going to last long, I opted to wait until FSU's game on Sunday (I felt pretty safe in assuming that FSU would be playing on Sunday). I guess I should explain a bit more - in order to set up a remote like I wanted to, I knew that light would be an issue. With low light or under stadium lights, it's all I can do to get a fast enough shutter speed at f2.8 and ISO 1600. That means very little depth of field, such that the keeper may be in focus (by pre-focusing on the keeper and setting the camera/lens to manual focus) but anything in the foreground or background will be blurred. The only way I know to get players involved in a score to be sharp/in focus is to open up the lens to, say f11. If at ISO 1600 and f2.8 I can barely get a fast enough shutter speed, imagine what the shutter speed would be at f11. It wasn't worth the effort, so I opted to wait until Sunday when FSU would be playing against the Auburn/Cal winner in the second round game. Anyway, I shot what I could and have sent SE Louisiana a disc with the best images I could get. I also got a few shots for FSU that turned out OK.

Sunday was Cal and game time was 1:00 pm. I arrived an hour before the game and set up the remote camera/lens with the receiver on the end of the field that would put the sun behind the net (the way FSU's field is laid out, the sun moves accross the field from one sideline to the other but behind one of the goals). So, you're essentially forced to shoot in one direction to avoid shooting into the sun and avoid all that goes with the resulting backlighting. I went with my D3 and a 17-35mm f2.8 lens set to f16 at ISO 400. The resulting shutter speed was 1/500th second. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, I set up a remote behind the net and got some decent shots, only the net detracted from the images. This time, I set up the remote on a tabletop tripod and inserted the lens hood barely through one of the holes in the net. I set the zoom to get as wide a shot as possible, but I didn't want to go too wide or else the field players would have looked like ants. Therefore, the 15mm fisheye stayed in the bag. I believe I ended up settling for 17 mm in focal length and .... ta-da - no net. Of course, that meant having some $6,500 in camera/lens in the line of fire, but sometimes you just have to go for it. A squarely kicked ball directed at the center bottom of the net would probably have meant a smattering of camera parts behind the net, but the bullet was dodged and I got a few shots (see, e.g. below). They weren't what I had hoped for because FSU had a 2-0 lead at the half and the team was in shut down mode in the second half - that was the half in which FSU was attacking the goal with the remote. There was only one real scoring threat (which made the final score 3-0). My remote's transmitter and receiver batteries were wearing down by the second half so the camera only fired once as I held the transmitter button down - that's the shot I've posted below. But the potential is there for some great images with new batteries and a day game. The idea definitely works but in hindsight some tweaking will be required in terms where I pre-focus - I now see that it would be much better to pre-focus on an area beyond the keeper.

FSU returns to play this coming Friday in the Round of 16 and the opponent is 23rd ranked Texas A&M which defeated Memphis 3-1 and LSU on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in its Regional. Game time is 7:00 pm and I'm not sure if I can make the match as I have a family obligation Friday evening. Even if I can make it, I won't be able to use the remote set up as the game will be under the lights.

Other Stuff

FSU opened its Men's Basketball season last night and romped over Jacksonville University. I was there and it was great being back on the floor shooting basketball. The 'Noles play again tomorrow night against Georgetown (not THE Georgetown, but the Georgetown in Kentucky). I haven't had a chance to start cleaning those photos up yert but should be posting something in the next day or so. FSU's women's team opened up play last Friday night but I was at soccer. They return home to play this Friday night but I'll have to miss that too (and volleyball Friday night). Oh well. Too many things, too little time.

Catch Up

NCAA Soccer
Time to catch up on a few things that I've let slide the last couple of days. Yesterday, I was hired by Southeast Louisiana State University to photograph their soccer team as it competes in the NCAA Soccer Tournament hosted by Florida State. The Lions are the 16th seed in the regional and face #1 seed FSU in the first game of the tournament Friday at 4:30 pm. If they make it past FSU, they would face Auburn or Cal in the second round game. I am going to experiment a bit more with a remote camera set up behind the net but I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve which will hopefully result in great goal shots without the net in the way.

