Time to dance

"Morgan State men's basketball team players (left to right) Marquise Kately, Reggie Holmes and Rogers Barnes react after their first-ever NCAA tournament bid is announced on a projection screen at Morgan State, Sunday, March 15, 2009. They will play Oklahoma in Kansas City on Thursday, March 19."

Some assignments bring you glitter and gold - nice light and beautiful colors. Others bring you dirt and darkness - zero light and dull colors.

While I hate shooting the latter, it's just part of the job.

The other day was the NCAA basketball bracket unveiling and I was assigned to get a reaction of Morgan State inside the theatre where they would be watching.

The Bears were excited to witness their first ever NCAA tournament birth, after their first MEAC Championship in 32 years with a win over Norfolk State.

I knew it would be an momentous time for all those in attendance and could hear the band playing as I entered the building.

When I got inside, I posted up on the stage, under the giant projection monitor of the selection broadcast and in front of the team.

Having no idea when they would be announced, and I assumed they didn't either, I just sat there waiting for the decisive moment.

However, I must note, when I first walked in the light was nice. I am talking 1/500 @ f/2.8 @ ASA 800. I was happy with it, but not entirely pleased.

But then, when the show started it went dark. I mean pitch black. I was only picking up a little light from the monitor and some television camera lights.

So I did what I had to do. I cranked the ASA up to 6400 and was now shooting 1/60 @ f/2.8. I was kicking myself for not bringing in my primes, but glad the D3 existed. I cannot ever recall cranking my D2Xs' up to 1600 ASA let alone 6400 ASA.

Then the announcement came. I motordrived hoping to catch focus as they jumped up and down, clapped and cheered. Luck was on my side, although half of my frames were completely blurred.

The No.15 seeded Bears were announced to tip off against the No.2 seeded Oklahoma Sooners. And go figure, once that was said, the house lights quickly came on.

Anyways, to wrap this up, I found this great quote on the Morgan State basketball Web site:

"They could've sent us to Siberia. Who cares? We're playing. People are going to be there, it's going to be on TV, CBS is going to be there. So who cares where we are? I always say it doesn't matter where we play. Just give us two baskets and a ball. We could play it outside," Coach Todd Bozeman said.