Shooting Hoops—Basketball Photography with the NBA's Best (Encore Episode)

B&H Photography Podcast

Jill Waterman

Podcast, Photography, Arts, Visual Arts, Bh, Photo

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2020

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is an encore episode, originally published in 2018, before the death of basketball player, Kobe Bryant.

Today we welcome two of professional basketball’s best photographers, and that’s not just me talking. Nat Butler is Senior Photographer for NBA Entertainment and has worked the last thirty-three NBA Finals. He is also the official photographer for the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. Andrew Bernstein is the longest-tenured official NBA photographer, the photographer for the L.A. Lakers and L.A. Clippers, a recent inductee to the NBA Hall of Fame, and the photographer of the new book, The Mamba Mentality, by Kobe Bryant. So, enough of the bona fides, these two photographers are also great friends, and they bring their easy-going banter and the ultimate insider’s perspective to the B&H Photography Podcast.

Our conversation covers a wide range of topics, from the gear they use (and what they don’t), the lighting systems they’ve developed, the intimacy of basketball photography compared to other sports, and how fashion and social media has affected their day-to-day work. We also dig into the shooting strategies they employ for each game and how their images are used by NBA Photos. Butler noted that in the past, a cover photo on Sports Illustrated would have been seen by approximately 3 million subscribers and, now, with tethering and instant feeds, a game photo can be seen by up to 30 million subscribers to the NBA Instagram feed within five minutes of the photo having been taken. Whether you are into sports photography, event and production photography, or NBA history, this episode is for you.

Guests: Nat Butler and Andrew Bernstein
Photograph © Andrew Bernstein/ NBAE / Getty Images

www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts

www.mcdbooks.com/the-mamba-mentality
www.instagram.com/adbphotoinc/?hl=en
www.instagram.com/natlyphoto/?hl=en

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to the B&H Photography Podcast.
0:04.0	For over 40 years, B&H has been the professional source for photography, video, audio, and more.
0:09.6	For your favorite gear, news, and reviews, visit us at bnh.com or download the B&H app to your
0:15.5	iPhone or Android device.
0:17.6	Now here's your host, Alan White.
0:20.4	Greetings and welcome to the B&H Photography Podcast.
0:23.8	Joining us today in our podcast studio are the senior league NBA photographers, two of
0:29.4	them, Andrew Bernstein and Nat Butler.
0:32.4	Andrew Bernstein is the NBA's longest tenured photographer not to mention the official photographer
0:37.2	for the Lakers, the Clippers, and the Kings.
0:40.2	He's a director of photography for the Staples Center and No Key Alive and has held the
0:44.0	position of senior director of NBA photos and organization he helped to create.
0:49.4	Andrew's a founding partner of Legends of Sport, a frequent guest on ESPN's Sports Center
0:55.1	and the Jump and he created and co-produced through the lens a popular show on Spectrum
1:00.4	Cable Sports Net.
1:02.4	In his spare time, he's published a few books, including Journey to the Ring, which documented
1:07.5	the 2009-2010 Lakers Championship season.
1:11.5	His most recent book is The Mamba Mentality, which was written by a fellow named Kobe Bryant.
1:17.4	This year Andy was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
1:20.6	Nothing small beans about that.
1:23.1	That Butler is the senior official photographer at NBA Entertainment.
1:27.5	He shot every NBA finals in All Star Games since 1986.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jill Waterman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jill Waterman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.