The life of a sports cameraman

With the technology we have available, watching an athletic event from the comfort of our own homes or at a local hangout with friends provides us with the close-up action that many who attended the event cannot even get. Video capabilities have come a long way, but it wouldn't be possible without many people who put much time, effort, and energy into it. One of which is the camera operator themselves.

Phil Edwards, at Vox Media, talked with Joe Sonnenburg (His website can be found here), an experienced sports cameraman, about some lesser-known details about life behind the camera.

Sonnenburg brings up interesting parts of the job. He discusses how starting out, a cameraperson may film events such as racquetball or water polo. He said that a few years ago, he worked a rugby game.

"I shot rugby a couple of years ago," he said. "The first part of our camera meeting, we went over basic rules so we had ideas of how it works."

Sonnenburg also talked about carrying cheat sheets in order to be ready for whatever the director requests. For example, having a cheat sheet can help in a football game if the starting quarterback gets injured, the cameraperson can immediately look to get a shot of the back-up.

The article, titled "7 things you never knew about being a sports camera operator," can be read in its entirety here. It's worth a little bit of your time and makes you appreciate those people behind the camera who bring the game to us when we're not there, but make us feel like we are.