A View from the Baseline: A Photographer's Perspective

by Matt Dowell

The squeaking of sneakers, the loud "C'MON, GUYS! LET'S GO!" bark from Trevor Cooney, the sarcastic, catty banter between the referees and the coaches.

These are all things you can't truly grasp from way up in the stands.

I'm a Broadcast and Digital Journalism student at Newhouse, but tonight I took on a new opportunity of being a photographer for the first time for the Syracuse-Binghamton men's basketball game in the Carrier Dome.

Sitting right on the baseline, I didn't feel like I was a spectator like I do when I go watch these games casually with my friends. I felt like I was in the world of these two basketball teams.

Cooney inbounds the ball to his Orange teammates

I got to see the sweat, the anger, the tenacity, right up close. The passion of Trevor Cooney, the incredible form of a CJ Fair jump shot, and the Hulk-like physicality of DaJuan Coleman.

And I got to capture it all in still photographs, something I'm also not used to.

Being a broadcast student, I'm used to telling stories with my voice and by being in front of the camera. But, photography created a new challenge.

I had to tell a story with pictures that have no movement, no voice-overs, and no stand-ups.

They are just there and I wanted the pictures I captured to create a feeling of the overall atmosphere of the game which ended up being complete domination by the Orange.

Another challenge of dealing with a still-camera instead of one that records video is that I only get one shot to capture a moment.

If I miss a dunk or a foul or an injury, that moment is gone. I didn't have video that I could work with and edit afterwards, something that is essential in the broadcasting world.

It was a one and done kind of situation.  Miss an epic moment of the game, too bad. It's gone. Nothing you can do about it.

 Coleman dunks as part of his double-double for the night

You have to be on your game and ready to snap every moment for 2 hours to get those great shots people love to see and remember.

It was an eye-opening experience. I had never thought of how hard it is to capture these moments. To have the perfect timing, perfect framing, and perfect focus.

In this day in age of technology, pictures are everywhere. We see them 24/7 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you name it.

I can speak for myself when I say that I've become numb to the fact that photography is still an art form because we are around it so much in our everyday lives. But tonight showed me just how much technique and skill is required to do something like this.

Going into tonight's game, I didn't think it would be that hard. I told myself, "I'm just gonna sit on the baseline and snap some pictures and it'll be easy."

Boy, was I wrong. It's an art. It's a talent. And the whole experience was exhilarating.

CJ Fair dunks as part of his 19 point tally for the night

To photographers everywhere, I have a new found respect for you and the craft that you love, especially the ones I got to share the baseline with.

Thanks for teaching me about something I thought I already knew, but clearly had no idea what I was talking about.

Last minute advice for first time photographers: Bring a mini chair to the game. My back is killing me. 

Check out all of my pictures from tonight's game and press conference below!




Created with flickr slideshow.