One Game at a Time

This weekend's slugfest of shooting concluded with the final men's basketball game for the season for the Terrapins. It's seems like the season just started and we (the DC Sports Box) were struggling just to get reporters credentials. A few months later here we are in March and we've only missed 2 (maybe 3) games total.

I'm dragging at this point. I did the Hofstra vs Maryland baseball series this weekend (3 games) as well as two water polo games on campus. They were all very enjoyable events, and the lighting was great. But I had to lug around all my camera gear without the assistance of my wheels. All told my bag probably weighs 50lbs. Without wheels that's a lot of weight to carry around campus!

My body is sore, I'm very tired from staying up late and getting up early, and my Time Machine is spinning it's head off trying to keep up with my post-processing. One nice thing about marathons like this is that they really help you improve your post-processing efficiency. I had less than an hour between the 3 sports today and in that time I managed to do all of my post processing and upload my photos. I'm really happy with that considering it used to take me days to get through a batch of photos from an event.

The game tonight was crowded but fun. I got my regular #1 spot and decided to shoot with the D2H and the 70-200 lens. I went with the D200 and 400mm lens for the long shots. It's overkill but if you are lucky you can get some good shots. The D2H high frame rate works really well. I got some really great action shots under the basket this evening.

I was looking forward to Anthony giving me the night off from writing, but I forgot that he is down in Florida covering the Nationals Spring Training. That meant that my marathon session for the weekend was extended with a writing job for the men's hoops game.

Please go read about Maryland's 70-73 loss to Clemson in the closing 2.3 seconds after Oglesby hits a 3 pointer. I have lots of photos there, and yes my writing stinks.

Our good fortune at Maryland continued this evening. Despite not hearing anything official from the athletic department, I received word that there were spaces reserved for us at the reporters desk as well as on the floor for tonight's game between the Terps and the NC State Wolfpack. I was elated to find out this news, but had to make fast in order to get back down to College Park from up in Baltimore where I was celebrating a coworkers 30th birthday in his extravigantly furnished and Apple-inspired living room.

I made it in time and parked without difficulty. When I reached the media entrance I met the same CSC gentlemen who are usually there. Many recognize me at this point except for the gentleman that holds all the credentials. To him I am still a mystery, and I repeat my name and organization every time I show up for a game. Most of the time he gives me a pass. But sometimes (like tonight), the pass is not there. Tonight there was an envelope for Anthony Amobi. It contained credentials for the next 3 home games. I took the envelope and went inside.

As I set up my laptop and pulled out my camera equipment I smiled at the thought of how far our organization (the DC Sports Box) has come in such a short amount of time. It's very fulfilling to know that we've accomplished something very tangible (obtaining media credentials to Maryland) because of our hard work.

The photo section was very crowded, and I was surprised we had a spot on the floor. It was nearly as crowded as the Duke game. The stands were also packed, and that meant I couldn't go up high and take photos through the 400mm lens. I checked in with Greg Fiume and asked if I could sit on the far side of the court. He gave me the nod and I dropped off my equipment on the baseline.

The game itself was very exciting as both NC State and Maryland played very well. James Gist had possibly the best night of his career, scoring 30 points and playing a key role in Maryland's comeback before the close of the first half. He contributed 7 of Maryland's 9 points that led to a 31-31 tie with just a few seconds remaining before the half. He also was instrumental in Maryland's 17-2 run to start the second half. Hats off to the senior for playing such a fantastic game.

Greivis Vasquez was also phenomenal. He was 1 rebound shy of a triple-double, which would have been only the second for a Terrapin. He dished out 15 assists and scored 13 points. He had 9 rebounds as well.

I wrote an article for the DC Sports Box. You can read more details about Maryland's win over NC State and take a look at my photos by going over here.

So this appears to be it: the last non-conference game for the Terps for awhile. Tonight they faced Holy Cross. The talk in the media room prior to the game was that it was going to be tight due to Holy Cross's large inside players. Julie volunteered to write an article for the DC Sports Box for us. I welcomed the offer because it reduces my workload and she's probably a better writer than I am. Please go take a look at her article over here along with my photos.

There was an article on Slashdot today about the Creative Commons license and how it is inappropriate for photography. The author, Dan Heller, makes some good distinctions between the CC being applied to photography vs other original content. I'm on the fence about it but I'm not very well versed in this matter so I'm not sure that it much matters.

What I did find interesting was Dan Heller's tutorial on model releases. I've had a lot of restless nights thinking about how to publicize my work to attract more interest (and thus get me more work) and how that is at odds with the credential process. Heller points out the distinction between "publishing" and "publicizing" and how you can "publicize" your work on your website and that does not constitute "use" (otherwise known as publishing). This makes a lot of sense to me, and it seems very cut and dry for things like wedding photography.

I'm not sure how that interacts with a credential for a sports game, so I looked at the back of a Maryland credential to see exactly what it says. Sure enough it speaks to any non-editorial "use" of the media is prohibited without consent from the University. Also subtle I think that puts me in the clear for publicizing my work on Flickr under my user account. I'm not 100% sure on this and I'll try to talk with Al about it the next time I see him.

It's difficult operating under such uncertain circumstances. If you approach Maryland for clarification they'll take the safe route and probably just say "no" without understanding you are publicizing (but not publishing) and that could lead to trouble. But if you don't say anything at all it could lead to bigger trouble down the road if somebody ever has an issue with it (like another photographer). And lastly there's the desire to publicize because it gets comments, suggestions, and possibly connections with other photographers who need assistants. Such a sticky place to be in!

If anyone has any thoughts on this photographic limbo please add them to the comments or email me!