Saturday, January 31, 2009
Tuesday evening the Terps took on Boston College. I shot the game without doing any remote setups this evening because I wanted to collect my thoughts from the last shoot. It's also nice having both bodies available to me during a basketball game (1 on the 300mm and 1 on the 70-200).
The game was fairly uneventful from a photographic growth standpoint. I shot the same exposures and angles I've shot in the past and my post processing was very quick and painless. I remember discussions with other sports photographers who have become jaded with this genre and have looked elsewhere (other teams, other events, etc) for inspiration. I understand what they're going through but I still believe that every event is what you make of it. You can choose to try something new (e.g. 400mm from the rafters, remote on the backboard, 400mm on the baseline, wide angle from the stands).
I definitely understand the monotony of this occupation but I resist the conclusion that the profession is boring. Instead I look more towards the photographer that lacks the inspiration to try something new and think: you're boring. It's true that shooting the same thing day in and day out is monotonous, dull, uneventful, and uninspiring. Creative motivation has 2 high level sources: outside and within. You can rely on your subject for fresh new angles or you can look to yourself to keep things fresh. I believe the folks that pursue the latter strategy are successful and the folks that pursue the former wash out.
This evening I lacked creativity in my shots and I didn't look for a new angle to give me a fresh look at the court. I have reasons for that but they exist outside the realm of why I maintain this blog. The point is that tonight I went to the dark side and I see what's going on for folks that don't make an effort to keep shots fresh. It's a good learning experience for me because it reinforces the need to find new angles, new exposures, and new moments to capture.
I'm looking forward to the start of the Spring season and the return of more Olympic sports at Maryland. I'm really looking forward to Water Polo and Lacrosse matches using my remote. I really feel like I have a lot of potential to try some new angles this Spring and I'm looking forward to giving it a shot. Maryland has been very good to us (the DC Sports Box) in so far as access and I'm excited about what I can do to pay that favor back through stunning imagery and interesting articles.
