It's Northern Nev HS Football Season Again!

I'm happy to announce that the 2012 Northern Nev High School Football season has begun! And your Reno Camera Guy is there to capture it all. I love this time of year because football is probably my favorite sport to work in video production. As you can see from the picture above I'm stationed at the high camera again this season. I'm pretty much responsible for capturing all the action and my camera is live a good portion of the time. So I've got to bring my A game every game. I got faked out the first game of the season when Reno did the ol'fumble rooskie but I made up for it this past week when Reno tried the play again and I was on it.

We've got a few changes this season and the first is our new production truck, I mean van. It's more compact them the old RV and easier for loadin/strike.

Here's our crew during the loadin for the first game of the season. At the center is Eric Darensburg of Envision Video (http://envisionvideoreno.com/) flanked by field camera op Bill on the left and replay op Jason on the right. Eric does a great job of improving our productions every year with the addition of new gear. Besides the van he's going to add new cameras - JVC HD100U's by the end of the season.

How cozy can it get in there? I hope they get some insulation before winter arrives. As you can see here's Jason on replay, Mark on graphics and our new director this season Chris (he's hidden behind Mark) who's doing a FANTASTIC job this season of calling the games. A vast improvement over past years.

Here we are on the field taping the pre-game segment just like we do before every game. Once again this season we're working for Dan Gustin of Gustin Sprots Productions (http://gustinsports.com/). Dan's a real pro and lots of fun to work with. This year he's added a on field reporter to complement him and the color commentator in the booth calling the game. It's worked out really well and has helped us raise the bar in the quality of our productions.

The games have been pretty entertaining early on this season. The one last Friday on 09/21/12 between Reno and McQueen was the best one so far with Reno pulling out a win late in the game.  I'll keep you updated on how the post season will shape up in future blogs but for now I'm just enjoying this time of year and being your Reno Camera Guy.

Your Reno Camera Guy at Reno Combat 35

A couple of weeks ago I got work the Ultimate Reno Combat at the GSR. 10 bouts with lots of action.

Here I am ringside and at the production table.

Here's Eric Darensburg of Envision Video with the  ring announcer. Also here's promoter Rick Collup with the video talent.

Here's a couple of shots from my vantage point. Great views. See you all next time!

Ultimate Reno Combat 33

On May 18, 2012 Your Reno Camera Guy was working Ultimate Reno Combat 33 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino here in Reno. It was a huge fight card with 12 bouts and 3 of them title fights. Count on Rick Collup to produce such an exciting evening. Needless to say we were prepared for a long night but it was worth every minute.

Here's my fellow professional well seasoned camera operators - Mark and Steven. We're always goofin around when we can but become seriously focused when it's time to work.

Here's Mark in the ring with Greg DeLong the ring announcer. And Steven across the way in the position that mirrors mine. We're all serious here.

You can see our play by play and color announcers behind me along with Rick Collup in the background.

I always talk to the ring girls before the fights just to let them know to smile, take their time, and when they get to my camera look up for a sec. I think these young minds enjoy the advice from an old sage like me.

Here I am in my position after the final fight on the night. I'm sure you want to know the results of the 3 title fights. Well Daymond Bland defeated Spencer Roberts in round 2 with a rear naked choke to become the Ultimate Reno Combat Flyweight Champion. I had a great shot of this from my angle.
Then Anthony Hernandez defeated Randall "Buddy" Wallace at 1:43 in Round 2 by rear naked choke to claim the Welterweight Title.
The final fight of the night was the third rematch between Brandon Costa and Brad Robasciotti. Costa successfully recovered the Light-Heavyweight Belt that he lost to Robasciotti at Ultimate Reno Combat 31. He won by TKO in the first round after landing a punishing right hand to Robasciotti's stomach. I even felt it high up in my position. Well that's your Reno Camera Guy getting as close to the fights as he wants to. Until the next Ultimate Reno Combat remember Blood Happens!

