The Final Edit

Equipment

Paul Bilodeau — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:56:35 +0000

Hi Jim, thanks for the comment. Jim asked:

What kind of equipment did you bring with you to use? Is there a particular photograph you hope to make while you are at the Super Bowl?

Let’s just say I looked like a pack mule walking through the airport when I came into Phoenix. I actually had to ship even more gear to myself because I could not carry it all. To answer your other question: I would love to get a great action picture that no one else has taken during the game; but to give you an idea of how hard that is, I called the NFL to find out how many photogs are covering the game. According to Darlene Capior of the NFL, 4,786 credentials have been issued to the media — which is a record. Unfortunately, she could not break that number down and tell me how many still photographers are covering the game. My guess is that of the 4,786, more than 1,000 would be photographers, but I do not know for sure. Let’s just say that there will be a lot of photographers in the University of Phoenix Stadium, which makes my goal really hard.

Here is a list of equipment I brought with me to the Super Bowl:

1 Voice recorder

2 Video cameras

3 Nikon camera bodies. 2 D3s and 1 D2H.

5 Camera lenses: 400mm f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8, 14-24mm f2.8, 17-35 f2.8 and a 24-70mm f2.8.

2 Flashes

1 Laptop computer

1 Air Card (This allows me to send pictures to the paper when I am not near an internet connection)

7 CF cards (digital film)

1 1.4x extender

1 Camera battery charger1 150 GB drive to back up my pictures

1 CF card reader

2 Backpacks

12 AA batteries for flashes and other electronic devices

Media day was crazy

Paul Bilodeau — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:30:41 +0000

Well, it has been four days since I have seen snow… you probably hate me for saying that. I actually enjoy the snow. Really. Anyway, covering the pre-Super Bowl events has been a lot fun. Media Day at the University of Phoenix Stadium was crazy. Media members from around the world descended on the players, asking all kinds of crazy things. One lady, TV Azteca’s Ines Gomez-Mont, (see picture) who dressed in a wedding gown, asked Tom Brady to marry her. His response: “I have a few Miss Bradys in my life.”

Anyway, please ask lots of questions. Anything would be fine. Gear questions. Super Bowl coverage questions. Fire away.

How it clicked

Amy Sweeney — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:42:00 +0000

We hear it all the time.
“You have the coolest job.”
And while we take our work seriously, even we have to admit — it’s a pretty awesome way to make a living.
On this blog, we’ll take you with us as we use the latest technology to continue to document the everyday, the unusual, and everything in between.
I still remember the days of spending hours behind the revolving door of a darkroom making huge vats of chemicals to develop film. My hands turned yellow, and I could never rid them of that acrid smell. From the darkroom, a print was handed off to several people, all part of the long process of getting a photo into the newspaper.
Soon we moved on to developing color slides and next it was color film.
Things move pretty fast in this business.
The chemicals are gone, the darkrooms are now just storage closets. We’re using the latest technology — and it’s changing all the time.
Now we’re using digital cameras and memory cards the size of postage stamps that hold hundreds of images at a time.
Digital photography allows us to shoot more images, and get them into the newspaper and on the Web faster than ever before.
And it’s only getting better.
The next exciting step is shooting video and audio for the web. But through every change, photographers remain storytellers. We’re using new technology to bring you the faces, voices and stories of our communities.
As photojournalists, we get to be on the frontlines of the news every day.
We’ve got a unique role: we are witnesses when extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. We capture the emotion of Little League home runs and high school graduations.
But we’re also there for the most difficult moments: a father holding out hope for a son missing in Iraq, a family sifting through the remains of their burned-out home, or a verdict being handed down in a major court case.
Photojournalists see all this first-hand every day, and now we’re inviting you to experience it with us.
With this blog we will tell you the stories behind the photos we take. — the personalities we capture, the technique and skills we use.
We’re kicking it off by giving you a chance to feel like you are on the sidelines of the Super Bowl.
Chief photographer Paul Bilodeau will be going to the big game on Feb. 3 and will be blogging about his experience behind the scenes and behind the camera all week leading up to the game.