Paintball Generations: Photography Protection
There are many approaches to shooting including the amount of protection and techniques to approach our common goal: getting the best money shot in town.
Protecting Your Investment
Photography can a be fun and rewarding art if you take the time to properly prepare for every shoot and this is true especially when covering paintball. You need to remember many things and one of the most important is to bring or prepare proper portection for your gear. You don't want to end up losing an expensive lens and all it takes is a single shot to ruin your entire day. There are several different methods to keep your stuff safe.
Starting with just getting to the shoot you should pack everything in a case whether it be a portable soft case or sturdy hard case. You don't want to have to drive all the there (because more often than not it's going to be a bit of drive) and end up not being able to take any pictures.
Another area of danger is inside the netting during the game. It is here that lurks the most danger to your camera but there are still a few options. The basic protection that you should consider buying is a lens filter and a lens hood.
Most lens filters are durable enough to take more than one hit and they are by and far the best protection item that every paintball photographer should have. The hood will help keep stray shots from hitting the lens at an angle.
The main body of the camera can be protected with a hard plastic bag, a kata bag, or a storm jacket cover. One of the strangest sights that I have seen is watching a man use underwater scuba housing to protect his camera and as strange as it sounds the hard plastic case provides excellent protection and combines the need for a hood, filter and main body protection all in one for less hassle. Another newer idea is to use arm bands wrapped around the lens and main body to help cause paintball bounces and hopefully reduce breaks and the mess they come with. The majority of professional photographers also take the time to learn where to stand to capture the best action and where to stand to not get hit this is one of the most important lessons and one of the best techiniques to staying safe.
Some other websites to take a look at: