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800 Red Sox Games Later – How I Remain Creative as a Sports CameramanI am a professional broadcast sports television camera operator. That is what pays the bills and I enjoy it. Most of the time. I am about 80 percent television technology guru and 20 percent sports fan at the moment. I love using the top of the line high definition camera equipment that costs more than my house. I get pulled deeper into the job when a newer camera is given to me or I see a Phantom high-speed or 3D camera entering the game. Sports is a breeding ground for new television tech and I am on the top of the wave. The problem is, I’m shooting the wrong subject matter! I want to be 50 percent television technology and 50 percent natural history documentary creator. I’m not complaining, but I’m defiantly not living my dream! I work atop the left field roof at Fenway Park covering the Boston Red Sox. The perch is on the fifth level and it is the most exposed position in the entire ball park. I track a mating pair of red tailed hawks as they search for food and build a nest. I watch storms move in from the West. I am the first to see lightning and the first to run from the roof when I witness the buildings around me getting struck. That part is fun. But I am at Fenway to cover a baseball game, not in Africa waiting for an animal to appear at a water hole. I am one of 10 cameras inside the ballpark that bring the action into your living room and we are documenting sports history. I am paid to track the ball through the play and lock onto players in the dugout or on the field as the announcers talk about them. I have shot nearly 800 games. Take a look at this ten minute video blog I shot over the summer of 2009 from the $100,000 Sony HDC-910 broadcast HDTV camera with 75x Canon telephoto zoom lens. You will understand why I often stand behind the camera at the ball park wishing I were covering wildlife in the middle of nowhere… with the same camera. My director, Mike, gives me a lot of freedom as a camera operator as I shoot the game. I must thank him for letting me try new things and shoot stuff other than what is happening on the field.
Video footage courtesy of New England Sports Network. 90 comments to 800 Red Sox Games Later – How I Remain Creative as a Sports Cameraman |
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Copyright © 2012 Tom Guilmette - All Rights Reserved |
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Awesome footage Tom! Thanks for sharing. I wish I could have your job! Only seen 2 red sox games, but if I see another – will def come up and say hi! Bit hard tho seeing as I’m across the pond! What do you do in the time out of Baseball apart from shoot hockey?
college hoops, college hockey, shoot for AVID, feature docs, discovery and history channel HD, DP projects, music videos… all kinds of stuff.
i directed the photography on the st patrick’s day “dropkick murphy’s” concerts in boston. the dvd is finally done and will be released world wide in the next few weeks.
Man! What a beautiful shot of the Moon and Jupiter. I also loved the bird and the fly footage. Great work you have there. I would love to make a tour of the USA and visit that camera spot of yours.
let me know if you swing by, you gotta get red sox tickets first tho…. they are hard to get. and, no, i cant get tickets…. not even for my own parents!
Awesome! I love when you give us a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workings at your job. So interesting. I’m pretty sure that red-tailed hawk hangs out around Northeastern, I see him a lot
yea craig. i have seen four different red tailed hawks around fenway. i know there is a mating pair for sure.
It’d be awesome to see a video of you while taking a shot of a flyover (on your back and such). Love the video.
already thought of that! just after the flyover happened. be cool to see the mechanics of that crazy camera maneuver! i will try to get that shot for you this summer.
Really nice original post. You have a great talent, Mr. Tom Guilmette.
Tom,
I love your blogg!
I am amazed that you are able to follow the flight of the ball for that distance from home plate to the wall is only 310 or so feet and it all takes place inside of about 4 seconds sometimes less.
To follow the flight is one thing but you are able to zoom in on it as well. Is the zoom accomplished within the camera or do the boys in the truck do that for us?
i pan, tilt, zoom and focus the camera. lots of practice and good equipment makes the difference. the NUMBER ONE thing that i must have is a Vinten Vector 70 pan/tilt head. if i do not have a Vinten, i cannot get the balance or control to zoom into the ball like that. the pan head is always the key. think of it this way…. if you had a 101x fujinon lens and a brand new HDTV camera, but you were rocking a crappy pan head…..what is the point?
Tom, thank you for this post. Your camera work and the footage captured is amazing. I’ll forward this link to my brother and father, both RedSox fanatics.
thanks. i will try to do more behind the scenes in the future. people seem to love this stuff…. baseball fans and technology fans.
