More Remote Fun

Georgia's Albert Jackson grabs a rebound in the first half as the Auburn Tigers beat the Georgia Bulldogs 71-59 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. Auburn lead by 29 midway through the first before Georgia cut the lead to 6 points late in the second half.

With basketball remotes, its either going to be really good or really bad or such my experience has been. With both basketball programs here at Georgia having off-years, there are fewer and fewer photographers on the sidelines to share the spaces with, also meaning more available positions for remotes.

The biggest problem I've found with the available light overhead remotes is depth of field. I'm shooting wide open at 2.8 which means i have to choose a spot somewhere between someone's head and the rim to be the center of focus. If i had the strobe resources, i could just focus on the net and shoot at f/8-f/11. So i think i have that mastered and I think I'm done with all my fun in the catwalks, well for basketball anyways.

The floorplate, eh. Its an interesting look of being right under the basket, only thing is that all the subjects are looking up at the ball/hoop and 3/4 of the time it looks like a deodorant advertisement.




Georgia's Travis Leslie goes for a slam dunk in the second half as the Auburn Tigers beat the Georgia Bulldogs 71-59 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. Auburn lead by 29 midway through the first before Georgia cut the lead to 6 points late in the second half.



The pole remote? Gets the lane, you see the whole court, its okay. You see everyone, you see the play under the hoop.

Backboard? Same problem with available light, depth of field and it looks flat. All the remote stuff looks flat.

Which brings me to my new favorite angle (and i really have to credit John McDonough of SI and super-assistant Jordan Murph for where i got this idea from) which is putting a fisheye on the angled part of the pole looking down. I really feel that this view brings you into the game in a way that you cant get any closer. You see faces, you see action and its where all the action happens in a game thats not being played above the rim.




LSU's LaSondra Barrett is fouled in the first half as the LSU Lady Tigers beat the Georgia Lady Bulldogs 57-46 on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.