2007 Shell Houston Open

[rfortson]

Took a few hundred shots today at the SHO. Still processing them but here are a few of the better ones I got. All shots taken with the Pentax K100D and the Pentax SMC 300mm f/4.0 handheld.

Billy Andrade, 4 time winner on the PGA tour


Rich Beem, 2002 PGA Champion


Jeff Maggert, Texas A&M Aggie and 3 time tour winner


Bernhard Langer, 2-times Masters Champion


Paul Azinger, 12-time tour winner and 1993 PGA Champion


Michael Campbell, 2005 U.S. Open Champion

[boomerd35]

Nice job. Wish I could have been out there.

Troy T.

[STP Images]

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[boomerd35]

Oh no, did somebody distract John Daly while he was taking a drag on his cigarrette? Remember, don't click the shutter during the inhale, only on the exhale!

Troy T.

[Boracho]

Golfer's want to be called athletes and say that golf is a sport, but then they complain about shutter noise in their swing and blame that on the reason they get hurt. Oh yea fat man, it was the shutter noise and not the large amounts of fat build up and lack of mobility that caused you to hurt yourself. Real athletes don't let the noise get to them. I also enjoy golfing occasionally, so I have nothing against golfers or golfing, but when they say that kind of stuff, I lose a little more respect for them.

Anyways, great shots. I really like the shell symbol of flowers behind the tee shots. The first four seem a bit dark to me.

[boomerd35]

For a second, I thought that this pic on the Houston Chronicle's main web page was one of your shots. It is a good background.

Troy T.

* Not my pic - from the Houston Chronicle's website (not credited on their site)

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by Paraquat

I just heard on the SPORTS talk radio show today that due to an incident with John Daly and a photographer distracting him, the officials at the Shell Houston Open have now placed a ban on photography in the spectator galleries for the remainder of the tournament.

I don't know how valid this is, but it was on the news and talk radio this morning. If you plan on going and you're taking your good equipment, you may be required to leave it in your car.

FYI only.

Unless you have credentials, you are not allowed to photograph after the ProAm on Wednesday anyway.

[JPalmer]

Originally Posted by Boracho

Golfer's want to be called athletes and say that golf is a sport, but then they complain about shutter noise in their swing and blame that on the reason they get hurt. Oh yea fat man, it was the shutter noise and not the large amounts of fat build up and lack of mobility that caused you to hurt yourself. Real athletes don't let the noise get to them. I also enjoy golfing occasionally, so I have nothing against golfers or golfing, but when they say that kind of stuff, I lose a little more respect for them.

Anyways, great shots. I really like the shell symbol of flowers behind the tee shots. The first four seem a bit dark to me.

If one of your bad swings could cost you $100,000+...you wouldn't want distractions either.

Besides...it wasn't the clicking that got him hurt...it was the fact that he tried to check his swing and strained his back, a bit more understandable when you consider how hard he swings the club.

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by Boracho

Golfer's want to be called athletes and say that golf is a sport, but then they complain about shutter noise in their swing and blame that on the reason they get hurt. Oh yea fat man, it was the shutter noise and not the large amounts of fat build up and lack of mobility that caused you to hurt yourself. Real athletes don't let the noise get to them. I also enjoy golfing occasionally, so I have nothing against golfers or golfing, but when they say that kind of stuff, I lose a little more respect for them.

Anyways, great shots. I really like the shell symbol of flowers behind the tee shots. The first four seem a bit dark to me.

Have you looked at John Daley's swing? There is no lack of mobility there. Now. Fat.. I agree there. Not sure I follow you on the whole "Real Athletes" thing. Athletics (at least in my mind) is a physical and mental skill competition. Golf is different than most sports in that it's an individual sport...Probably one of the most difficult to master and you have no teammates to rely on. There are many other sports where silence during a backswing is part of the game (remember golf is one of the oldest games in history...and has a tradition that includes respectfulness). Tennis is another sport that comes to mind that is similar in that there is relative quiet during the serve. Another thing to consider, how close the spectators are to the players at a golf tournament... Anyway, those are just my thoughts. For what they're worth..

[boomerd35]

Just to add fuel to the fire- in other sports like baseball, football, and basketball, there are thousands of fans screaming while the highly tuned athelete executes his/her craft. Some fans are close to the action, and can be waving objects to distract the participants, screaming insults or obscenities, and even occasionally throw food/drink on the athelete while he/she is in action. Yet, when people from those sports are interviewed, they say they are so focused that they have drowned out the distractions, and that those things don't bother them. I have to take their word for it, as I'm not an athelete. Are atheletes from these sports all lying in an attempt to prevent crazed fans from having the satisfaction of knowing they have an influence on the atheletes, or do tennis players and golfers need to learn how to focus and drown out the distraction?

Troy T

[AndrewCCM]

I play golf...I played competitive basketball and football. Bottomline, at least in my opinion...If there was constant/consistent crowd noise at golfing events it would be different. It's the everything is quiet...then all of a sudden during a motion there is a sound that causes the distraction. Sorta startling in a sense. Shooting a free throw and such is not the same.. If the crowd was quiet...then all of a sudden someone yelled out.. that would be more distracting imo.

Regardless, there's really no argument I don't believe. I just see it from a different point of view from participating in several of these sports. It's the expecting / unexpecting nature of the action that contributes to the "problem".

[boomerd35]

Did I read that the new 1D Mk III will have a silent shutter feature? Hopefully, that's the way technology is moving and it will become easier to photograph golf.

[rfortson]

Originally Posted by Paraquat

I just heard on the SPORTS talk radio show today that due to an incident with John Daly and a photographer distracting him, the officials at the Shell Houston Open have now placed a ban on photography in the spectator galleries for the remainder of the tournament.

I don't know how valid this is, but it was on the news and talk radio this morning. If you plan on going and you're taking your good equipment, you may be required to leave it in your car.

FYI only.

Typical talk radio. The PGA tour hasn't allowed spectator photography during the actual tournament in a long time, AFAIK. The last time they allowed it, I wasn't interested in photography, so it's been many years. However, the practice rounds when these were taken are almost always open to photography. Of course, it pays to check the rules before going, but again, I think that's set by the PGA tour. I know it's the same at the Masters (a non-PGA event and venue).

The incident with Daly DID happen during a tournament. The woman wasn't supposed to have a camera in there anyway. Of course, seeing how small some of these P&S cameras are, they're almost impossible to detect short of metal detectors and such.