It’s amazing, when you actually ponder it, how quickly time passes. The meeting of two eternities, past and future, as Thoreau would say, is so undoubtedly fleeting. Three weeks ago, I embarked upon a cross-country trek to Jupiter, Florida, on assignment for the Post-Dispatch to cover the St. Louis Cardinals during their spring training. Possibly the least knowledgeable staff photojournalist on St. Louis baseball, (yet I’ve managed to cover a variety of professional sports at their peaks) I couldn’t help but constantly analyze the reason the paper was sending me to shoot daily video of a team that I knew little more than the whereabouts of seat sections in Busch Stadium. Now I have returned, scarcely what feels like a few days, truthfully now a quasi-valid voice and quite more knowledgeable about the team, unquestionably a three week drills course in learning.
Pitching Drills, St. Louis Cardinals spring training, Jupiter, Florida. Photo by Erik Lunsford
I left St. Louis in the dreariness of a cold and foggy morning, on route via car for the two-day drive to Florida. I contemplated, over my Panera breakfast sandwich, why would they (“they” somehow being a nebula of editors who must have sat around the conference table and concluded I was the best – or at least a reasonable second or third choice) want me to go? I concluded that they wanted a fresh set of eyes, someone who (hopefully) would tackle it with great enthusiasm. Alternatively, maybe it’s because I know the area having lived there. Or…or, maybe no one else wanted to go…the spring training video assignment is traditionally known as a three week pile driver that leaves you running (not walking) to get out of there alive. I can see why the previous video photographer last year at camp was itching to leave after a few days. Either way, I was driving 70mph to get there.
Stomping the Clay, keeping the fields perfect for play with Roger Dean Stadium groundskeeper Johnny Simmons
The first day of camp, known officially as the day “pitchers and catchers report,” was also known unofficially as the day I was dropped into a parched desert with little more than a canteen. I had to recognize players arriving in their cars – be it Bentleys, Chevys, BMWs, or the “standard” Pontiac rental car, and record video of them. Not having the slightest clue on what the players looked like out of their uniform (thank heaven for jerseys), I gave myself no other choice but to let the video camera run untamed, recording everyone in sight. By day’s end after workout, conditioning, and basic drills I easily swallowed an hour of tape. That would cost dearly in post-production, consuming the majority of my evening on the editing deck.
Erik preparing the mic for Cardinal Brett Wallace. Never a fan of the headphones, but the sound quality is magnificent. Photo by Chris Lee.
Over the next few days, I learned the ins-and-outs of practice field etiquette, how to grab the players before or after practice, and where not to go and who to avoid. Slowly the players and coaching staff learned of me (as the greenest rookie around), and interviewing and shooting became more painless. The schedule was consistent – 7 am until 2 pm daily, so timing wasn’t an issue. What I found out, quickly I might add, was how to take the advantage. Some of the seasoned TV and radio reporters grilled the players, putting them on the spot and sometimes cornering them into answers. This made grabbing players after their interviews more difficult, because ultimately their answers (regardless of my rookie questions) were more heavily guarded and fortified behind a castle of facial stone. Therefore, before the morning workouts, I grabbed them first, and with my newbie questions and demeanor (let’s not forget we all have to start somewhere, especially on the video side), the players became increasingly accessible to me – especially, I might add, with the incredible help of my new favorite reporter, Post writer Derrick Goold. I cannot confirm it, but I think the going thought in the clubhouse was that if you interviewed with Erik, it would be the easiest interview all season. I did not mind – in fact, I encouraged it. There was no need for hard-hitting answers in my video pieces. I wanted broad, scene setting soundbites with just enough meat to carry the piece. Veteran Ryan Ludwick had it down. The younger guys (and easier to grab) were always willing. One player even came out and sat down at my interview chair just because he wanted to. Fantastic.
The Importance of Drills, featuring St. Louis Cardinals Bench Coach Joe Pettini
Over the course of training, I was assigned to shoot a peculiar new thing called “raw video.” It consisted, primarily, of using a Nokia N95 cellphone tethered to a shotgun microphone and armed with AT&T’s 3G service. What seemed great on paper – the ability to send quick video (and volumes of it) with no editing right to a audience (which surely is holding its breath waiting in dire anticipation for it) – was in fact from experience an unmanageable, difficult little beast that made for shaky videos and poor turnaround. Apparently, there is not adequate 3G service in Jupiter (it is a different planet of course) to send videos properly, so the unfortunate results boiled down to untimely delays and horrible sound from the ever-constant Florida wind. In some situations, the little camera is a blessing and a tool for constant content. Other times, it just strikes out like a slumped hitter.
