NBA All Star Game - as a fan...

[Joe_Lorenzini]

So we got some last minute tickets to the NBA All Star game that put us on the 45 yard line, 12th row (not on floor). Stuff like that doesn't happen to us so forgive me if this seems like I'm a braggart. Face value of the tickets (just as an FYI) was $350.

So we did the family thing and made it into a fun event which it was. I brought the camera for family purposes (D3s w/14-24mm). I had the P&S in my wife's purse in case there was any trouble with security which there was not.

The All-Star game is an "EVENT". The game itself is just the conclusion of the EVENT. Stars were everywhere, players were being carted around everywhere for interviews, pictures and celebrity responsibilities. The floor was packed with "sponsors" and celeb during the warmup. The player smiles you saw on TV were most likely in relief that they finally got to play some basketball. The half-time shows had excellent sound although having the stage off to the side was a pain in the arse.

Finally and sadly (depending on how you look at it), the best thing we brought by far was our binoculars. Even in the 12th row we needed them to truly appreciate the game. I can't imagine what people in the upper tiers saw. They must have been watching the big screen the entire time (ugh).

So here's a few non-family photos I took.

We got there 90 minutes early and they still hadn't opened the doors yet. Not sure what the heck they were waiting for. When we got in, I realized they were having a lot of "closed door" events for the big-wigs. People outside where it was very cold and very windy were not amused:


After the shoot-around the DCC's kept the crowd entertained (these girls had one heck of a busy week showing up everywhere). You can see how huge the big screen monstrosity is compared to the basketball floor below. They installed that smaller screen below for the floor seats.


So we walk around to see the stadium and run into the TNT setup. The place was packed with people and I was amused at how many P&S/Cell phone cameras were in the air trying to take pictures of whoever they were interviewing at the time. It was in insane. All this and who comes walking through the crowd? Chris Webber and Kevin Mchale (dead center in picture). Give me a break!


After seeing a lot of bling, interesting women and fanatics we got back to our seats where another commotion was going on behind us. I turn around and see who it is... not pictured are Dion Sanders and Emmit Smith:


Finally, after performances and intros it was time to play ball. I captured this HDR image before putting the camera away. I know it's over saturated but I'm having a bear of a time figuring out how to combine the images without it coming out this way (not sure what the deal is but trying to calm the colors down brings out so much noise that the image is unusable).


Finally, it was time to go and I grabbed this show as we were leaving Jerry's World:


I did take some cool family photos where I combined HDR with non-HDR and came away with some neat results.

Joe

[kamari]

Cool stuff Joe. I left my camera home and decided to just go and enjoy the festivities like the rest of the normal folks. So the closed doors are what held up the lines going thru security!! AH HA! From the time I parked (which was literally just over a mile away) till the time I got in was almost exactly an hour. I think coats and bras were optional clothing accessories, as most of the women I encountered in line had neither.