Tom Watson in HDR

Watson, a photo by Louis Q on Flickr.

Thanks to Brian at the Towanda Daily Review, I had the opportunity to cover the 2011 Dicks Open Champions Tour in Endicott, NY at the En-Joie Golf Course for the second year in a row. I enjoyed shooting both the second and final rounds of the tournament despite both being long days and some concern of a downpour in the forecast for both days. The rain held off and the weather was a nice cool overcast however which meant boosting the ISO a tad. I walked a lot so the cool weather was much appreciated. I was able to see and and grab some cool shots of all the golfers including several hall of famers including Tom Watson who drew a very large gathering at any hole he was on. I was able to rub elbows with some of the best pro golf photogs in the business including Chris Congdon. Some of their gear made mine look like toys. However I feel I was able to grab some very cool shots with my 1D MK II and my 200 mm with 1.4X converter. It took some practice, but I was able to eventually grab a ball in flight as the #1 cardinal rule is NO shooting until the club makes contact with the ball. I also decided to do some post processing in HDR as well. All in all it was a great weekend. It reminded me of how much I want to do this for a living and gave me great ideas on gear and accesories including maybe a Think Tank belt, new cargo pants or maybe a nice black all weather photo vest !!! ….lol…..need a lot more gigs to earn the money for the things I “need”