I had the privilege of working under the "Godfather of Boxing Photography" and veteran photographer Chris Farina for the May/Pac fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2. We were based in the Media Center all week, surrounded by hundreds of writers, photographers and film crews from around the world.
I was front row at the weigh-in on Friday, which was the largest I've ever attended with 5000 fans filling the Grand Garden Arena. We were entertained by 80's rapper Doug E Fresh. We shot with Canon 1DX''s, even Brad, the other assistant. He stood in the back with the 400mm lens while Chris and I covered front row action twenty feet from the stage.
The Godfather and I were treated like royalty by radio show hosts from 94.1 FM, Denver's top sports radio station, who were also covering the events of the week.
I marveled at how the crew worked all today to transform the arena for the fight and watched how the Godfather hung two remote control cameras high up near the arena lights while be lifted by a cherry picker.
The day of the fight was crazy. My first job was to shoot the celebrities coming in the arena. Drew Barrymore was sweet, Tom Brady was friendly, Mark Wahlberg accidentally ran in to me, which was fine with me. Adrian Brody actually conversed about a mutual acting teacher we had in the past. In fact, all the celebs I photographed cooperated but Denzel Washington, who put his hand up and said "I'm not working!"
During the fight, my job was to run memory cards back and forth in between rounds from Chris to the Media Center, download the card and then run back to get more. This went on all night while Paris Hilton sat behind me, taking selfies of herself. Guess who else was sitting behind me? Denzel Washington. I remained professional and managed to resist the urge to take any unflattering photos of him.
All in all, it was a hectic week but very fun. Unlike any other that I've attended.
I was front row at the weigh-in on Friday, which was the largest I've ever attended with 5000 fans filling the Grand Garden Arena. We were entertained by 80's rapper Doug E Fresh. We shot with Canon 1DX''s, even Brad, the other assistant. He stood in the back with the 400mm lens while Chris and I covered front row action twenty feet from the stage.
The Godfather and I were treated like royalty by radio show hosts from 94.1 FM, Denver's top sports radio station, who were also covering the events of the week.
I marveled at how the crew worked all today to transform the arena for the fight and watched how the Godfather hung two remote control cameras high up near the arena lights while be lifted by a cherry picker.
The day of the fight was crazy. My first job was to shoot the celebrities coming in the arena. Drew Barrymore was sweet, Tom Brady was friendly, Mark Wahlberg accidentally ran in to me, which was fine with me. Adrian Brody actually conversed about a mutual acting teacher we had in the past. In fact, all the celebs I photographed cooperated but Denzel Washington, who put his hand up and said "I'm not working!"
During the fight, my job was to run memory cards back and forth in between rounds from Chris to the Media Center, download the card and then run back to get more. This went on all night while Paris Hilton sat behind me, taking selfies of herself. Guess who else was sitting behind me? Denzel Washington. I remained professional and managed to resist the urge to take any unflattering photos of him.
All in all, it was a hectic week but very fun. Unlike any other that I've attended.