NBA Tips

* By no means am I an authority on how to shoot hoops. These are just things I do to make my life easier.

Get there early:

I like to arrive about 1 to 2 hours early when possible. It gives me a chance to eat the fine cuisine, hang out with other photographers, joke around with friends . . . With basketball you need to worry about staking out your spot, especially at the smaller venues or most colleges. Most NBA arenas will have numbers on the floor and a photographer assigned to each number. At places like Penn State, it's all fair game. If you get there 20 minutes before tip off and there is no place left to sit, don't complain. It means that 40 other people planned ahead and got there early.

Pack a lot:
Take at least two cameras. One for beyond half court, with a 400 or so on it, and one with an 80-200. If you can, you may want to take a third body with a wide angle. Basketball moves too fast to be changing lenses around.

Remotes:
Because they're cool. You know where the action is going to be, so why not put some extra cameras on the basket from obscure angles? My favorite is the overhead from the catwalk. I also really like the angle you get from the stands at a height just above the backboard. Open up any Sports Illustrated and you'll see at least four remote shots. Some are very subtle, like the one shooting up from under the basket... Usually shot on a Hassy.

Strobes:
If you can, I would strongly suggest using strobes. Again, open any Sports Illustrated, and you will notice how sharp and bright every indoor sporting event is. That's because they are shooting Provia 100 at about 1/250th @ f/8. Some places have systems that you can rent for a large fee, or you can pay a union fee to put them in yourself. Better yet, you can often find venues where you can install them yourself. I'm a huge advocate of Dnalite's, but others still swear by White Lightning's or Elinchromes. Elinchromes are very nice, but very fragile in transport. Dynalite's are horrifically small, and horrendously powerful, as well as tougher than Reggie White. Your call.

Canoe chairs:
These are about the best thing anyone has ever thought of. Go to any outdoor outfitters and pick one up for between $35 and $80 dollars. What it is is a padded folding seat that you would normally strap to an aluminum canoe seat. It gives you something to lean against and helps support your back rather than leaning forward the whole game hunching your back.

Floor protection:
Some venues, the old Market Square Arena for example, request that you have rubber lens hoods if you are going to set your camera down on the lens front. This is mainly to protect their floors. Most 300's and 400's have a rubber or soft plastic ring on the front of the lens where this isn't an issue. They won't ask you to leave, but if you go to 10 straight games without the rubber hoods or something to put the camera on, they sometimes threaten to not allow you to return.

DON'T STAND UP:
I've seen this happen on five occasions at NCAA and NBA games, where a photographer new to basketball coverage stood up to shoot around a ref. We all know how annoying the refs can be standing in front of you from time to time, but try to lean left or right. If you stand up and step out to get your shot, YOU WILL BE BLUDGEONED TO A PURPLE PULP. I'm lenient and I will warn the photographer when they sit back down, but I have seen folks reach up, grab the belt of the offender and yank them back to the floor. Once again, we're all in this together.