What a ride

So the Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series on a magic carpet winning 21 of 22 games. Then after nine days of hype and lack of real baseball they ran into the buzz saw that is the Boston Red Sox.

I was there to shoot every pitch I could while battling early deadlines, logistical hurdles and transmission problems. It was an absolute ton of work and a little stress covering a major sporting event like that for the first time. Not much time to really soak it all in. Just firing frames, thinking storylines and looking for moments.

Having to shoot every waking moment in case something is "the" moment of the game. Considering the shooting positions that the smaller papers were given, it's amazing we were able to cover the games as well as we did. Thanks to Nikon and the local rep Ron for the beloved D3 for the week, it was a touch easier and made for much better files to work with. Can't wait to get one permanently in my grubby hands.

All that being said, I tended to take a looser approach to shooting the games. I played with what was available. As I was not going to have a field-level shooting position I went for the scenic look in most of my photos. At times I was keyed on the action and just cropped the ever living hell out of a frame, but I wanted to shoot things that were not going to be typical shots.

I really wished the Rox had won at least one game to make it a little less bitter to swallow for the city, the fans and the organization. But like the loser Cubs fans always say, "there's always next year."

Timber!

Put together a video about a tree that had to be cut down in downtown Boulder.

It's a one-sided video, so my journalism needs a bit of work. It would've helped if I had the chance to get something from the other side, but that's a long post and I'm destroyed.

Operating on a couple hours of work due to shooting some video of the last press run inside the Camera building. I'm hoping to get that put together in a day or two so check back. Unless Blogger uses the same servers as the Colorado Rockies' online ticket sales company.

Rockies win!! Holy Cow the Rockies win!!

Amazement, confusion, worry, awe, excitement, stressful, exhaustion, pressure, frustration, joy, anticipation.

Feelings and emotions coursing through the mind. Not the mind of a professional baseball player, but of a professional photographer. That photographer was me.




I have never been witness to such an event. It's already past deadline. There's so many things to think about. Is the camera set right? Is the other camera set right? Do I have enough room on the card? Or should I change it out and get confused later which has what frames? Is there enough charge in the batteries of the camera and the flash? What lenses am I going to go with onto the field? Where is the last out going to be? Who is going to react the most? Do I just shoot a couple frames and go transmit? Or should I stay and shoot the trophy presentation? Do I go into the clubhouse and get me and all the gear soaked with beer and champagne? How long will all this take?

Lots of things to think about, and those are just a few that ran through my grey matter. So when people ask if I enjoyed the game, I honestly don't get to pay all that much attention to the game like most people do. Luckily I love the game of baseball and know the game fairly well. That allows me to predict a little better, but you still guess wrong just like at the plate.

I missed a few shots that I would have liked to make. Be it a wrong guess, relying on auto-focus too much, having too long of a lens for plays on the near side, or just getting caught up in the play and watching through the viewfinder instead of laying down the hammer.

I was able to get shots of the key play again, Holliday's three-run blast, like Torrealba the night before but I wasn't able to get it transmitted in time to make the paper apparently. So the web galleries are looking good but Tweety only got to use the Associated Press versions for his business the following day.

The night was a learning experience to say the least. The good thing is now I get to have another go. Only catch is that it's the World Series. I've often thought that I would never have the chance to see a World Series game in person. Now I'll be at the game documenting the history of the game with a camera. There will be more pressure and more difficulties but it will still be a fun challenge and further learning experiences, plus most of my friends will be wishing they "had to go to work" for me those days. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to watch the game I'll be getting paid to make photos.

That's rough. I guess I'll deal with it. They all will just have to have a beer for me and tell me what really happened during the game. My mind will be a little wrapped up dealing with all those thoughts and emotions once again, only this time they'll have a little less impact.

Wet and Wild

Had the pleasure of shooting game three of the National League Championship Series between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks last night in Denver at Coors Field. I had never shot a Rockies game in my life at Coors Field, let alone a huge post season game.

It was cold and very rainy. There were hundreds of media folk there. The position I was given was on the third base side at field level. I was expecting to be shooting from the top of the Rockpile honestly. The paper covered the season opener and that was all this year. Luckily they didn't take that into consideration. Only catch was that I was going to be wetter than a koi fish. Took the garbage bags and as much wet gear as I had. Still was pretty soaked after three hours sitting on a plastic footstool.

After looking on the wire and at the other major papers including MLB.com, I felt a little better about my performance. I didn't feel like I had made many shots, but in the end I had the ones that mattered. I was lucky enough to get the game-wining homerun with a bat-on-ball. You can see it in the gallery below.

So the Rox are one win away from going to the World Series. They have won 20 of their last 21 games. The city is growing more and more purple everyday. Despite a Barney knock-off mascot.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Should be interesting considering the Rox could sweep the Diamondbacks and the game doesn't start until after 8 p.m., games are at least three hours long and we have deadlines around 10.

All I want is for it to be a bit dryer. Cold is fine, wet is annoying. I'll let you know how it goes....

Hunting with a camera

It's been a while since I've been able to shoot some video for a very wide range of reasons. I was asked to go up to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park to shoot some video and stills of the elk or wapiti for a story on the fall rut. Only problem was I didn't get up there early enough. I was busy using a fire extinguisher on some good sized office fires and didn't get to leave on time.

Despite all that I was able to put together a little ditty. The best part of the deal was getting to use a real program to produce the video. Wow! What a difference. Now I guess I'll have to get back on the wagon and see if I can start making some real magic.