Marathon Shooting

I've shot the St. George Marathon a few times, and it pales in comparison to the marathon of shooting I've done over the last 3 days. The Region 9 basketball tournaments were in Cedar City, and I shot just about every game. A few things stuck out as something worth sharing on here.

The first thing is to show up on time to every shoot. And by "on time" I mean "early". I usually aim for 30 minutes early for local shoots. This gives you a buffer in case anything happens. And I assure you, it will happen. Parking was a nightmare, and combined with cutting my time too close, I ended up driving around the SUU campus looking for a parking spot that didn't require 4-wheel drive. Also, the people at the court-side desks, aren't the greatest people to ask to scoot down when you show up late. So get to shoots early, claim your territory, and get shooting.

Also, carry extra of everything. I usually go through a scenario in my head on the way to a shoot that involves everything I bring in suddenly not working. It's pretty close to the worst-case scenario. And I ask myself if I could still make the shoot happen with a quick trip to my car. The answer is usually. Extra lenses, an extra body if you have one, extra batteries for everything, extra cards.

It always boggles my mind that people with spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on camera gear, and then $10 on a small memory card and cripple their ability to shoot. The same goes for batteries. Always have extra. Always!

Not having extra expensive cameras makes sense. But a couple bucks worth of batteries? Why the hell not?

Finally, have a system, and know it well. I hardly had time to ditch footage between games, and certainly not enough time to edit video. But not only did extra cards save the day, but know how to prioritize tasks on the fly. A few times a game would be starting, and I was still waiting for the coach from the last game to get out of the locker room. Does anybody watch the first 5 minutes of the game? Not really. Players are still warming up, there are still a lot of time-outs on the board, no buzzer shots, and there is still plenty of time on the clock for stuff to happen. On the other hand, do people want to hear what a victorious coach has to say about how he beat the other team? most likely. It adds a personal touch to what people are watching.

Also, take the breaks you can. Just like a rest stop on a road trip when you "don't really need to go", you just don't know when the next chance will come along. Take them when you get them, and stock up on the free food these places usually provide. You won't know when you'll get a chance to go back, and you certainly can't predict how hungry other photogs and reporters get. The safe bet is "very".

TL;DR ?
Be prepared, have backups, have a system.