THE MOMENT WE CLICKED

One of a number of photographers I met covering the Asean Basketball League Brunei Barracudas vs Singapore Slingers match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was Vanessa Lim of Red Sports. Last night, while reviewing my archive from the November 23 shoot, I came across her picture of a moment when we both nailed the shutter at almost the same time. Vanessa caught this decisive moment when Slinger’s Marcus Skinner went for a layup while Barracudas Bryan Faundo attempted a block. I convinced Vanessa to provide a large version exclusively for the purpose of this blog post—the coincidence is too good a story to not share off-court, online!

MORE PHOTOS OF BRUNEI BARRACUDAS vs SINGAPORE SLINGERS

Singapore Slingers’ top scorer Marcus Skinner (No.24) goes for a layup as Barracudas Bryan Faundo (No.0) attempts a block. Photo by Vanessa Lim / Redsports.sg (click on image to read story by Red Sports)

I took this shot from the opposite end of the court at nearly the same moment Vanessa nailed her Nikon D300 camera shutter.

BRUNEI BARRACUDAS SLINGED!

It was a season ago when I photographed the Brunei Barracudas play against the Singapore Slingers in a home game. A season later, paths crossed again between the Barracudas and the Slingers last night at the Brunei indoor stadium. Compared to the BritAma Arena in Jakarta (Barracudas scored their first win of the season), the Brunei indoor stadium lights venue brighter thereby giving photographers increased exposure latitude—a welcome advantage when it comes to nailing split-second sports moments! Here are my favourite picks from the evening and you can find other photos in my Facebook album.

MORE PHOTOS OF BRUNEI BARRACUDAS vs SINGAPORE SLINGERS

Barracudas No.24 Chris Commons dunks with a smile!

Barracudas No.1 Chris Garnett jumps and sinks the ball

Esmond Tan pays attention to Coach Bong's instructions

Anyone who tries to convince you that basketball isn't a contact sport, go figure!

BRUNEI BARRACUDAS SCORE FIRST WIN OF SEASON 2

The Brunei Barracudas’ first win of the ASEAN Basketball League match against Indonesian Satria Muda BritAma was also my first away shoot with the team. I dragged two EOS 5D Mark II bodies and 3 lenses (17-40mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm) but ended up using just the 17-40mm and 70-200mm to produce these on and off the court moments including scenes from inside the locker room before and after the match. This was my second trip to Jakarta, first being the ASEAN 100 Forum in 2006. A friend who’s a big fan of basketball said I have the best job in the world. While I don’t disagree, it’s a Yes and No situation. Yes, traveling with the Barracudas meant opportunity to get acquainted with each of the team members including Coach Wong with him I shared a room. Meeting new people is what I live for as an international assignment photographer. The downside is how incredibly exhausting and sometimes painful lugging the equipment across several airports and connecting flights is (not forgetting a Dell Studio 17″ laptop on which accompany me on assignments to rush images out for press release where required.)

click on image to view larger version

MORE PHOTOS OF BRUNEI BARRACUDAS vs SATRIA MUDA BRITAMA: PART 1 | PART 2

Seasoned Trainer Chee Wee (left) applies a ankle compression bandage on Chris Commons before the match

Pre-match brief by Coach Bong Ramos in the BritAma Arena locker room

Chee Wee stretches Benjamin Lim before match