Florida State Basketball 
The season begins Friday for the FSU women's team at 7:00 pm and on Monday evening for the men. I'm not sure if I can make the women's game as my daughter's school is having a shindig and she would like for me to come - priorities. So, my first basketball game this season may well be the men's game Monday night. I'm really looking forward to basketball season this year (both men and women), especially given how our football season is going. FSU should make a strong run in the post season with both of these squads.

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed me or posted comments on the blog about Clay
Your expressions of support and prayers are too kind. Having said that, please direct your thoughts and prayers to Clay's 8 year old son, who must be dazed and confused over the loss of his dad, and Clay's wife who is left without her soul mate. Thank you all.

Life And Death

A few short months ago, one of my closest and dearest friends had his world turned upside down by four little words - "You have pancreatic cancer." Warfield "Clay" Bennett was my next door neighbor, my friend, my big brother from another mother. He listened when I needed someone to talk to; he laughed at my stupid antics; he taught me how to turn the other cheek even though that is not my nature; and he always had a smile on his face. I can honestly say that I never saw Clay mad or angry at anyone. He never failed to see good in even the worst of people and had an incredible appreciation for the simplest things - the taste of a juicy apple, the colors of a sunset, and the smell of a flower. He would look at me and say, "Mike, it doesn't get any better than this."

Clay and I traveled to golf events many, many times as Clay lived for golf. He loved everything about the game and was a walking encyclopedia when it came to the game's history. If you asked him how many majors Walter Hagen won, not only could he tell you, but he also knew which majors he won. He admired those who played the game well and he loved to correct flaws in a swing if you sought his advice. God knows he spent hours with me at the range and no matter how frustrating it must have been for him, he patiently worked with me and worked with me and worked with me until I finally got it right. His patience was only one of his many qualities that made him so special.

Asking him to accompany me to shoot a tournament and carry my camera gear was like asking a fish if he would like to be in water. It didn't matter how long a drive or what time we would have to leave - his bag would be sitting outside his door as I would drive up his driveway to pick him up. Two years ago, I called Clay on a Saturday afternoon and asked him if he'd like to walk 18 holes with Jack Nicklaus on Monday morning - not to play, mind you, but to walk with Nicklaus while I photographed him. I told him that in order to do it, we had to leave home at 2:00 am on Monday and drive 7 1/2 hours to make it in time for a 9:45 am tee time. We would also have to take turns driving down and then drive halfway home after we were through so we could be back early Tuesday. Anyone else would have told me I was nuts. Clay was all in. 

Clay's battle with cancer ended this morning at 8:00 am. He had been in the hospital recently as the disease had spread much faster than anyone could have possibly expected. Three months ago, you wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with him. For the past few days, he could not eat as cancer had ravaged his digestive system. He was relegated to bed with an IV for fluids and a morphine pump for the pain. I visited him Friday at lunch and again on Sunday for a couple of hours. On Monday, I spent the lunch hour with him again and I thought he looked better. He would still drift in and out of consciousness but he managed to give me a smile and a fist bump when I first arrived and before I left regardless of how much pain he felt.

I was planning on visiting him today at lunch. Last night, I went through all the events we had gone to together and I pulled some 20 photos I had taken of him. When we would shoot an event, he would always figure out a way to position himself in some of my shots next to Tiger or Ernie Els or Retief Goosen; or, he would strike up a conversation with Nicklaus or Player or Trevino. I wanted to make some prints, put them into a photo album, and take them to the hospital so we could laugh about how he always managed to get up close and personal with these guys. This morning, I was making the prints. As my printer spit out the last photo just past 8:00 am, the phone rang - his wife was calling to tell me Clay had just passed away. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. It couldn't be. I wasn't ready...but I guess he was.

For his sake, I'm glad the battle is over and that he is in a better place. It was heartbreaking to visit him in the hopsital, seeing this once vibrant, fit, active person relegated to a hospital bed without being able to roll over on his side. No matter how much pain he was in, he would bravely shrug it off. Selfishly, though, I did not want him to go. There was a time I had hoped we would be able to make one more trip to the Tavistock Cup this spring, or maybe one more trip to Augusta together, or at the very least, one more February trip to Delray Beach to play in my cousin's Member-Guest. It was not meant to be.

