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harding park? (president's cup)

fultonpics

New member
anyone going to president's cup next week in sfo?...if so, i'll be there for most of the days. should be a nice event if the weather holds. let me know and we can share ideas on how to shoot it. i have never been there before and could use some tips.
 

Terry

New member
I haven't bought tickets yet. I was thinking about going Saturday or Sunday or both. The big decision is do you follow a group or take the same shot over and over again as the players come through.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Media credentials required for all but the practice rounds?

Following Tiger requires sprinting for 4 hours....so your need to make tough choices on locations.

Here is Tiger at East Lake. Really a test shot with the M9 and C1 ..too warm ..but you get the idea. There is enough detail to read the words on Tiger s hat.

This was a course I played regularly .
 

fultonpics

New member
i 'assume' you can take pics during practice rounds (like most PGA events) but check first--i've read somewhere they are not allowing PDA's or camera's on the course--but maybe this is for regulation play. i have inside-ropes credential, so will probably lay out a plan to cover the top guys and folks i've been asked to get. the trick is to work the holes with the best backgrounds (which is the part most folks forget). not sure about remotes yet. anyway, if anyone is there we can swap tips on the course or media tent/area. s/b fun if parking isn't 10 miles away! i'll be the guy with the CAL hat and a bunch of nikon stuff hanging around my neck...

oh, don't shoot tiger when he is lining up or Steve will come and get you! he threw a Canon 1D camera in a lake once. (during regular play)
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Terry

I used to follow golf a lot more before my shoulder gave out and I stopped playing. You know Atlanta..the Masters etc. Photography is prohibited during match play except for those with media credentials ( a PGA rule). This year was the year to go to the Masters on wed. for the par three. It killed me to see Arnie,Jack and Gary probably play together for the last time ... I know right where and when to set up and the pros have no advantage on wed.

There are two general ways to shoot golf. The sports shooters use 400/2.8 and 600/4 for much of the coverage because you may be down the fairway to get the angle. The 70-200 is also used a lot and the 16-35 for behind the tee shots. The other is more like landscape photography ..you watch the light set up the scene and wait for the action..golf is easily predictable. Walter Ioos has a great book on golf. With the M8 I used the 135apo a lot (180FOV).

Attached is the shot of Tiger and Sean O Hair ..with Tiger helping him with his putting stroke. The NYT wrote the story without a picture..because there was nobody shooting. 9 30am the first day of practice .
 

Terry

New member
Thanks for the heads up. Last time I took the camera to a golf event is when I walked the course for a friends' US Open regional qualifier and I shot the whole thing. Didn't realize it was off limits at a tourney.
 

fultonpics

New member
There are two general ways to shoot golf. The sports shooters use 400/2.8 and 600/4 for much of the coverage because you may be down the fairway to get the angle. The 70-200 is also used a lot and the 16-35 for behind the tee shots.
Roger, I don't have your years of experience regarding golf, but covered PGA tournaments for 7 years commercially, and you are correct. we tend to shoot tee shots from down fairway with long glass (no noise to players) or behind the tee(only after ball contact) with wides to show the crowd/fairway. trap shots look good compressed, so usually long on those. on the green, it is the 70-200 or wide. for the President's Cup i will take: 2-D3's, 24-70, 70-200, 200-400, 1.4X, flash, computer. btw, i don't think walking along side and snapping a few shots (especially with a leica) would cause any harm since the players wouldn't hear it. but the PGA has gotten a lot tougher on cameras during play, money is involved: Wireimage (owned by Getty) has the exclusive PGA contract for commercial usage---thus if AP shoots a great shot of Tiger they can't sell it to Nike, golf companies, etc.. AP can only sell PGA for editorial use. Same for other 'wire' services. I have lots of wireimage/getty golf stock so i'm not complaining. for Harding, do not bring a camera without calling them first to find out what days if any you can use it. you don't want to leave gear in the car and parking might be far away from the course.

if anyone needs more specific info/schedules, let me know and i can help or hook you up with a pr person. i get the daily (hourly) press emails on the event. if you are there and want to chat about golf photography, we can meet up between rounds. i will for sure shoot sat and sunday and probably thurs.
 
