Wednesday, May 14, 2008
After working onsite with a customer all day I shrugged off my laptop shell and headed down to College Park to shoot the 2008 ACC Softball Tournament. All season we've observed the signs pointing out the tournament this coming Spring. Al put us in for credentials and we were granted access.
The Maryland athletic department has been very good to us this Spring and that makes me really happy. In the Fall we (I) had a lot of problems getting into events and obtaining access to the field. I think that Maryland has finally warmed up to us and is starting to work with us on a more regular and positive basis. Dave Lovell has really played a big role in this.
Dave's shot a lot of softball games this spring and written a lot of articles. His presence at the games has been noticed and that's been helpful to us. As a result when we requested credentials for the ACC Tournament we were granted them without any problems.
I was pleased to be able to shoot this event. Softball is fun - it's such a small stadium, the players all yell and scream for their team, and the fans are very loyal. It lacks the formality of a basketball event but it makes up for that in the friendly atmosphere that unfolds on a late Thursday afternoon at the ballpark.
When I arrived I grabbed my 14-24mm f/2.8 lens and attached it to my D3 body and headed down to the field. I towed along my 300mm lens for later use, but for the player intros I wanted to shoot wide.
The players were great and didn't object to my presence on the field at all. If my Maryland experience is anywhere similar to what happens on their campuses it means they've had very little exposure during their season. They were all happy and excited that somebody was there photographing their participation in the ACC Tournament.
Of course there weren't any other members of the media present other than the official ACC Photographer. That didn't surprise me at all...
The game was a lot of fun to shoot and I got some decent shots while the sun was still out. The games were all shifted around due to rain in the area and the 5pm start time was pushed back to 7:30pm. Light was tough to find but it existed...
While there Dave told me that a bunch of people approached him with interest in purchasing some photos from the events. He's working with Maryland to obtain authorization for that. If it pans out it'll be a step in a new direction for the DC Sports Box. As with all new steps it brings risk... We'll have to see how it pans out.
In the mean time please go over to the DC Sports Box website and read about the ACC Softball Tournament, Day 1 results.