Erik on assignment, Jupiter, Florida. Canon XH-A1 in left hand, fighting with AT&T service in right hand with Nokia N95. Canon G10 strap dangling from free Canon EOS bag (admittedly lame, but it takes weight off the back.) Photography by Chris Lee.
As most of us who worked in Florida certainly know, it’s hot, regardless of the seasons (all two of them, dry and wet). However, I loved feeling the warmth of the sunshine again. It was the polar opposite of my recent snow piece, and soon I was in a groove, loving every minute of shooting using moving pictures and sound. I reveled at the opportunity to mic up one of the coaches (see drills, above), or concentrating on features around the team that made great stories. Traditionally, the motto for video length uses the “patience meter” or some period near a minute those viewers could withstand watching. While some of the polished pieces orbit the minute mark, others were let to roam more freely, like the groundskeeper piece that centered on a documentary approach, soaking up the 2-minute spot. While editing was the essence, I wanted the experience, using a variety of footage to bring the viewer into the drills or clubhouse scene. The finished products were by no means at the level Travis Fox shoots at, but they do confidently incorporate a little of my varied vision into a longer form short.
It may be guessed that being away from somewhere can help one become more focused. It’s true! Working alone away from the newsroom, aside from a few staffers who joined me on assignment, was miraculous for my mental health. Think of a cooped up family dog on a walk. All the stress of being indoors, of inside the fence, melted away with each passing step. Aside from being shackled to the phone (I prefer to work alone with only little communication), I found the experience refreshing, if not exhausting for working with nary a day off for weeks. (which, by the way, I’m catching up on that rest and relaxation now)
Storming the gates, St. Louis Cardinals’ fan day at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.
Locals say there is a beach in Florida, but I haven’t seen it – or at least for more than a few moments at a time. Certainly, I wished that there was time to drape open a beach towel and lay on the warm sand, but in every instance the video came first. If it wasn’t pushing raw video through the chute, then it was polishing a forged piece into the morning video player. Alas, company time doesn’t allow for that kind of rest, and it’s reasonable when someone else is accepting the hotel charge.
On the last day, the Cardinals opened to Florida for their season opener. It couldn’t have been nicer weather or atmosphere. Days before I honed my novice video skills back from the mental basement and put them to work. The gravity of leaving weighed on my shoulders. That last night, I received an 11th hour call to stay a few more days (almost literally, an 11th hour call), but my body ached from fatigue. Although my mind was alert and focused (with the help of constant Starbucks Matcha Iced Geen Tea Frappucinos), it was time to leave.
The next morning, I packed my bags in the heat of the Florida concrete jungle day, and drove back to St. Louis, narrowly missing a rash of winter weather through the Atlanta area. Looking back, I accomplished my goal – creating video that I find acceptable enough to call my own. It is, again, not the perfect collection, but they come closer to using a different medium to tell the stories that are timeless in timeless settings. I shot and edited the best I could on deadline, and that, my dear reader, is time I feel worth spent.
Please enjoy a few of these videos that I have hand-selected as some of my favorites from the excursion. For a complete list of videos, including the “raw” take, please visit the Post-Dispatch’s special section for spring training videos at www.STLtoday.com. For a few more favorites, I recommend video game mapping, photo day with Getty photographer Doug Benc, and baseball conditioning with Cardinals’ cook Chuck Rowan.
Finding the perfect bat. Maple or Ash?
Comments 4
Great post packed with gems of all sorts. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 05 Mar 2009 at 9:52 pm ¶I wonder if daily viewers have the patience for such visually thorough work, but I enjoyed them all. And to have to drive all the way back after that, get some rest man. Great work.
Posted 06 Mar 2009 at 11:46 pm ¶Great Job. Loved your work.
Posted 07 Mar 2009 at 6:27 pm ¶Very cool. I see the shot of the infield drill you and I spoke of earlier today! Good luck with everything. Enjoyed talking photography (and videography) with you!
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 6:10 pm ¶Post a Comment