The View from Above

Before we start the "Dennis Felton Death Watch" (2009 Version), I'm finding myself trying to find new and creative remote angles for basketball.

Cliche` angles seem to be backboard, overhead and hassleblad on a floorplate. At Stegeman Coliseum, there is no direct overhead over the basket. But after Georgia's 19 point first half showing against Kentucky, i felt reaosnably safe in going up in the catwalks, beyond dealing with panic attacks. I found a spot, ONE spot, that looks down over the basket and is reasonably clean - have to shoot through grating but i can get a shot of the lane. So thats what's up for next time. If i can get ahold of another camera, I'm going to do the backboard bit again.




A word on backboard remotes..... %@#$^. I'm determined to get it right - I'm determined to get these cliche` angles right just to prove that i can get the cliche's down before moving on to something a bit more bizarre. This past adveture involved 45 minutes of trying to find the ladder. I finally found an 8 foot, rickety ladder that resulted in the camera not getting up as high as it was needed. Would have had one or two pictures from it if it weren't for one thing - focus. Focus jumped on me; i forgot to tape it down.

Of course if we had strobes ... then i could shoot at f/9 or f/10. Instead, I'm at 2.8 and using whatever equipment i can find.

I'd kill for another D700 or 3 just for remote bodies.