2012 Nev State High School Baseball Championships

It's that time of year again when I'm a center field camera operator for the Nevada State High School Baseball Championships. As you can see it was a beautiful day for baseball in Peccole Park on the campus of UNR here in Reno. We were video taping the Boys 1A, 3A, & 4A Championship games for Gustin Sports Productions. They were streamed live on GSP.com and the 4A game was shown the following day on KNPB.

The first match up of the day was the 1A championship game between Pahranagat and Virginia City. VC won the first game forcing a second "if" game in which Pahranagat won and became the 1A State Champions.

The second match up of the day was between 3A schools Truckee and Elko. This too went to an "if" game after Elko won the first game but Truckee persevered and won the second game thus becoming the Nev State 3A Baseball Champions. I think it's funny that a school from California is the Nev State Champs. Ha, go figure?

Here I am high atop the scaffolding out in center field. It's was a birds eye view and perfect positioning for a camera operator to get the pitcher/home plate shot. It was a long day doing 5 games and being perched up there for over 12 hours. But I had my comfy chair and snacks to keep me energized the whole day long. Plus I got to work on my tan.

As you can see after the sun goes down it gets cold here in Reno, even in May. This is the final game of the day where Bishop Gorman destroyed Coronado 11-1 in 6 innings to win the Boys 4A Championship.

So that's the latest from Your Reno Camera Guy. It was a great baseball season and I enjoyed acting as the center field camera operator for all the games we did for GSP.   Now bring on the football season!

Ultimate Reno Combat 32

I had the pleasure of working Ultimate Reno Combat 32 on Friday the 13th at the GSR. Once again Rick Collup (http://www.ultimaterenocombat.com/Ultimate_Reno_Combat/home.html)  put together a great card with 2 title fights. 9 of 10 bouts ended in either KO or submission as URC proved once again, nobody puts on more exciting MMA shows then them. In the picture above you can see me in my position right after one of the fights. It's a birds eye view that allows me to follow all the action. I can't think of a better thing to do on Friday the 13th then spend it working as a hand held camera operator for Ultimate Reno Combat 32.

Here's a couple of shots of fellow camera op Mark in the ring. And across the way you can see Steven in a similar position to mine. We all love working sports video production but especially MMA fights.  Mark would get all the video shots of the fighters as they entered the showroom and follow them as they entered the ring. He'd also be in the ring for all the after fight interviews and announcing.

Here's a picture of ring announcer, Greg DeLong talking with Craig Moss our Director outside of our burning man production mobile. The stage at the Grand Sierra is so huge we can drive the truck onto it which really makes our cable runs short and allows for a quick setup. We streamed it live on GoFightLive.com.

Here's a couple of pics of me in position and standing outside of my platform. As you can see these are deer hunting platforms that work perfect for our use.

Here's our crew with Rick Collup after the evenings entertainment. In the main event, Brandon Ricetti (5-2) defeated Jesse Romero (2-2) via TKO in round two, to become the new URC Lightweight Champion. It was a back and forth first round with the former champion mixing things up as Ricetti tried to settle in and implement his attack. In the second, after some Greco-Roman clinch work, Ricetti got a takedown on the winded Romero. From there, Ricetti took half mount and delivered a series of punches until the ref finally called a halt to the action. Ricetti's best weapon was his conditioning as the stoppage was more due to the continuation of punches rather than the strength of them. Ricetti took Romero's back and continued to punch. Romero was too tired to defend himself while Ricetti kept punching and punching until the end.

In the co-main event, Terrell Bosen (3-0) defeated Will Hinrichs (1-1) by kimura submission hold in round one to become the new URC Heavyweight Champion. Bosen is a heavy puncher with both previous wins coming via first round KO but he showed he is equally as dangerous on the ground getting a tapout victory in under a minute. Bosen attacked from the opening bell landing a huge right that dropped Hinrichs. Hinrichs got back to his feet and was able to land a takedown himself but when things hit the mat Bosen isolated Hinrichs' left arm to set up the fight ending submission. With only 3 amateur fights under his belt, the sky is the limit on how great Bosen can eventually become. 
It was another great evening of MMA fights and Your Reno Camera Guy was there to capture it all.

