This year marked my fourth and final year of covering the Big West tournament at the Anaheim Arena. Next year the tournament will move to the Honda Center. The Anaheim arena is a great venue for basketball, in addition to the hospitality and latitude we had to install our strobes. A lot of you have heard us talk about the infamous ceiling at the arena. Many a photographer have gotten lost up there over the years. Since this was our last hurrah, I shot shot some video so everyone can see what we've been talking about. The initial climb up the scaffolding is approximately 25 feet in the darkness. Most who know me, know I hate heights, so this used to really freak me out. However, after four years I kind of got used to it. Sorry about the "Blair Witch" POV, but hopefully you'll enjoy the footage.
A few setup photos:
Highlighted in red is one of four pods where we mount the strobes
This is a view of the climb down into the pod
Strobes mounted on the rail of the pod. Notice the other pod across the way. Each set of lights are hoisted up to the pods in a bag.
The crew from the final Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Arena. From left to right, Reed Saxon (Associated Press), Grant Brown, Matt Brown, Bryan Crowe, and Michael Foo.
Had the first clear and warm night of the year. Came home from dinner at around 21:00 and it was about 70 degrees and crystal clear. The moon was a couple days from full, but it looked awesome none the less. Since my friend Danny was recently bending my ear about the moon, I set up the rig to see what it's all about. Shot with a Nikon D3 at 560mm.
