The first one is always the toughest...

It is no secret that if you are a professional photographer, especially a professional sports photographer, your gear over time is going to take a fair amount of... abuse. You know this. it is inevitable. Running down a sideline or trekking across a golf course with 2 or 3 camera-lens combos tends to lead to a fair amount of gear bumping around. Things get dropped, rained on, hit by balls or even pucks. The high end cameras are designed to take this abuse and still function perfectly even if they accumulate a few battle scars along the way.

Now I know that some wire services, Like AP (Associated Press) buy the equipment that their photographers use and assign gear to them, but most freelancers like myself buy all of our own gear. Over the years I have seen other photographer take pretty good care of their gear, and some treat it like a carpenter would a hammer or a saw. Its a tool. period. And they will use their tools in whatever way they feel they need to in order to get the job done. Me on the other hand... I am not ashamed to admit that I baby the hell out of my gear! I buy whatever protection they have available (not much), and try to be as careful as possible with it at all times. But at the end of the day, I do have a job to do.

So last night, I covered the San Jose Sharks vs. the Phoenix Coyotes. Of all the sports, I find that hockey is usually fairly easy on the gear. To be sure, when you are lucky enough to get an ice level hole to shot from, you do need to be careful of pucks! I lost a UV filter to a puck a couple of years back so I know it can happen, but other than that, hockey is pretty tame. so imagine my surprise and heartbreak when after the game I was uploading some pictures and one of the other photographers points to my camera and says, "You must have cried when that happened." I am thinking to myself, when WHAT happened! I take a look and sure enough...

Instantly my mind flashes back to the end of the second period when I was climbing out of the TV well and banged against a wall. I didn't even look down because I was sure my lens took the hit and 1. its a brick 2. it has so many dings, one more wont matter. But I guess it wasn't the lens that took the hit.

So now Wheezy has her first battle scar. It made me think back to my (major) camera purchases, and when those bodies took their first battle damage. When I dropped my 1D MarkII outside of Spartan stadium while opening my camera bag for the useless security search, I felt literally like someone kicked me in the balls. When my uncapped 300mm lens swung around and scratched my 1D Mark III I felt like I had been slapped hard in the face. Last night when I was alerted to the damage to Wheezy, I felt like I imagine a marine liuetenant would feel at the start of a major battle upon hearing of his first casualty. Sad for sure, but knowing that there will be more casualties before the battle is won. And the battle will be long...

The first one is always the toughest one to take, and even though I still baby my gear as much as I can, I guess I have finally learned that no matter how many battle scars they take on the outside, like a good friend, its what's on the inside that really matters. I still love you Wheezy! lol.

Pappa's got a brand new bag!

I am writing this post today to help out those who are looking for a new roller bag for their camera gear.
Well, its no secret among sports shooters that if you want the best roller bag available, you have to go with ThinkTank! When I took a look at which bag I wanted though, I quickly narrowed my choices down to two. The Airport Security, and the Airport International. From the pictures they looked the same, and after speaking with a thinkTank rep who assured me that my 400 lens would fit in either bag, I decided to go with the International. I have some vague plans to travel in europe in the next few years, so I thought I would cover myself and get the International.
BIG MISTAKE! lol. I love the bag, don't get me wrong, but I didn't realize the International is quite a bit smaller than the Security. And considering I will take 100 domestic trips to every International one, I really wound up screwing myself.
I played and played with the configuration and finally this is what I came up with.

My 400 does fit in the bag, but in order to get all my other gear to fit, I have to leave the hood out. So now I have to carry the hood, and that is a big pain in the butt. When shooting football, I normally carry 3 bodies, my 400 2.8, 70-200 2.8, and either my 24-70 2.8 or 24-105 f/4. Also my 1.4 extender. There is also some room for a flash if I chose. My buddy who has the Security gets his 400 into the bag WITH the hood, plus all the same lenses AND a flash. Oh well, now I know, and you do too!

To be clear, the bag is excellent! VERY well constructed, easy to customize, and rolls like a dream. The best roller on the market. But if you are not doing a lot of international travel, I would go with the Airport Security for sure!