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glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Fulton

I am sure you are more proficient with Golf photography. I was an over the top fanatic golfer for about 10 years and it was a hugh part of our client entertainment....so I have been to the masters finals every year for ten years .

There is a gallery in Atlanta that handles Walter Ioos golf images ...martre ...the owner is a photographer and a golfer . Check out his portfolio on golf and WI book . This is golf photography as fine art . Tiger and Stevie walking down the fairway .....priceless in 20 years .

I am sure you know the difference between the styles and requirements.

People do take big glass to the practice rounds..you can walk into the Masters with a 600mm over your shoulder on mon,tues or wed. and not require a media pass.

When ever I shoot sports ......I read all the sports reports to anticipate the story line. The Presidents Cup .....beyond the normal ....Tiger Woods made a comment about Ernie Els being a little lax with his training(and understatement). Ernie will be out for blood. Tiger and Phil both won at the championship tournament.....Phil the tournament..Tiger $10M for the most points in the FedEx Cup(multiple events)...against the backdrop of Phils family illnesses. This will be worth seeing and the 18th hole on Sunday will probably be the place....good luck holding a spot. LOL

You may find this interesting but with only a grey card around my neck ....I walked right onto the green with Tiger at East Lake.....Tiger is always the first guy out and usually starts on the back nine to fool the crowd and insure that he can go around fast. No ropes or security day one.

Anybody wants to shoot the Masters next year on wed let me know. Last year was a once in a lifetime opportunity and but Tiger s kids will be coming soon and nobody has that shot.
 

fultonpics

New member
well today was 'get acquainted day' with a practice round in the morning and then a series of media sessions with the teams. mostly did head shots today. lot of media on Ryo Ishikawa (18-year old). Tiger also drew questions. This year is a real who's who of golf with all the stars there. Former President Clinton was on the course. tomorrow it's opening ceremonies after practice round then it gets down to business on Thursday. all the players seemed to be having a great time relaxing and getting to know each other and same for their spouses/friends. the weather is amazing with the greens still needing a touch of work--probably cut a tad closer for the match play.
 

fultonpics

New member
so another day of practice followed by an amazing opening ceremony--Blue Angels fly-over (well, you couldn't see them due to fog, so i think they were there), George Bush Sr. gave a nice opening speech, Barry Bonds in the audience (i parked next to him) and all the players and wives dressed up. tomorrow the matches start and should be fun. i only posted 27 shots tonight but some where pretty good. gotta get busy tomorrow--there is something like over 300 press here and many really famous sports photographers. the trick is finding a unique view which is tough given the number of folks covering. i'd post images, but sports pictures don't seem to go over on getdpi....later. if you are in the sf area, i do recommend coming out for this event if you can get a ticket.

a side note: this is san francisco so smoking (tobacco that is--not sure about the other type of smokes) is illegal in public spaces--so a pic of Michael Jordon hits the front of the paper of him sucking on a nice expensive cigar. major out cry by the locals to bust him. walking back to the media area tonight, i noticed the japanese press guys quickly looking around for cops, then lighting up before they got to the tent. we do have our priorities in order out here don't we.
 
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Terry

New member
It is going to be bizarre when the Blue Angels are buzzing the city for the next 4 days during the golf matches. Sonic boom right in the middle of a swing. LOL

How did they manage to schedule these at the same time!
 

fultonpics

New member
like i said, i'd love to post a shot of the blue angels from today, but they were fogged out...so the question is, did they really fly over when Bush was giving his speech or was it a sound track played through the sound system? who knows.

btw, Bush senior said he really missed the military (having a military, i think he said), but was very clear he did not miss the press...
 

fultonpics

New member
third day: competition started and it was great to see the top players on the course. weather went cloudy (it IS Daly City, even though it's called San Francisco). Cleared late in the day. Best moment: Elin Woods giving her hubby a big kiss and hug on last whole. Worst moment: someone slipped their cell phone on the course and it went off three times in a row while US team was trying to putt---person didn't get the hint to turn it off the first time. phones are supposed to be checked at gate to prevent this, but some people just can't go a few hours (minutes?) without texting-whatever.