Just curious Tom, what does the average sports cameraman get paid? I always wanted to become a sports camera-guy, but never got the opportunity. Have been an independent videographer for years and it’s paid well enough, but I imagine I’d have more fun covering sports all the time, which is about the only thing I watch daily.
the rate varies from city to city. some places are union others are not. hard question to answer. people often make and have their own deals as freelancers.
Great Tom. I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time now. Even though I’ve seen some of the stuff that you do on your job before, never have you been so very detailed and informative. Great work Tommy, that lens and this vinten tripod is amazing.
will try to do more. im often surprised how much people want to see behind the scenes. people love this stuff?
Very informative, and awesome camera work. Esp. liked the bugs, hawk, and moon shots. About 5 years ago, when the Superbowl was in San Diego, I was a camera op for ESPN’s BDSSP, which was being filmed on a pier downtown that week. I spent my spare time panning incoming airliners, the blimp, tall ships shooting fake cannons at each other in the bay (Raiders vs. Bucs!), etc. They ended up rolling tape and using some of it on bumpers–that was pretty cool.
the best part of my job is being able to experiment with high end gear that i could never afford. i treat the gear as if it was my own because i have so much respect for it. glad you got to play with it too!
hello, there’s no chance you could use that setup in the wild, would bring the OB truck along to record it for you?!
would you hire an army of guys to carry the kit? they’d also have to be silent ninjas and odour-free to not disturb your subject!
chuckle.
HA! have you ever seen my nature videos? i have sherpas! but seriously, you dont need the OB truck…. just flypack or racks mounted in travel cases to get my dream to happen.
i was watching planet earth the other day and thought to myself how nice it would have been if the guys had longer lenses to cover in-air bird attacks and hunting. also, remember that rare snow leopard hunt? that cameraman was at the end of his lens and he defiantly was not rocking a vinten! (with all due respect, that was epic and no one has ever seen that before).
: )
i’ve worked with some of the planet earth crew and a lot of the time speed is vital, and being as light as possible with regards to kit. roll on technology : )
good luck with your dream,
all the best : )
c.
cool. i am a pack mule. i like to carry heavy stuff… for now!
You could take an f800 xdcam and canon hj18×28 into the wild. Sure it’s not 1400mm, but 1000mm isnt that bad either, considering it’s only a fraction of the 75x’s price and a neat small eng lens.
All equipment in one bag plus two sherpas carrying your tripod with your beloved vector 70
someday! hope to bring the f800 into the middle of nowhere and get footy that no one has ever seen.
Cheers for that, great work.
Great videoblog Tom!
I just love the scene with the moon rising.
Been following your blog for a while now – keep it up!
All the best from Sweden
Hey Tom love your work and talent, keep doing it you really inspired me and i am sure other people.
you should make another funny video for philip bloom heheheh and btw get a Red would ya….
sorry my English is not a very good looking ..lol
i just want to get a red before philip bloom!
Awesome post! The shot of the moon and Jupiter were my favorites! I can see why those lenses are so dang expensive now…haha.
thnx danny,
they are very heavy too!
Great stuff Tom, thanks for this!
that was a great video, I am wondering why you were using your Sony for the time lapse stuff instead of the 5D.
workflow. number one.
Great stuff, Tom. Just wanted to say thanks for the videos you post. Your first videos showing how you set up and use the 70x lens really bailed me out of having never set up a box lens before when I got my first chance about a year ago. I literally watched your setup video about 10 times in a row because I was worried about building it incorrectly and dropping the lens on people below. Since then I’ve been getting lots of tight follow work shooting hockey and football (got in to 1600mm earlier this month!). Your willingness to share is appreciated.
glad that video helped! i shot it for a college professor so that he could show his students how it worked!
Tom, really enjoyed watching this video…and wow, that camera you use is pretty special! I have a quick question, did you say you were using the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 to film yourself? I have the UK version the TZ7 and I was just wondering how you managed to connect an external mic to it or did you just sync the audio and video afterwards?
Many thanks
Richard
i synced the video in post afterwards. there is no mic input on the lumix.
Tom, Fantastic video, I always love seeing BTS stuff from you thanks for the effort you put in to publish these.
Could you give me a little more information on your time-lapse motor pan/tilt head please?
Im currently in NY from Australia shooting a doco and would love to pick one up at B&H. Incidentally I will be in Boston next week, will keep an eye out for you if we visit the stadium.
Thanks again
Harry