Corporate Video Time

My favorite thing about being a video camera operator here in Reno is all the variety of work I receive. Most of the time you know me for all the sports video and entertainment video work I do either for myself or other production companies. But last week I shot a quick talking heads video for the AGC (Association of General Contractors - http://www.nevadaagc.org/) here in Reno. Great people to work with and I learn something every time I do one of these. This one was about this Construction Defects Law that is running crazy here in Nev. I had know idea, google it and you'll see.

Now a Corporate Video can be many things - live Imag, opening videos, happy face videos, sales incentive videos, time lines, products/services, or testimonials like this one. With a testimonial you're basically interviewing a variety of people directly involved with the issue or person. It's a great way to present content because it's from the very people involved. You usually don't have to script them or give them a lot of coaching. It's very cost effective video production that carries a lot of power when presented correctly.

Here's Don Vetter (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/don-vetter/3/a46/530) from the AGC interviewing one of the four people we got on tape. As you can see it was an easy setup but you'd be surprised how many people in video production get this wrong. I've got the light high on the table next to Don so it doesn't throw a shadow on the wall behind our subject. Plus if I used a sun gun on my camera it would've been uneven and too hot. My video camera is positioned as close as I can to the subject so she looks past me towards Don and eliminates the chance of her flashing looks at me. We also switched the side we were shooting from for each subject just to add variety and mix up the shots. A lighter background with some color in it is best so the subject doesn't get lost in the darkness. Plus I didn't have a back light so this background was perfect. A wired lav mic is all you need, just keep it dressed to hide the cable and positioned somewhere below the neck centered as best you can.

I've done a ton of these videos and the hardest part is to make people feel comfortable and get them to just talk naturally. Once they get going it works like a charm and like I said it can be a very powerful video because their own words are best. Don did a great job of interacting with the subjects, keeping them relaxed, focused on the issue and their stories. All I do is capture it on tape because I'm the Reno Camera Guy doing some Corporate Video here in Washoe County.

2012 NIAA High School Baseball Season Begins!

Once again it's spring time in Reno with the snow falling so it must be the start of High School Baseball season! Here's Your Reno Camera Guy working the 3rd base sideline during one of our recent GSP (Gustin Sports Productions) games of the week. I usually sit in center field but the configuration of this ball park wouldn't allow that so I got placed next to the 3rd base dugout. It kept most of the snow off of me but didn't keep the foul balls from coming my way as one hit a leg on my tripod and snapped off the foot. Good thing it didn't hit my foot! The JVC 500's that Envision Video uses are light weight and easy to get all the action. As a camera op I keep my eye to the view finder but occasionally look up to see where the ball is going.

Here's Eric of Envision Video setting up the field mic right behind home plate. Good position for catching all the noise on the field but a bad place to be for stray foul balls. Every now and then a ball will hit the mic or close to it which really pops the ears of everyone listening.

Eric takes a break to pose with me. I like working for Eric as a Video Camera Operator here in Reno, we get consistent work and also enjoy the outdoor elements!

Here's fellow camera op Janos. We've known each other since Boy Scouts and he just moved to Reno so I'm putting him to work. You can see by the way he's dressed that he'll fit in nicely here in Reno. Janos had the 1st base side and got all the right handed batters. I got all the left handed ones. It was fun switching off camera angles, it keeps you on your toes and makes you follow the action.

The sun came out as I'm the center field camera operator for this game. It's peaceful out there as I stand on top of Craig's truck supported by a saggy piece of plywood. My shot was pretty much a lock down on the pitcher and batter but every now and then I'd have to break away to follow a fly ball. We run a 500 ft cable out to center field and pray that it works so I don't have to run it twice. I'll operate my JVC 500 on batteries and maybe have to swap them out once a game. The good news is I'm working as a video camera operator here in Reno, the weather is typical Reno weather, I'm out side, I'm watching baseball, and I'm Your Reno Camera Guy.