Jerry West, Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, etc were all hanging around--must be nice being a gizillionaire retired athlete in search of a crowd to tell them how great they are. Jordan looked board and was seen driving all over the course in a golf cart.

If you are in SF, come on out this weekend. A fun event. Oh the blue angels did a few fly overs, but unlike cell phones, the players seemed not bothered.

some images i shot at:

http://www.iconsportsmedia.com/search.php?searchField=ALL&searchstring=&albumId=56354
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Fulton

Some interesting images and a few classics (Tiger over Stevie) that would make a neat 30x40 black and white.

Want something unique..I would look for the two page spread with lots of negative space. Did you see the SI coverage of the Detroit Tigers with the stadium shots and the near ground level camera placement . Not a new idea the guys have been doing this at Churchill downs for years. Really well executed.

Do you think you could get away with a M9 on silent mode near the ground?

The other thing I have seen is getting out as soon as the gates open... I saw lots of things at the Masters before anyone came out. eg testing the greens for ball speed.
 

fultonpics

New member
Hi Roger

an M9 at ground would work fine and much easier than carrying two or three d3's with lenses all day. you do lots of running at these events, so lighter would be welcome. however, i need to get a variety of close and wide shots for mag/internet use--which is not the same as taking time to do something more arty. the si guys do a combination of shots--and i have had two pagers in SI along with tons of smaller ones so am aware of how to shoot wide. just a different approach but more limited market--especially when robert beck (famed si golf photog) is working the same event. so we go after a different market.

the take from today was from two hours work as I arrived later today--but,to your point many more wide shots. you can take a look here. the weather helped!

http://www.iconsportsmedia.com/search.php?searchField=ALL&searchstring=&albumId=56369
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
The weather improved..makes a difference. Excellent sand shot image. You can see that Justin was coming in low on his approach shot...how did he ever miss that 3 ft put?

Looks like you are getting some great positions .. I am jealous.

I wonder if Greg Norman will face off Ernie against Tiger in the final round. After Tiger s comments about Ernie not being much of a worker has created some tension.

How do they decide how close you can get and shoot the swing? I saw one of the pro s using the M8 in the Honda Classic around the green.
 

fultonpics

New member
we can get pretty close depending on tv view. general rules not published:

don't lean against a tower, even if you don't move it will effect the tv camera 20 ft up.

don't block a network camera, go under or around...you can't tell sometimes if they are on line or not

quiet--no shooting before ball strike--this is more a problem when focusing on another player lining up a shot and not realizing someone else is putting. yesterday i accidently fired a shot when a player was hitting a tee shot, fractionally too soon, then the reuters guy next to me moved (got up) and Phil's caddy saw him and hammered him--thinking he fired early and then got up too soon right before Phil took the box.
so he took the blame. several years ago, a lady from the local paper fired early and i was next to her so Steve Williams (Tiger's caddy) blamed me. just have to be real careful--they are playing for big bucks. Steve supposedly threw a photographers camera in a lake once.

stay close to ropes and careful on fairway crosses. around green get a good position

if you are nice, don't block out the gallery--always be though full of those who PAY to come to sports events.

don't miss THE shot. make sure to do follow through shots--real important

pro's usually won't touch and can't afford leica. they don't use cf cards, they cost a ton for a system, they aren't as sturdy, they are slow (no 10 fps for those bunker shots, etc), too small, generally not perceived as reliable. this might raise some angst here, but no surprise, the M digital camera is not really a sports camera. one exception would be as a wide camera--but again a 24-70 cost $1800 new and an M8/M9 plus lens is way over that. when you think about it, we have to turn in around 50-100 publish ready shots (10 inch at 300 dpi) plus have raw files within a short time after the event (or during from the fairway with computer). i shot around 500 yesterday since i got there late and filed 71 right away and could extract another 50 or so later. they have to be sharp and exposure right out of camera. an M8, even in skilled hands would be challenged to do this. plus no 200-400 zoom available ! that's to say that you couldn't get epic shots with an M8, you can. a friend of mine shots large format at football games and gets amazing shots--just not too many of them.

now if i am traveling for fun, different story.
 
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