These are some of the photos I was going to take to the hospital with me today. I wish I had thought about printing them sooner so he and I could have had one good, long laugh together while reminiscing. I'm posting them here for you Clay. I laughed as I processed them and I can almost hear your voice, "Mike, get me with Tiger." But I'm having a hard time putting into words what you meant to me. Wherever you are, I hope you're watching and can see these. Good times, my brother. I'll never forget them or you.

No Lions Or Tigers But BEARS, Oh My!

Last Sunday was a whirlwind day that will be hard to top - shooting the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns game at Soldier Field as a guest of Bears' Owner & Chairman Mr. Mike McCaskey and his family. Before I go any further, my sincere thanks to the McCaskey family for their warmth and hospitality. Words can't describe their generosity and down to earth manner. Now, for the details. I was at the airport at 6:15 am for a 7:30 am departure from Tallahassee to Atlanta and then a connection to O'Hare. I was scheduled to land in Chicago at 11:30 am, and no matter how I sliced it, I had resigned myself to missing most, if not all, of the first quarter. There was no other choice - I had to be home Halloween night (Saturday). I also had to be back in Tallahassee Sunday night for a Monday morning prior committment. That meant having to leave Soldier Field by no later than 4:00 pm, game over or not, for a 6:00 pm flight to Atlanta and a connection to Tallahassee that was sceduled to arrive home at midnight. Amazingly, it all went better than clockwork - we arrived at O'Hare at 11:05 am and I was on the sidelines shooting with only 3 minutes or so gone in the first quarter; the game ended at 3:45 pm and I was back at O'Hare at 4:45 pm. All return flights were uneventful. I definitely had somebody looking over my shoulder.

I've created a slide show with some of my favorite shots from the game. I have posted it on my web site on the Featured Slide Shows page, which includes the photos posted here. You can also see the slide show by clicking here.

Technical Stuff -

I did not want to check my camera gear and let the baggage handlers toss my gear around; I had to be able to carry it onto the planes, even on the two commuter jet legs I would be on. So, I packed my stuff into my new Lowepro Pro Roller 1 which was just the right size to fit under the seat of the commuter jets I was scheduled to be on and in the overhead compartment on the other jets. The tradeoff was that the Pro Roller 1 wouldn't hold as much as its bigger brother, the Pro Roller 2. So, I had to be very selective about the gear I took.

I ended up taking the following: two camera bodies (D3 & D300); 200-400mm f2.8 lens; 80-70mm f2.8 lens; and a 1.4X TC. All of the above fit (barely) into the case. My monopod was attached to a backpack I also carried on. After arriving at Soldier Field, I put the 200-400mm on the D300 and the 80-200mm on the D3 (with the 1.4X TC). I used Aperture Priority and the lenses stopped down. At ISO 400, there was plenty of light to get a fast enough shutter speed even though it was somewhat overcast with full cloud cover. The cloud cover was a good thing - no shadows to hide the players' faces.

Towards the end of the game, the sun came out and it bathed the stands with light while the field was in the shadows of the stadium. That posed an exposure challenge as proper metering on the field would lead to blown out highlights in the stands; overexposing the field to avoid blown out highlights only meant the images on the field would be too dark. That's when you have to experiment. I set a camera body to Manual and began taking test shots of players on the field with some of the stands in the background. After a few test shots, I settled on a shutter speed of 1/500th at f4 with the ISO at 400. That gave me images of the players that were not too terribly overexposed while keeping the highlights just this side of being blown out. With a little help from Photoshop, I knew I could correct the images so they would be usable and I guessed right.

The other part of the trip I failed to mention was having a chance to spend the afternoon with Scott Kelby (right) and Alex Walker (center - the winner of the "Shoot on the Sidelines With Scott & Mike"). Alex was everything I expected and then some. What a class act. Scott was a hoot as he always is.

In short, a day that I'll not soon forget.

A Homecoming Shoot Out And A Preview Of Da Bears

Last weekend was Florida State's Homecoming, but with the way FSU's defense has been playing, no game is a gimme. Traditionally, a school plays what passes for a patsy so alumni can come back to their alma mater and spend an enjoyable weekend - which includes a win on Saturday. This year, NC State was the intended sacrificial lamb, but this year, it wasn't until the final seconds ticked off the clock that anyone could take a deep breath and celebrate a win.

