PShizzy: The Blog

The Phoenix Mercury fall to the Detroit Shock in a WNBA Finals rematch. Without key players Penny Taylor and Tangela Smith, coupled with poor performances by Diana Taurasi (1-13) and Cappie Pondexter (4-24), the Mercury trailed the majority of the game. The Mercury are 2-6 in regular season play.

I tried a few different things for today’s game. I set up a remote camera, as I usually do for Phoenix Suns games. While the WNBA players won’t sky to the rim like the NBA players, they tend to be very aggressive on the boards, and will scrap in the paint to force and gather up loose balls.

And while I was at it with the remote, well let’s just say I brought a video camera. More info on that, and the full game gallery link to follow! [Read more →]

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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From Zander, on FredMiranda.com:

Thanks for taking time to do this, I really appreciate it.
Right now I have:

• 20D, nearing the 50k shutter count.
• 28-105 3.5-4.5
• 50 1.8
• 70-200 2.8

My budget is roughly $2200. I could come up with a few extra hundred dollars if needed. I use my 70-200 by far the most, and often it is not long enough. I was thinking that I would pick up the 300 f/4 non-IS to cover the longer focal lengths. [Read more →]

Tags: equipment, photography by PShizzy
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The Phoenix Mercury finally won after going 0-4 to start the season. The Mercury built a 15 point lead early, but lost that lead, reminiscent of their last home game against the Storm. The Mercury fought back late to pull away for good and ended up with the victory. Diana Taurasi had 29 points, with Cappie Pondexter adding 23.

As the lead slowly dissapeared, Taurasi and the rest of the team looked frustrated. When they fought back to get the win, I expected the players to have some sort of outburst, and after a shot and a foul, I captured the image shown.

More on the game, and the full gallery, in the post. [Read more →]

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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The Grand Rapids Rampage squared off against the Arizona Rattlers last night. It was a pretty close game throughout, but a missed extra point cost the Rampage dearly, as the Rattlers went ahead by four late in the game, forcing the Rampage to go for a touchdown to win. The Rattlers walked away with the victory 52-48. They need a few more wins, as they’ve made an arrangement with their season ticket holders: No playoffs, and you get a refund. That’s pretty bold.

I just thought I’d post some work, and take it easy this Memorial Day weekend. No games between the Rattlers or Mercury for the next two weeks or so, so I’m hoping to buckle down and get some more Flash presentations out. I’ve been getting lots of ideas, and I appreciate that because it gives me a better feel for the direction I need to take the posts in.

Keep up the comments and email.

The gallery for the game is here

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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Last night, I covered the second game of the Phoenix Mercury season. Phoenix was 0-2, losing their home opener to the Sparks, and a road loss to the Silver Stars. Early on the Mercury really took the lead, going up by 21, but eventually the Storm came back and won 87-83. A link to the gallery is in the full post.

Last weekend I spoke about the key elements to covering an event. This time around, I’ll cover the bases on the technical side of an image.

What makes for a good clean image? What keeps the images looking consistent in their color, white balance, and exposure, not just from one image to another within one event, but from event to event (as an example, compare last weekends gallery to the one for last night’s game).

In this post, I’ll do an overview on things you can do to keep a consistent look and quality to your images.
[Read more →]

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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I’ve got a game tomorrow, which should make for a fun post, so today I thought I’d answer an email:

I will be shooting (for fun and some friends) at the Veterans Wheelchair games. I got a Canon 40D (with grip) from my hubby for Christmas (going from a Kodak Hybrid).I have been practicing, (not good yet too much rain everywhere we go). Anyway I end up laying on the ground, squatting, and everything you can think of because they sit instead of stand. I have the following Lens (most bought on sale). I don’t have any “L” glass since I want to be sure before I spend that much money. I have the following: [Read more →]

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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Earlier today I covered the home opener of the Phoenix Mercury against the LA Sparks. This would be only my 2nd WNBA game (my first being last week, a preseason game). While I have experience with the NBA, I knew that it would be different.

Covering a new event can be a daunting task. It’s something we all face, especially early on in our careers. In this post, I’ll speak about my experience with shooting something new, and what I did to prepare myself. [Read more →]

Tags: photography by PShizzy
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Before we begin, I explicitly asked permission to post the following message. I will not disclose the identity of the person asking the question, unless they ask me to. I plan to make this a series on my blog, where I offer my honest opinion and insight on a photography related question posed to me. Remember though, these are just opinions, not hard rules. Feel free to email me or contact me privately, and I’d be glad to answer your questions in a future post.

Without further ado:

Hi Max,

I see your work often and it’s spectacular. I shoot lots of soccer and lacrosse and have limited experience with basketball.

I’d greatly appreciate some advice from you.

My son is playing on an AAU Basketball team and the coaches want me to shoot games this weekend. I’ve done a few tourneys with my 1D Mark IIN using F/2.8L 70-200. I don’t travel with strobes and don’t see it practical at the U-15 level, especially if I’m not intending to sell images to families.

That said, are there any circumstances where you shoot any basketball games w/o strobes in dingy lit basketball gyms?

The noise is killing me. I do use CS3 and it helps, but still want less noise. [Read more →]

Tags: equipment, photography by PShizzy
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