Memorial Day

Sherry & John came over for breakfast ... Belgian waffles, of course. Yum!

After lunch, Scott came over with his dad's Kodak Bantam. It's a beautiful little camera. There's a roll of film in it that's been in there over 50 years. I convinced him that he needed to have some waffles for dessert since I still had some batter & plenty of fresh fruit & whipped cream.

After that I went over to TPC Sawgrass to test some Nikon gear. It was a beautiful afternoon & the light was just starting to get nice. So far I'm pretty impressed with the D3. It's just gonna take some time to get used to it. All of the controls are the opposite of Canon & in different places, but it's got some pretty cool features.

I shot this with the Nikon D3 & the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED. This is a GREAT range for shooting golf.

I bumped into Rob after he finished nine holes on the Valley. He posed on the practice green & hit some bunker shots for me.

I shot this with the 14mm. I'm sure a lot of people were wondering why I was laying on the ground with my head smooshed against the grass. I was trying to keep my shadow out of the frame. I can't tell ... does the horizon look a little crooked???

Fredrik, Jana & the Donut Lover

Mike is at it again. Thanks for the quotes, Laury!

When Stan went to shoot Sergio in the Champions locker room, he noticed somebody put this Krispy Kreme hat on top of Phil's locker. We thought that locker should belong to JR.

Dancin' in the Street Festival

Dial-9 was playing in Neptune Beach, so Tina & I went to check it out.

Lesson 1 - Proper Golf Attire is Key

When Tina forgot to bring her golf clothes, she knew she'd have to pose for a blog photo! Coop pushed her out from behind her golf bag so I could see her skirt & heels.

T.G.I.S. (Sunday)

Paul Goydos' name was stenciled on the trophy ... but Sergio's name got engraved after winning in an exciting playoff.

While Stan & I were hard at work ... Tina got in trouble for straddling the railing on the upper balcony.



I had Sergio move into position, so Donald could get this trophy shot.

After uploading, we went to Outback for a late-night dinner. Tina had a priceless expression on her face when she was carded for ordering a beer. The waiter also thought she looks like she's twelve.

Height Envy

We needed a ladder, but Nelson was nowhere in sight. Once it was in place, we found out it needed to be moved.
Chris breaks the news to Donald that the ladder is in NBC's jib shot.

It takes at least two people to move the heaviest 12-foot, three-legged ladder on the planet. I'm pretty sure Tina could easily move it (inside joke).

I put a remote camera 200 feet up on the NBC crane.

If you look closely, you can see my camera clamped on the edge.

Here's 17 in infrared.

Windy Friday

The wind was crazy today. I saw that the flags on the practice green were really blowing, so I spent about 10 minutes over there shooting various flags with the clubhouse in the background. While I was shooting, my cell phone vibrated. It was Mary. She said, "I'd like to report an unauthorized photographer on the practice green." I started cracking up & looked around. She was pretty far away on the deck of a hospitality tent. I don't know how she saw me.

Mowing, Cutting & Stimping

It was another early morning. We were on site well before sunrise to capture the grounds crew hard at work.

The hole gets cut on #11.

Fred uses a Stimpmeter to measure the speed of the green.

Cue Card Please!

The famous phrase that usually sets Nelson into action, "ladder please," was modified today on a PSA shoot with KJ Choi.

KJ watches the take.

I thought there was a typo!

Tuesday at Dawn

Dawn/sunrise is such a beautiful time of day. Unfortunately, I rarely get to see it. Here's a reflection at 17.


Tina seems to be working when she's around Mary.

But then, I'm hard at work & Tina is "walking like an Egyptian." Why am I carrying all of the gear?!? What's up with that?

Chad paints the crosswalk on 16.

Chad's footprints.

A Great Blue Heron lurks near 17.

Let the Madness Begin

It's Cinco de Mayo, so John took Mary to Urban Flats for her birthday lunch.

Here are the crazy spreadsheets of everything we need to shoot at THE PLAYERS (except competition). This is what they looked like after being in my pocket for a week.

The Media Party was held tonight in the Stadium Village. John stayed on top of the leaderboard for closest to the pin (1'8") on the UBS 17th Hole Challenge.

The Calm Before the Storm

Mary drove up to PVB yesterday for THE PLAYERS Championship that begins tomorrow. We had a busy, yet calm day, that seemed to completely revolve around food. It started early ... 7am waffle breakfast with John & Sherry. Mary brought her waffle maker so we could make two at a time. I can't believe I didn't take any blog photos.
Then we met Chris & Beth at World Grill for lunch.

I had the Pulled BBQ Pork Tower with roasted corn pancakes ... yum!


After lunch we went to drop Mary's gear off in the media center then on to the beach for a long walk (I met a lot of dogs). We worked up an appetite so we stopped at Down South BBQ on the way home. We got home at 7pm & I had the brilliant idea to have Mary look at the pressure cleaner to see why it wasn't building pressure. Mary worked her magic so for the next hour & a half, I cleaned the front path, patio & only one-third of the driveway. I had to stop since it was getting dark.

2nd Annual Dogs & Donuts

I met two Wheatens & a bunch of other dogs at the annual get-together in Marsh Landing.