This is my first attempt at a still-to-video documentary-style video from event coverage. Was working the annual auto show in Detroit again this year and since I had great help from Daily photographer and UM student Max Collins, you get to see what we did all day.
Feedback welcome as always on these experiments!
This past week was the start of the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and along with the new cars and thousands of reporters, photographers, and other media types who flocked to it—myself included—the show also saw the frenzied tours by all three of the top Republican Presidential candidates. I was already dog-tired after two full days of shooting the auto show’s media preview events Monday night when we were told to be ready to catch Republican candidates around 5pm.
What ensued was probably the most ridiculous and out of control media scrum circus I have ever been involved with…. Mobs of hundreds of reporters, video and still photographers, sound boom operators and campaign entourage formed huge living blobs of flashing lights and shuffling feet, with all of us trying to get shots of the candidates, backpeddling, all the while attempting not to bang into the sparkling (expensive) new cars around the Cobo Hall show floor. Funniest moment was when Romney and Hucklebee came to within 20 feet of each other in the GM display and the massive media mob around the two men momentarily merged into one.
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 Joe Lieberman showed up first to stump for John McCain |
 One of the few moments I didn’t have to hail-mary my shots above a scrum |
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I really appreciated the technique of camera-on-monopod in being able to get shots like these… plus the monopod does a great job of keeping other press jockeys from getting in your way. |
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This reminded me of Dukakis in a Tank….. |
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Hucklebee, the family man, checks out a Hummer. |
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Hucklebee in the left corner, Romney in the upper right, FIGHT! |
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Who’s really running for President here? VP? |
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Way to pander to your non-existent Black vote John |
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Haha look at Leiberman trying to fits-bump! |
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Senators drive? Themselves? |
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McCain shows his age… |
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Leiberman cracked me up… looka him yaking away on the cell |
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I was really expecting more aggressive Secret Service protection for these guys, but we were basically in their faces…. I had to really try hard not to fall and collapse into them. |
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I don’t know why McCain didn’t turn around here and try and greet some of those blue-collar unit carpenters there working on the General Motors display. |
Usually when I mount a remote camera for basketball games, I put the camera behind the back board, or on the sides of the support, or overhead in the rafters. Those are all good locations and make great pictures, but I’ve also always wondered about the possibility of a low-angle mount from close to basket center.
This past Tuesday, I tried one of these low mounts at the Indiana game at Crisler Arena here in Ann Arbor, Mich. I wasn’t sure whether my camera position was entirely legit, given that poor ball boy looks like he probably hit his head on my mount a couple times throughout the night…
But I thought the results were worthwhile, and the angle is definitely worth trying again. What d’you think?
Look at that credit line closely… No I wasn’t in LSU following the action for the AP. The NYTimes simply screwed up…
Way to go people!
Okay! As promised earlier this morning, I have a lot more pictures to share from today’s Michigan Football Media Day.
As in past years, I shot the event for the Associated Press. And as in past years, it was a mixed bag of results and a genuinely challenging, albeit enjoyable experience. Helps that I actually care about these players and this team…
Photos wise, I had no help for the third year in a row. Couldn’t convince Emma from the Daily to tag along and I don’t blame her for not wanting to get up at 7 in the morning! Although, I must say I fully expected all the problems and issues that could’ve made this a disaster assignment, so with my half a decade of experiencing Michigan’s Media Day now, I knew what I needed to do, and I knew what to forecast and be prepared for.
My best innovation from the assignment this year: Compiled shotlist with player mug shots.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing this before in the past. It made identifying the players so much easier on the field, because they’re all over the place and huge and when you’re stressed and in a time-crunch, each minute saved from scanning the crowd for your guy is a minute afforded for a picture. Worked like a charm!
The other secrets to success for covering Media Day of course would be planning out all the pictures to be taken the day before. Sunday I spent all day brainstorming all the poses and portrait ideas i could use on each player i needed to get, and like last year, it was very helpful to tryout and do a dry-run of the shoot with all the lights setup just so I had a feel for what the necessary exposure settings would need to be, which lens would work best for the shot and things like whether i needed to use my step-ladder or not. Special thanks this year to Dan Felds of the Daily for being my “Jose” this year modeling for me…
Alright that’s enough shop for now, here’s what you all are really only interested in:
 The three frosh DBs jocking around. My suggestion. |
 I just told them to be silly and push each other around. |
 Jon got a lot of shit from the sideline watchers i think… |
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 This was as good of a threesome shot as i could manage. Initially i wanted to do a “Three Little Bears” parody, but the scrum of photogs was just too rediculous: |
 My previous point… (this is only like half of them that were there hoggin my shoot damnit!)…..it was my shoot cuz i was the one who got them together. No good moochers. |
 Obligatory QB tossing the pigskin routine…. my ball that i brought no less. |
 I tried to have Mike channel those old vintage football pics |
 Mario get excited! |
 Still not so excited… it was early, i forgive you. |
 Kickers! ZZZZZZZZoltan + new not-as-fat-as-#38 kid |
 Where’s the ball!?! |
 I told them to “diss my camera” |
 Everybody was laughing at how Mario was posing in an offensive players group shot… |
 The Wovlerine’s weapons |
 Hey! There’s that smile I was looking for Mario! |
 Apparently everybody loves Austin’s prospects, so i took his pic. |
 Lloyd giving me the old stare-down |
 …but he warmed up |
 Lloyd doing something silly like every year during the team photo, Martin Vloet must love that… |
