Covering 'The Cup'

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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2005-12-08

Covering 'The Cup'
By Mark Stallings

Photo by Mark Stallings / Redfish Nation

Mark Sepe and Paul Jueckstock landing a nice redfish on the second day of the Oberto Redfish Cup Championship at South Padre Island, TX.

When I think of sports photography, I typically think of "traditional sports" like football, basketball and baseball. Sure, there are other sports that I'd consider traditional too, such as sports that culminate with their pinnacle being called "The Cup". When most folks think of "The Cup", they most likely think of The World Cup, The Stanley Cup, The Nextel Cup, or The Ryder Cup.

While I've covered my share and continue to cover a lot of what I term "traditional sports", I guess my niche has really been in a different direction than most sports photographers. Over the past several years a large amount of my time has been spent covering "Outdoor Sports" on assignment for a client. "Outdoor sports" like hunting and fishing have become big business in the past 20 years or more.

Opportunities in the outdoor sports industry have been around for years, but competitive events in this realm have become more common in recent years and media coverage of these events has too. While they still aren't in the same class as most of the "traditional sports" they appear to be growing in popularity each year. As an example, bass fishing has a huge following and plenty of corporate sponsorship. The influx of money from these corporate sponsors has provided opportunity for professionals to compete and thrive in these sports and thus the need for newspapers and magazines to cover these events.

Over the past couple of years I've had the opportunity to cover "The Cup" for the outdoors sports fishing world or better known as "The Oberto Redfish Cup". The Redfish Cup takes place in the fisheries along the gulf coast and it has been a neat experience to cover it not to mention being a part of history in the making.

The Redfish Cup has only been in existence a few years, but the growth and potential for growth has been enormous. As in bass fishing professional fishermen compete for thousands of dollars in prize money with a lot of corporate sponsorship laying out cash and resources. This series of fishing

Photo by Mark Stallings / Redfish Nation

Two professional anglers competing in the Oberto Redfish Cup Championship in South Padre Island, TX start out the second day of the tournament with a beautiful sunrise.

tournaments features five regular tournaments and one championship with the goal being to capture "The Redfish Cup". Points are awarded to competing teams at each stop along the gulf coast based upon their standings at the end of each tournament. During the last couple of years I've covered tournaments from Punta Gorda, Florida, to South Padre Island, Texas and many places in between.

While most of my friends think this is a cushy assignment, it's really anything but cush. As a matter of fact, it can be just plain and simple, grueling. My day usually starts at 4:30am and doesn't finish until sometime around midnight. I spend most of the day in a camera boat following the fishing action along with TV camera men recording the event for ESPN. Getting interesting and action packed photographs of anglers isn't always easy.

These anglers are fishing for money and they don't want a photographer pressing them too closely. Using long glass is a necessity most of the time and nailing the image on the bow of a boat moving up and down on the waves isn't a cakewalk either. It can be down right frustrating when I cut the head or feet of my subject off. On top of that, a camera boat can't be out in front of the fishermen or you'll disturb their fishing, so at best you get profiles of the anglers and lots of what I term "butt shots". But, sometimes it all comes together with good morning light, cooperative fish and good angles when the anglers land the fish on my side of the boat. When it does, there isn't anything better than the gulf coast marshes and flats as the perfect backdrop.

Photo by Mark Stallings / Redfish Nation

Jim Franklin and Blaien Friermood hold up their day's catch for the crowd and TV cameras on the final weigh in at South Padre Island, TX. This team took home the Oberto Redfish Cup Championship and Team of the Year honors.

After covering the teams on the water all morning, it's a fast boat ride back to the venue. While most of the time it's an enjoyable ride, sometimes it can get kind of rough. The waves can pick up and thunderstorms sometimes roll in and make for a wild ride at 40-60 mph over rough water. It can be very tough on digital equipment not to mention my middle-aged body.

Once we get back into the venue I try to grab a quick snack as my images are downloaded and then its time for the weigh in. With anywhere from 100-125 teams weighing in, this can be an exhausting couple of hours. My client wants me to make sure each team that weighs in fish are captured digitally displaying their days catch. It's you're typical mug shot of both the angler and fish as the teams present the days catch to the crowd and cameras. Then it's off to download those images and immediately transmit the photographs of the leaders to my client for use on their website or possibly for other media request.

On most days, we don't have time for a good dinner. We grab something on the way back to the hotel and then work through the day's images and transmit highlights to my client. It makes for a lengthy and tiring three days, but I do have to admit that even halfway through football season I still have a good tan. It's a tough way to help make my living, but as the old fisherman once said, "A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work".

(Mark Stallings is a Greenwood, Arkansas-based freelancer.)

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