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Hoop Frames.
Last week I got a pleasant surprise in the form of an answering machine
message. Richard Gilmore, from the photo department at the Sacramento
Bee, had a freelance job for me, but it wasn't for the Bee. The Long-Beach
Press-Telegram called the Bee asking if the photographer covering the
state championship basketball game in Sacramento would send them pictures
of Dominguez High School, which is down in the Long Beach area. When he
declined because of poor pay, somehow my name got thrown into the mix
and Richard called me. He gave me the contact information and wished me
luck. My hours of hanging around it the photo department at the Bee appears
to have paid off.
The pay they offered was low, no doubt about it. Especially since
they wanted four pictures for a package. I quoted them a price several
times what they were offering. They balked. I came down $50 from that
figure, and we struck a deal beneficial to both. It goes to show that
sometimes what people say they have "budgeted" for the photographs
are often just a starting figure.
Come Friday night, I happily went to the game, thanked the Bee
photographer for the work, and worked very hard shooting the game. The
lights inside Arco Arena are daylight balanced and the exposure on 800
film (Fuji) is f/2.8 at 1/250. I would like to push my film one-stop to
1/500 but since a 1-hour lab would be developing this film, I had to settle
with the 1/250 exposure. There was some motion blur on some of the images
due to the shutter-speed, but overall it worked out just fine.
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My standard basketball set-up is my EOS-1 on a Canon USM 300mm
f/2.8L lens, and a EOS-1n on a Canon 80-200 f/2.8L lens. I shoot
with the 300mm from the half-court line to the far free-throw line,
and the 80-200 from the near hoop out to mid-court. As the game
winds down, I make sure that I have two cameras that are loaded
with plenty of film, and put a 28mm on one and keep my 80-200 on
the other for post-game reaction. That paid off.
As the time ran out, I positioned myself to the right of
the Dominguez bench, in front of the media and scorer's table. When
the game ended the players on the bench and the players on the floor
met somewhere in between in a sea of embracing black and red and
yellow jerseys. At this point I am in total auto-pilot, oblivious
to everything except what I see. All my attention is on what is
in front of me. Something catches the corner of my left eye, and
I am drawn over to it, as a player jumps onto the back of another
for a piggy-back ride. I see the Associated Press photographer behind
these two trying to get in front where I am. (Click-click-click-click)
four frames and the player dismounts. I am confident I have my jubilation
picture, and hang back for a bit to see if I can find anything else.
Nothing.
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After winning the Div. II state championship,
Dominguez High School's Bobby Jones gets a piggyback ride from teammate
Larry Johnson at Arco Arena, in Sacramento, Calif., on March 19, 1999.
(Joe Jaszewski/Special to the Press-Telegram)
Dominguez High School's Keith Brooks looks for
a shot after driving past Grant High School's Ronald Dosty in the
Don's state-championship win at Arco Arena, in Sacramento, Calif.,
on March 19, 1999. (Joe Jaszewski/Special to the Press-Telegram) |
| I head over to the Grant High School bench, en
route to the press room to get the final stats. Amidst hanging heads
and white towels I see what I think was my best picture of the night:
a crying mother holding her son's head as if it say, "its ok,
you did great, I am so proud." I did my best to capture this
emotion on film, getting in tight with the 200mm. Naturally I didn't
send that image, since the Press-Telegram just wanted coverage of
the school in their area, but its a portfolio-keeper. |
Although it was of the other team, I think this
was my strongest images of the game. Tony Dosty comforts her son Ronald
Dosty after Grant High School lost the Div. II basketball championship
at Arco Arena on March 19, 1999. |
| Thankfully I didn't limit my vision that night to just
what the newspaper wanted. I made sure I had everything I needed to
please the newspaper, then I looked for more, something for myself.
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Dominguez High School's Ronald Jackson and Grant
High School's Stephen Walton lunge for the ball in the Don's state-championship
win at Arco Arena, in Sacramento, Calif., on March 19, 1999. (Joe
Jaszewski/Special to the Press-Telegram) |
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