ChimpersCage

In the past week, I've had the pleasure of covering the Illinois State Lady Redbirds play 2 home games in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Redbirds were honored to host both on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena. The first, a sweet 16 game against Marquette came down to the wire with Kristi Cirone sinking 2 free throws with 9 seconds left to put the Redbirds ahead by one point. A buzzer launched shot from the baseline missed, rimming out the game and season for the Golden Eagles. Following that Thursday night game was a Sunday 2:05 game against none other than the Hoosiers of Indiana. Wow, is about all I can say for that game. The 3600+ in attendance were rowdy and made as much noise as a crowd 3 times the size. Why didn't I put in my ear plugs, I'll never know. On the floor, the passion from each team to continue on to the final 4 was evident. It was a pretty bang up game with girls hitting the floor on almost every up and down. The officiating...

One question staff phtograpers always ask me is why I shoot both teams. Aren't you on assignment to shoot a particular team? Well, yes I am. But, being a freelancer and keeping your copyright - something that staff shooters can't do - means that there are always other opportunities to market your work. So, shooting one team can also mean shooting the defensive end. It can also mean an additional payday. Last Wednesday I arrived home to find the March 23rd March Madness edition of Sports Illustrated in my mailbox. This edition has a cover comprised of a photo of a player from each of the college teams that make it to the NCAA tournament. I immediately got out my magnifying glass and found 2 teams that I had shot. After looking at them and looking through my archive I realized that both those images were my shots. Wow! I've been inside Sports Illustrated with a few of my automotive images and also in SI for kids a few times, but never on the cover. So the first time on the co...

Well, the high school sports season is coming to a close for the season for me. Specializing in football, volleyball and basketball generally leaves me to special projects and household chores by the middle of March. Sure, I'll do an occasional softball or baseball game but the real busy season for me has concluded. Fertilizer, paint, and a circular saw are certainly in my near future. Most likely a wash mitt and a chamois as well. Thinking of special projects, I may just begin on one that I've wanted to do for a few years. I like to build things. If you look at my website - http://www.alanlook.com/ - you can see the floor mount and the flash bracket that I've made. I've also dabbled a bit with some flash diffusers and I'm also working on a bandalero style camera strap similar to the R strap by BlackRapids. Most of my creations stem from need. The one on my mind right now is far from needs based. Large format has always been too expensive of an endeavor for me to t...