So I showed up at the game hoping to find my hard card waiting for me but there was none, not even a pass for the event. So I had to wait for the media rep and well... ask again. He remembered and he was nice enough to give me both a day pass so I could walk around while he was going to his office to get the hard card.
Shooting the last two games has been without rented gear, and has yield some learning. Today I used the 70-200mm mostly, the 24-105 came out for a few shots once I had done the required shots with the other lens.
As the season progresses there are more and more people attending the games, from fans to staff personnel the place is more and more complex to navigate. For example I really like shooting from below the basket, you are really close to the action and most of the time don't have people in between the lens and the play. Most photographers seem to prefer the corner, which I think works ok for some shots, but you are more likely to have the zebra get between you and the players or other players while covering their opponents.
The real trick to covering the action from below the basket is to use a wide lens, that can be a little bit of a problem when you only have one camera, you may or may not get the shot at close range and, once the ball moves to the other side of the court you have nothing to shoot. That is why I made sure to shoot with the 70-200mm first and only after that I moved over and swapped the lens to shoot form below the basket.
During the last two games there have been four video cameras at court level, one is Stanford's own and the other one is TV. Of course photographers are at the bottom of the food chain here so you can't really claim any space right next to the basket. As far as the rest of the spots available, photographers start securing their positions 30 minutes before the start of the game. There were two cheerleader teams today taking almost both sides completely on one end of the court. It was almost as crammed as the announcements during time outs.
By the way taking the body and two lenses worked just fine, it was particularly appreciated while walking all the way from that dusty parking lot where they shove the fans. Now that I have my hard card I hope I can more easily negotiate my way into the parking lot. Either that or get there earlier I guess.
Going back to the rented gear issue, I really dislike shooting at ISO 3200, photos are too grainy for my liking and at 1/400 on the shooter speed it's border line on the action shots. I seem to have found a buyer for the 70-200 F/4 and will immediately purchase a 70-200 F/2.8L IS USM to replace it. This will allow me to shoot at ISO 1600 or to increase the shooter speed a little bit.
After these few games I have decided that I need a second camera. I came really close to buying one before the year ended but, just by dumb luck, these cameras on CL were all sold before I could make a move on them. I think this was good since what I really need is a 7D not an old/used 50D or 5D. The 7D has a new AF System and has double fps than the 40D. The 5D MkII is still a possible next step, but the newer features will be made available on the 1Ds so that may be a better choice for later.
I'm not so convinced about selling the 24-105 just yet, I think it's possible that Canon will design and manufacture a replacement to the old 24-70mm F/2.8L USM with IS. This would really be the ticket for replacing the 24-105mm.
Some of my favorites from this game
The staff
Movement
The girls having a laugh
Above the rest I
Above the rest II
Above the rest III
Focused
The bench
Team work
A smile for the fans
Technical notes:
Lens: 70-200mm F/4L IS USM and 24-105mm F/4L IS USM
ISO: 1600 and 3200
Shooter Speed: mostly 1/400 in manual mode
Aperture: F/4 in manual mode
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