Tuesday night, shooting a HS basketball game with a couple of
newspapers interested in freelance submission , the school
publication asking for pics, and orders from a couple of player
parents asking for prints featuring their own budding Michael Jordan,
I broke THE RULE and got caught.
After lugging a Domke full of lenses, batteries, film, extra bodies,
tools, cords, and filters to every game for two years, I had decided
to fly light this year and went to the game sporting only my 4T,
mounted 50mm lens, flash, power pack, and a half dozen rolls of film.
I've found that I work best using one focal length all night, and saw
no reason to lug all the extra gear.
Things start off promisingly enough, and the game looks to be heated
from the start - lots of physical play near the goal (where I'm
standing - I have the entire back wall to myself - even the refs stay
out of my way), lots of dramatic shots, and the crowd is excited.
Then the inevitable happens: a player comes flying right at me, in
perfect form for a layup, defender flying in from the other side
eager to block the shot. I'm in perfect position, kneeling just under
the goal, looking up at the action, panning up with the ball, framing
both players in a 1/2 shot with the goal and ball fully visible,
faces popping perfectly into focus, and I ever so gently squeeze the
button on the motor drive.
Aaaaaaarrrrrgh! The camera freezes, aperture closed, mirror up, no
flash.
Had a bad battery with no other batteries, no backup body, no store
nearby, and me out of luck.
Guess whos lugging a spare body and batteries to the next game? That
loaded Domke sure does weigh a lot less than disappointment over a
shot missed and rolls of potential submissions not taken!
-
B.B. Bean bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bean & Bean Cotton Co/Bean Farms http://www.beancotton.com
Peach Orchard, MO
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