Florida State came out on top in another high-scoring thriller (over 1,000 yards of combined offense between the two teams) that was in doubt until the final play. Defense by both teams was non-existent.  Coach Bowden (left) was concerned enough that he even donned the headset more often than he has in the recent past. Fortunately for FSU, Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher (right) had the offense clicking. Bert Reed's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:36 left in the game lifted the Seminoles to a 45-42 win over North Carolina State, but not before everyone in the stands sweated out those final 96 seconds.

Freshman Greg Reid (#5, above) continues to electrify the crowd while returning punts. Reid is a legitimate threat to score anytime he touches the ball, or at the very least, give the offense a spark with great field position. FSU led most of the game, and by as many as 10 points, but NC State took its first lead at 42-38 with 3:50 left. The Seminoles answered with an eight-play, 66-yard drive. Jermaine Thomas ran for a career high 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns (above) and freshman Chris Thompson scored twice (below) on short runs for the Seminoles (4-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Prior to the last half fireworks, the Seminole Tribe of Florida crowned FSU's Homecoming Chief and Princess during a halftime ceremony which also featured the current FSU Marching Chiefs as well as an alumni band.

The smallest home crowd at Florida State since 1993 (67,712) was forced to stay until the bitter end so as to witness the Seminoles win their second in a row after three straight losses. It turned out to be the latest thriller for the Seminoles, who had already lost heartbreakers at home to Miami and Georgia Tech this season. The Seminoles took a 38-28 lead on Thompson's second touchdown, a 4-yard run, with 11:52 left in the game, but NC State answered with a pair of quick touchdowns. Florida State was balanced on offense, rushing for 278 yards while Christian Ponder (above, left) added another 277 through the air. He completed 26 of 40, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rod Owens. He was also picked off twice, the first ending a string of 254 passes without an interception. Florida State's Reed had 44 yards on four runs and caught six passes for 66 yards. Ponder spread the wealth around in therms of passes as he also repeatedly threw to several other receivers and backs, including Taiwan Easterling and Jarmon Fortson (above, right).

Technical Stuff - The weather was iffy up until kickoff. There were a couple of downpours after warmups but before game time and I was not anticipating that rain, so I did not have my rain covers with me ont he field. At halftime I had to head back to the photo media room under the stadium to grab my my rain covers. These are the two new ones I bought a few weeks ago and blogged about and they performed exactly how I had hoped.

During the pre-game, I used my 17-35mm f2.8 on my D3 and my 80-200mm f2.8 with a 1.4XTC on a D300.  It was a noon kickoff, so light was not an issue. Once the game beagn, I switched out and used the 80-200mm w/the TC on the D3 and my 200-400mm f4 lens on the D300. Throughout the event, I had the camera bodies set to ISO 200, Aperture Priority, lenses stopped down.

The first two photos (fromt he top) and the one of the Homecoming Chief/Princess were shot with a D3 and the 17-35mm f2.8; Shots of Bowden, Fisher, Ponder, Fortson, the large image of the fumble and Reid were taken with the D300/200-400mm; the others were all taken with D3/80-200mm/1.4XTC. If anyone has any questions about technical stuff, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Da Bears - OK, next on my list is cleaning up the photos from Sunday's Bears/Browns game. I've only had a chance to glance at them so I don't really know what I have or whether there's anything of note. As I was flipping through them, one caught my eye and I've posted it on my web site on the Featured Photo Page. Hopefully, lots more to come.  

  

Sow's Ear Or Silk Purse?

I am not a concert photographer nor do I play one on TV. But last Friday, I had to shoot the Booster Bash at a local club, celebrating the culmination of a ten year effort on the part of Florida State's Boosters to raise $110 Million Dollars for athletic scholarships. The group actually raised $114 Million, but who's  counting. The Bash happened to coincide with Halloween, and the attendees were dressed accordingly. I was there to photograph the Boosters as they ate, drank and danced their way around the venue. Heading out there, I was less than enthused about another grip & grin event, my least favorite thing to shoot. I had no idea that I would have a chance to actually do something interesting and fun - shooting the show band that was hired to provide the music.

