Documenting the Masters

Lightpainting....My documentary coverage of the Masters began each morning at 5:30am with a Lightpainting somewhere at Augusta National.What better place to start than the Club House at Augusta National. Several interested security guards joined me for the shoot and were as thrilled with the results as I. This image is a 20second exposure at f22 using a Nikon D2H, WB10,000K, Noise Reduction ON, ISO200,Nikon 12mm-24mm Lens. I used a Bogen Tripod, a 1G Lexar Flash Card, and a Vector Sport Spot ( 2 million candle ).

  I have done little golf coverage during my 25 years of sports photography. Matt's hope was that the Masters would be NEW to a golf rookie like me, thus bringing a fresh look at the event to Golf World and Golf Digest's readers. Shooting during the back swing is the biggest NO NO in all of golf. The sound of a camera shutter can be distracting to the golfer during his swing. So...let me introduce all of you to the Nikon COOLPIX 8700. This is Nikons 8 megapixel RAW/NEF file digital camera. I nik-named it "Little Nell" after the small helicopter James Bond used in You Only Live Twice. As Bond put it....."she may be small but very convincing." Here is Tiger Woods on the 15th tee at the 8:00am rain delay restart day (Friday). The COOLPIX 8700 has a flip out LCD screen and a SILENT SHUTTER. The camera is resting on the grass and I view Tiger, via the LCD screen, start his swing. The silent shutter is undetectable and Tiger is captured at the top of his back swing Nikon COOLPIX 8700, w/ Wide Angle Converter, ISO100, Shutter Priority 1/500 sec. (note: Image #7 in On The Road of Phil Mickelsons tee shot back swing at 18 was shot with the Coolpix 8700 and its Silent Shutter, w/ Wide Angle Converter.)

I spent the back nine on Thursday with Fredrik Jacobson as he began to move up on the leader board. I used Little Nell (COOLPIX 8700) and it's silent shutter to capture him in the back swing of his approach shot to the 18th green. Nikon COOLPIX 8700,ISO 50, Normal lens, Aperture Priority f5.6.

  Remember that I am looking at every aspect of the Masters.....from Tiger to sandwiches wrapped in green paper (it's the Masters...green is everywhere) I wanted images of some caddys and liked this one the best. Nikon D2H, ISO200, Nikon 600mm f4 Lens, Bogen Graphite Monopod, Lexar 1G Flash Card.

  Looks like a job for Little Nell! And it is. Kirk Tripplet was waiting for the call to postpone play after Thursday's 3 hour rain delay pushed play to sunset. Little Nell (Coolpix 8700) was placed in my lap as I sat only 10 feet behind the tees at 15. Kirk never heard a thing as the Silent Shutter once again allowed me to capture a moment that would normally be unacceptable to the golfer. Nikon COOLPIX 8700, w/ Wide Angle Converter, ISO 50, Manual exposure 1/4000 f5.6 , WB Fluorescent to create the blue mood of the clearing storm.