Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]USA TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI 21 March 2006 Hi there-- The discussion on shooting football sans motor sparks a memory--translation: war story. Today, some newspapers post a photographer at each quarter of the field. Before digital, it was not uncommon, at a large college or pro game, to expose 250 rolls of film. I know of one Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer who used to return to the office with all those rolls rolling around in a large, plastic garbage bag. Why? Because the Sports Desk editors, watch the games on television, pre-editing what the photographers shot from television. The editor sees a great play on instant replay, calls the photographer on his cellphone and asks if he managed to get the shot? Faced with that kind of pressure, photographers hold down the motor drive down to make sure if anything moves, they've got it. Contrast that with a man named Frank at West Texas State College (now West Texas States A&M) in Canyon, Texas, in the mid-60s--supposedly the proverbial golden age of photojournalism. I was shooting for the newspaper; Frank shot for the college yearbook. He used a Speed Graphic. Before a play, Frank would glance at the scoreboard, study the formation of the team, walk x-number of feet down the sideline, point his speed graphic at a certain spot on the playing field, and wait. Nine times out of 10, the action occurred exactly where he had planned. Other photographers fired away with their motor drives; Frank got the single shot because he knew the game. I learned very quickly the key to success was to follow Frank. --Bill