NBA

I may have an interview coming up with a NBA basketball team. I was hoping for some insight as to what I should tell the human resources department when I talk with them. What will they want from me and what can I expect from them? I want to be prepared from the get go and not make any mistakes. The idea is to have some structure and prep before sitting in the hot seat.

Interview to be what? Behind the scenes shooter? Game shooter? Archivist? Water boy? It helps to give us the info.
If they want you to shoot, your "Kick A$$" portfolio will be what they want to see & it will be the most important part of the interview. Other than that, it will probably follow the lines of any other interview that 1,000 people apply for & HR's first objective is to weed that 1,000 down to 1-3 people, so don't give them any reason to dump you.

In theory they are looking for three court side home game photographers. I don't have much of a portfolio though. I've only shot middle school stuff.

I just want to say good luck, and let us know how it goes.

I tend to agree with Photosguy, your portfolio should do most of the talking.

Would it be ludicrous to suggest shooting a practice to show what I am capable of? If I got the job I would be more than happy to buy a 1dmkIII and whatever lenses would be appropriate but not unless I know money would be made with them. I may be using their equipment anyway.

As you said you already shot middle school. At least you're not a total newbie wandering up and saying you wanna shoot basketball!

Even though it's "only" middle school, they're still players - moving fast, and they're still throwing baskets. There's no difference to the NBA really, so you should still bring portfolio shots.

If you're good, your pics should look impressive.
Doesn't matter whether it's NBA or middle school or kindergarden

Asking doesn't hurt, so if you feel like it - ask them to let you shoot a game as trial. Nothing more than a rejection you'd have to fear anyway.

Oh and BTW - how about you rent pro-gear before weeding out thousands of dollars for a single, unsafe job?

I agree with what Florian said.
And, your 40D is good enough for now. And I wouldn't think of buying another piece of equipment until my present equipment had paid for it.
Renting a cam is an option, but working with things you aren't familiar with is asking for trouble.

No difference between middle school NBA? The players are faster, twice as tall, the lighting is severe, the court is 3 times the size as a middle school. Courtside photographers shoot from the end of the court, and almost all carry 2 bodies, one for shots on the near-side of the court, and one for the far side (obviously with differing lens lengths).

I'd consider going to a game and spend some time watching the photogs (I did that last month, it was pretty interesting).

The NBA and Middle School are two different levels of shooting - the game is 10,000x faster and many clients want to see higher competition stuff to know you can capture the speed of the game and the big differences in how the game is played. With that said, many don't as well. I know one guy who got a "gig" just by showing little league stuff and then was shooting pro ball (not for the team, paper - but still).

A 40D isn't fast enough (sorry, but working with card companies they are VERY high on equipment because they want to know you won't miss a shot). But wait a minute, if it's an indoor sport you may be using strobes and that's not 10fps either.

If you haven't noticed I'm contradicting myself as there's no perfect answer The simple thought process is be ready to asnwer anything they can throw at you about sideline behavior, about using lights, about the game itself, about yourself as a person, about equipment, etc. If I'm the team photog and looking for help I'd be there in the interview as well and ask some random questions out of what seems like nowhere just to test your knowledge base out of the blue.

As for shooting a practice I would not count on that, most coaches at that level do not want media in the room - there's that "special" time media can come in and shoot but usually its a no.

djscrib wrote in post #5044243
No difference between middle school NBA? The players are faster, twice as tall, the lighting is severe, the court is 3 times the size as a middle school. Courtside photographers shoot from the end of the court, and almost all carry 2 bodies, one for shots on the near-side of the court, and one for the far side (obviously with differing lens lengths).

I'd consider going to a game and spend some time watching the photogs (I did that last month, it was pretty interesting).

Maybe MS's are different in your neck of the woods but I coached MS basketball and the court was exactly the same size - maybe the SIDES of the court are different. Everything else I concure...

MJPhotos24 wrote in post #5044333
Maybe MS's are different in your neck of the woods but I coached MS basketball and the court was exactly the same size - maybe the SIDES of the court are different. Everything else I concure...

Your Middle school had a NBA length 3 point line set up and NBA court length based on that 3 point line?

If so than those must be some boring ass games to watch as it takes the 5th graders 30 seconds to hoof from one end of the court to another. Middle school courts != NBA courts.

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so this is what we do now.....argue about the size of basketball courts.

And some people comment on the arguing!

And others comment on that!

What about a comment on the comment from the comment about the argument?

To answer your question, all our courts are 94'x50' NCAA/NBA regulations - the NBA 3 point line is not on our courts but the length/width is the same. That includes our two elementary schools, middle school and high school. The middle school leagues (our 4th-6th grade team and both modified teams for 7/8th grade) are not allowed to shoot 3's. Well, I'll take that back - they can shoot them but it only counts as two. I had a girl in 7th grade a few years ago who dropped 3's like nothing, including NBA 3's in practice...we ran 3 point plays for her and another girl even though they counted as 2 just so she could learn the plays for JV/Varsity down the line...she's now a sophomore and everyone in the league knows about her shooting, ironically her dads name is Michael Jordan and she used to wear #23 for me, her nickname - MJ - as her name also starts with M (obviously).

So, in conclusion your honor, yes our middle school (and elementary) courts are set up the same witdth/length as the NBA. Your witness council.