From fan to photographer
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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On Saturday, Jan. 24, my dad and I drove up to Portland to watch the visiting Washington (DC) Wizards play the Portland Trailblazers, the only professional basketball team left in the northwest after the Seattle Supersonics were uprooted and moved to Oklahoma City.
I had originally hoped that my press pass from the Commuter would be enough to gain the same courtside access afforded to professional photographers from other, much larger publications, but while talking about it with a co-worker, I realized I was being horribly naïve. Luckily, one of the resident photographers was able to use his password-required database of connections to get me the contact information for the communications staff of the Rose Garden, the venue in which the Blazers play.
Unfortunately, this was the night before the game.
Without a reply, I was forced to adhere to the Rose Garden’s rules concerning the general public and image capturing devices, which includes no flashes, no video-taking ability, and no cameras with removable lenses, or SLR cameras. Bummed, since I had rented a nice SLR camera from the photo department here at LB (thanks!), I was forced to bring my point-and-shoot, which actually turned out to be a benefit rather than a burden.
For one, it didn’t require a pouch to be searched at the gate – I just tucked it into my jacket. Second, the built-in vibration reduction for my camera, absent from the lens on the SLR from school, allowed me to get crisper photos than I would have been able to otherwise.
Before the game, my dad, uncle and I wandered down all the way to the last few rows before being courtside, and we weren’t hassled as the players had yet to come to the floor. When the players ran from the tunnels, I starting shooting in hopes of getting some tight shots, but alas! They were too fast for me, and soon they started warming up… at the opposite end of the court. I couldn’t get as close of shots as I wanted! Now what?
Quick-wittedly, my dad and I broke for the lobby, looped around, and came back down the aisle on the side of the court where the Blazers were practicing. This time, with the players on the court, the usher was checking tickets. Oh dear! But we didn’t panic. Instead of trying to just sneak by, my dad cut in front of me with the game program, held it up to the usher’s face, and asked, “Hey, so who are the stars of the Wizards?” with an innocent tone. While the usher was busy trying to explain that Gilbert Arenas was injured, I tiptoed around them and got the close warm-up shots you now are enjoying.
The shots from further away are from our seats that were, no joke, all the way at the very last row of the entire arena. But I was shocked as, after having attended a few Blazers games, I had NEVER had a better view. I now know what tickets to buy: all the way back (so nobody is behind you), dead center, facing the bench. Luckily, the little point-and-shoot camera has a hefty zoom and some very decent image stabilization, and I was able to pull off these shots. The most visible thing that’s wrong is… you guessed it… too high of “film” sensitivity, or ISO. A high ISO lets you take shots in darker light or with faster shutter speeds than with a lower ISO, but you get the “noise”, seen as speckles and flecks, you see in these pictures. But that’s okay, because I was able to freeze the action and get some sweet shots!
The Blazers ended up winning, so it was great game and a great learning experience, and now I know which people to talk to in order to get courtside access when I get a chance to go back. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Comment
Great photos man nice job
— Rick · Jan 27, 06:08 PM · #
These Photos are crazy good man congrats on the brandon roy pic
— Cody Anderson · Feb 8, 11:26 PM · #
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