Blog

(The author, checking out his fabulous pictures in the background.)

Hey Old Hat blog readers, I'm back today following a busy Tuesday shooting once again for Thunder Media Day in OKC.

As usual it was fast-paced and high-energy but lots of fun as well. Pictured above is myself and Old Hat's own Brian Hostetler hanging out while Kevin Durant answers some questions for the Thunder's Ron Matthews.

You can check out the Thunder's Behind the Scenes video at this link. Keep an eye out for yours truly starting at the 23 second mark...and ending at the 24 second mark. Yeah that's what I call press coverage baby.

(In case you missed it. But how could you really?)

Also notice the conveniently placed water fountain in the background. It's on my rider that I have a water fountain within 20 feet of all photo shoots I do.

Since I can't post any player pics at this time I'll post a picture of the man himself, Ron Matthews. Ron runs the show for Thunder Digital at these events and without him we wouldn't be there shooting. He's also a very capable stand-in for checking lighting at these types of things.

All in all he makes it particularly easy to get good stuff in a short amount of time AND do something new and creative every year. Thanks again Ron.

Takeaways from this year's Media Day

I always learn something new at every Media Day I shoot. Last year I learned, among other things, that 3 setups is just too many. So I pared it down to two this year. We also shot a bunch of stuff last year that we didn't use or need, so I didn't do some of those same poses/shots this year in order to save time. 

Speed is still key.

Players were cutting into our room between other sessions because they knew we could get them shot and out the door quickly. If you have a subject who is extremely busy or pressed for time then get them done even faster than you said you would and you'll be a hero, and more importantly, someone who gets called back for another gig. (On the flipside, don't cut something short just because. Make sure you get your shot, but don't massage the same thing over and over for 10 frames.)

Kendrick Perkins is skinny.

He's no waif. But yes, Kendrick Perkins has lost weight and he looks like he could be a force for the Thunder this year. But, in typical Thunder fashion, he's very personable despite his game-time persona as a tough-guy.

Always carry electrical tape.

Not only is it good for taping off the hotshoe on your umbrella adapter, but it will keep your sync cord plugged into your camera when it starts getting loose and annoying the hell out of you. In fact you could modify the above statement to say Always Carry Tape. And lots of it. In fact, why don't you just buy an entire box right now? You never know when something will break and need to be taped up somehow.

Have fun.

This one is kind of a no-brainer. But I had more fun this year than I ever have. Some of it is due to keeping things simple with the setups (less stress) but more of it is due to attitude. You're taking pictures, not saving the manatees. Tell some jokes, ask Byron Mullens about his new prison tattoos, mess with the rookies just a bit and I promise you'll really enjoy hanging out in a basement locker room for a few hours.

Thanks for stopping by.