The Official "I Got Ran Into"...Share Your Experiences!

Thought it'd be cool for a thread to share our experiences of time we got ran into/stumbled upon/collided while shooting. I'll start.

Last week I covered a HS basketball game and the referee didn't see me sitting on the baseline and totally tripped over me, fell to the ground and what not. The worst part is fellow photographer Russell (northpointphoto) saw it coming and didn't say a thing.


Anyway, share your experiences.

I was about to exit and then saw it was you Dave...
Its -Ryan- fron INC

I was up at Ski Beech this weekend and got off my board to take a few shots of the terrain park. A skier saw me from a mile away, yet still insisted on heading straight for me. Apparently wanting to get in a shot, he came by throwing up snow until his edge caught and he tumbled right past me. (Only barely brushing against me, but still... tumbling ski's are a life hazard!!)

8th game of a 10 game season, 70 pound pee wee football, I'm about 5 feet off of the 20 yard line when my teams running back comes past heading for the end zone. I'm shooting him, but can see the other teams defense heading to make the tackle. Quick calculation tells me that the tackle will take place about five yards downfield on the sideline. (and it does) What I didn't notice was the incredible block another one of our players put on a pursuing defensive player. I had just enough time to try to shield my camera to a) keep from injuring a kid and b) keep my stuff from getting broke. I was successful on both task but wished I had photos of the hit our kid put on the other player.

So far this is the only time I've been ran into, but have had a couple of close calls.

Odie

Hasn't happened to me yet. However, in the last 3 basketball games that I shot, I touched the ball more than most of the players. And the refs (acquaintanences of mine) came over to shake hands during side-outs or foul shots. "Two shots! Rest on the first one! How ya doing? Great! OK, folks, one shot! Watch your feet!"

I got completely taken out by one of our women's basketball players here at school. I was shooting from behind the baseline near the hoop.. She was on a fast break and got tripped up by a defender. It all happened very fast. All I had time to do was sort of retract into the fetal position wrapping myself around my cameras and roll with her.

I'm happy to report that there was no player, photographer, or camera damage though

dawiyo wrote in post #7124741
Thought it'd be cool for a thread to share our experiences of time we got ran into/stumbled upon/collided while shooting. I'll start.

Last week I covered a HS basketball game and the referee didn't see me sitting on the baseline and totally tripped over me, fell to the ground and what not. The worst part is fellow photographer Russell (northpointphoto) saw it coming and didn't say a thing.


Anyway, share your experiences.

But it was a good laugh for me plus everyone has to get hit once.


On to my "worst" experience. I was shooting a HS football game, the quarterback didn't have an open receiver down field and decided to run the ball. He crossed the 1st down line and got plowed out of bounds by the safety into me. Good thing my 80-200 was there to break my fall .

The hit ended up locking the focus up on the lens and I had to send it out to get repaired which took about 4 weeks but thankfully was covered under the warranty

A third baseman fell on me in the photo well -- he was running for a foul ball, flipped over the fence and fell into the well on top of me. Neither he nor I were injured and my equipment wasn't damaged. Baseball shooters are more often hit by foul balls than run into by players. I've been hit by a few foul balls but only a couple left deep blue-black bruises.

I was covering a High School basketball game in a very small gym, the pep band was in my usual corner so I had to shoot from the same corner as the cheerleaders. Having shot there a lot the girls used to watch the flying arms and legs, but I would still catch a bump once in awhile, which was always a big laugh. Well one game I was intently following a player heading for the basket, I knew the gig, he would go up and one of the guard would fire off a pass to him. Only this time he missed, next thing I felt was the ball in ..... The most innocent of the cheerleaders says "boy, bet that hurt". Talk about big laughs. I was just glad it wasn't a baseball.

jack

First time I shot a Raiders game I was so excited to have a play coming at me I forgot to get out of the way. I could only manage to curl up on the floor as the players (hopefully) thundered out of bounds.

Unfortunately, Eric Dickerson chose to use my hip as a stepping stone; I had a 'five-point' bruise from his cleats for about two weeks.

Knock on wood, but I have only been hit once. That was while I was shooting high school football. Running Back came my way and I moved everything except my foot. 230lb RB ran his cleat into my foot. Hurt like crap, but my foot was fine.

fslshooter wrote in post #7126168
A third baseman fell on me in the photo well -- he was running for a foul ball, flipped over the fence and fell into the well on top of me. Neither he nor I were injured and my equipment wasn't damaged. Baseball shooters are more often hit by foul balls than run into by players. I've been hit by a few foul balls but only a couple left deep blue-black bruises.

And this is for real. I shoot a lot of college BB and I have had several close calls. One were I just let my weight carry me down behind the fence to avoid being beheaded. I could hear that ball fly right by my head.

In an other case, the guy at bat lost his bat mid swing towards the dug out where I was. Scared the s*** out of me.

Shooting a snowboard rail jam, A Rider had to go off the rail early, right into where I was crouched. Didn't hurt that bad, and thankfully my equipment was fine. I think he got 10 extra points for hitting me though. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Does "almost" getting run over by cattle count? A few times, the cows have gotten close enough for me to reach out and touch. (I shoot cuttings). I usually shoot from under the judge's stand - which gives me a bit of shelter (metal frame). .. but last summer one calf just blew between the legs of the metal frame at full run. (about 8 inches from me). LOL. I had to wave off (challange) more than a few running straight at me during each show. (I do it by stepping toward them, waving my arms and camera at them). They're only about 400 - 500 lbs. .. but it's still worth a cheap thrill sometimes .. LOL

Photo isn't an extreme example.. but gives you an idea.

I had a pit-pass to the Molson indy in Toronto a number of years back, I was changing rolls of film and some yutz walks by the table I was sitting at knocks me and the table, almost dropped my camera. A lens cap and a roll of film hit the ground - as I reached to pick it up, Scott Goodyear (Canadian who won the race that year) picked it up for me!

I was shooting a Little League game where I had to do some serious smooching to get the umpire to let me on the field. He told me about 30 times to be careful to not get hurt. Probably the third or fourth pitch of the game got fouled off really hard right at me. I was against the fence, about two-thirds of the way down the first base line, and I stepped back but my back hit the fence, and the ball rocketed off my stomach. The first base coach (who'd witnessed all my pregame negotiating with the ump) exclaimed, "Wow, just missed ya!" Not wanting to get tossed, I made an exaggerated "whew" gesture with my hand across my forehead. The ump--who later proved in other ways that his eyesight wasn't so great--fell for our act, and I spent the next 45 minutes resisting the urge to rub my sore abs.

Last week, I caught a knee in the head during a swim meet (my fault...I was trying to get down low and failed to get the knee-wielder's attention beforehand) and learned why Canon puts padded eyecups on its cameras. (Thanks, Canon!)

I Nearly got hit this weekend at Bristol City v Wolves. Wolves player crossed the ball into the penalty box and as he did so slipped on the wet ground...nearly went straight into me and caught his heel on the edge of my peli case which was sat next to me...sprayed me with mud and wet grass though as he slid.

I also got blown over by the stupidly strong winds.

James.