“Back in the Black…” (Army Black Knights Basketball) 22•Dec.•12

Army guard Maxwell Lenox (#0) is fouled by Derrick Carter (#12, right) of Rosemont during the second half of their men’s basketball game in Christl Arena at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY on Saturday, December 22, 2012. Army defeated Rosemont 90 – 48.  © CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Began my sixth season of covering Division I College Basketball at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Today’s game wasn’t much of a matchup, as Army blew away Div. III Rosemont (of Pennsylvania) 90 – 48. The afternoon did allow me an opportunity to run through a lot of my pre-game drills and sort of “shake off the rust”, especially since I wanted to work with my customary three cameras at my floor position and one remote camera – mounted somewhere in the arena. For this game I only enough time to mount my Nikon D300 low on the backboard stanchion (below at left), with it also triggering to the two arena strobes I’d installed along the top row. This camera would be on a second channel for the Pocket-Wizard radio transmitter / receiver setup I regularly use for games.

And shooting sports on strobes is always fun and sort of a treat for me if you will, because the exposures usually remain consistent, no matter which camera I’m working with. I really like the fact that with a little hustle, I can now install at least two studio strobe heads in a familiar arena in about 30 minutes, knowing that the light will be sufficient for game coverage, and that all kind of frees up my mind to concentrate more on the game action in front of me, as well as making feature images of the coach, players, and of course operate the remote camera. Today, because of time limitations during pre-game (I had an earlier assignment nearby) I’d only have enough time to install two strobe heads along the top row of the arena. Looking forward to working more games at West Point, as well as some of the other college and big HS venues in our coverage area this season. Stay tuned…  ~cg.

 

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