As I said, I am no concert photographer, but once the stage lights came on and I saw the band bathed in a non-stop wave of colors, I headed to my equipment case and popped on my 80-200mm f2.8 lens for close ups with my D3 and stuck my 15mm f2.8 fisheye in a pocket for ultra wide angle shots. All of the photos posted here were taken with one of the two combinations of camera body/lens. I positioned myself as close to the stage as possible and walked from side to side as the band played, snapping away. ISO was either 800 or 1600, depending on the light and lenses were stopped down to f2.8. I can't recall the shutter speed I got with the D3 set to Aperture Priority, but in reviewing the images as I shot them, I knew that whatever the shutter speed I was getting was adequate to stop most of the motion.

I had a great time with this unexpected opportunity as I have always wanted to do some "concert" shooting but have not had a chance. After wrapping up what I was there to shoot, it was time for me to have some fun and I couldn't help but be enthralled by the colors on the stage as the lighting would change from moment to moment. I experimented with various camera angles as I shot, and the freedom to do whatever I wanted without any worries as to whether a given shot would turn out allowed me to let my imagination go nuts. I found that by holding the camear on the stage floor, or at waist level, and shooting up at the performers made for a neat perspective with the fisheye. For close up shots, crouching down in front of the stage and shooting up with the 80-200mm gave me the most interesting shots.

So, an otherwise uneventful evening turned into something I enjoyed thoroughly. It just goes to show you that even the most dreaded of assignments can often surprise you with unexpected opportunities.

Lots More To Come This Week

Now that I have some time, I will be finalizing photos from the FSU-NC State football game Saturday as well as the Bears-Browns game in Chicago. Unfortunately, the FSU images take precedence as I have to turn in those photos and upload some to Replay Photos for sale, but as soon as those are finished, I am going to dive in to the images from the Bears game. I will have lots of football images to post in the next couple of days.

Ciao for now.

Whirlwind Sunday - Tallahassee to Chicago to Tallahassee

What a great 24 hours. I jumped in my car Sunday morning at 6:00 am to head to the airport with fingers crossed everything would go smoothly. In order for everything to work out, I was at the mercy of Delta Air Lines, weather, taxis and airports. Since Saturday was Halloween, I had to be home for Halloween duties and could not leave town until Sunday morning, but with some luck, Sunday shaped up to be a great day and it was all that and more.

You see, there was a little unfinished business to tend to. I was all set to fly to Chicago to shoot the Bears and the Browns at Soldier Field with two very good friends - Messr. Scott Kelby and none other than Alex Walker (lead photo, L to R - me, Alex and Scott). Problem was that even with the earliest possible departure Sunday morning, I was slated to land at O'Hare at 11:30 am after a connection in Atlanta and the Bears' game was a noon kick off. I knew I would never make it in time for any pregame activities but I was hopeful I would get to the stadium before the end of the first quarter. Then there was the return trip home - I had to be back Sunday night as I had something scheduled at home that I could not miss Monday. One little snafu and I would either miss a good bit of the game and/or not make it home as planned.

It couldn't have worked out better. I actually landed at O'Hare early - 11:05 am - and immediately grabbed a cab. I was inside the stadium with only 3 minutes gone in the first quarter, and there I was with Alex and Scott shooting away. The game ended in plenty of time to get back to O'Hare for a 6:00 pm return flight that connected through Atlanta and I touched down in Tallahassee at midnight with nothing but great memories (P.S. - Alex, I waited outside the photo room under the stadium as long as I could so we could cab back to airport but I never saw you. I tried to call Scott to see where you were but he had his phone off. Hope you made it back to the airport OK, my man).

I have not had time to go through the photos yet but will be posting lots more from the game, as well as from Saturday's FSU game, later this week. I also have some unexpectedly neat stuff from Friday night's Booster Bash, but I have to get moving on things today so I will leave at this for now. If any of you want to read more about the day with Alex, visit Scott Kelby's blog (www.scottkelby.com/) as Scott has beat me to the punch and posted more details.