Okay, okay, I've been gone a week. No vacation, just a stern boss with a hankering to get the software he's paid for. So, it was nose to the grind wheel time, 'cept for eating, some sleeping and watching sports.
It's struck me that I am completely and utterly spoiled. While I don't much care for Toronto Maple Leaf hockey, the fact is that the show is done as well as it can be done. Especially the camera work by the crew at Air Canada Place (and yes, I did originally write Maple Leaf Gardens). The folks at the Bell Centre in Montreal are really quite decent too.
The Dallas Stars' work detail? Not so much.
Part of the problem in Dallas, which it shares with Detroit, is the main camera placement. It's too low. Combined with the gentle slope of the stands at the Dallas arena, action along the near boards is a guessing game. And the crews there simply don't provide reverse-angle views quickly enough. It's like sitting in the stands cursing the louts in front of you. Technology is SUPPOSED to be better! Pittsburgh, on the other hand, sends the cameras to the rafters and it takes a fine hand to follow the action with a zoom view. And sometimes, that camera person isn't up for the job.
Taking any picture, moving or still, when shooting action is a lesson in how well the lensman knows the sport. You don't follow the action, you lead it. Led the action flow INTO your frame. That's easier to do in a race, for example. You have a pretty good idea where the action is leading to. Hockey, with its ability to pivot on a dime and flow in any other direction, takes a knowledgeable and sure-handed ace with the camera. It's obvious that we have a large selection of such good cameramen here in Toronto, that their absence 'on the road' is telling.
Next time you take in a Leaf game on TV (sure, I know, a longshot), take a minute to appreciate the pictures you are watching. The hockey might be lousy, but it's brought to you in astonishing detail!
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