He and his wife are honorary chairpersons for the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent, and they had their big annual fundraiser Saturday night.

The celebration took place at FedEx’s Maintenance Hangar at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Setup was done on Friday. Because it was a hanger, they had to call in Riggers to hang the drapes, lights and speakers. FedEx even brought in one of their planes to be used as a backdrop.

Video world was set up behind the stage and under the plane. Seeing how much equipment was brought in, Friday must have been a VERY long day.

Thank goodness, I didn’t have to take part in that.

There was two sets of camera crews.
My group shot the fundraiser and the second group shot the entertainment, Luke Bryan. Academy of Country Music Awards 2013, Entertainer of the Year.

Never heard of him!
But then, I’m not into country.

Around 5p Peyton Manning did a rehearsal and walk-through his script.

I was camera 3, should-mounted, stage right.

There wasn’t a whole lot for me to do during most of the early rounds. But the live auction got a little bit more interesting.

The auctioneer walked out among the audience to take their bids and I had to follow him and also get shots of the items on the stage, that were up for bid.

For me, that is when shooting, specially should-mounted, gets to be fun!

Most of the items up for bid, went for over $30,000 a piece. One item went for $55,000. Add to that the $1000 bucks you had to pay to eat dinner. With about 116 tables and about 8 persons per table, you add it up.

Peyton Manning raised a lot of money Saturday night!

I finished around 11p.
I didn’t have to stay for the breakdown, but I heard that some of the guys who did have to stay, didn’t get out of there until 5a Sunday morning.

We first checked into the hotel where the event would also be taking place in.
The Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza.

The Setup wasn’t going to be to bad.
The worst part of it was hanging the Trusses. There were 3 of them. Two in front, one on each side of the stage, for the 2 projectors. And a long one just behind the 2 front ones that would hold lights. It shouldn’t have taken long, but it did because we had some power problems.

We got the truses in place and we hang the lights and projectors on them, but we couldn’t raise them. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Al is going to drive all the way back to Indianapolis and come back tomorrow morning with some spare parts.

We did manage to setup cameras, video world and screens, though the screens turned out to be a problem too, but we finally got them setup and called it a night around 10:30p.

Day 2:Friday April 19th – 9:30a
Al got back with the spare parts and we go the trusses up into the air. The projectors got aligned, lights focused and cameras tested. It was a short morning!
4p
We had to coming back for a short rehearsal. Two hours and we were done for the day.

Day 3:Saturday April 20th
Crew Call wasn’t until 5:30p, so I had most of the day to myself. Had some breakfast and would have love to go see a movie, but I don’t have my car so I was stuck in my hotel room watching movies on the TV.

The event started around 7p and ended about 10:30p.
Just another dinner.
The shooting was very light.

There was one interesting moment when this 8 year old boy, who has had a heart problem all of his life, came out and played the piano. We watched him rehearse yesterday and found it amazing that a kid that young could play the piano that good. Concert level play. We only had 2 cameras and the main camera’s view was blocked by people’s heads, so all of the kids shots were mine. The kid was outstanding!

After the dinner, we broke down everything, packed it all up and loaded it into the truck. We were out of there around 12:30a.

Day 4:Sunday April 21st
Like Thursday, this is a travel day.
I had some breakfast and Jeff and I left the hotel around 8:30. I finished the day around 12:30p.

I don’t think that Indianapolis had a real concert hall back in 1963, so I remember what a big deal Clowes was when it opened.

But in all the years that I have been in Indianapolis, I have never been in Clowes Hall, that is until, today.

No music performances, no concert or orchestra, just a bunch of talking heads, ending with an hour long group discussion.

And for that we had 6 cameras. Two shoulder cameras, two cameras on sticks, one build up, a jib and a lot of rehearses.
A whole lot of rehearses.

Crew call was for 9am.

We had a breakfast cameraman meet to get the overview of what we would be doing and our camera assignments.

We then spent two hours blocking out all of our camera views.

They provided us with lunch, which was nice, then it was another 2 hours of rehearses.

Don’t get me wrong, rehearses are nice, at least you get a good idea of what to expect.

But the one thing that I have learned is that no matter how much you have rehearsed, once you start shooting for real, IT ALL CHANGES!

…and it did.

They lost a guest speaker at the very last minute before the program started, so the set had to be quickly rearranged and all of that rehearse went right out the window.

Thankfully we had a good Director that didn’t get all bent out of shape and he let the cameramen find the new shots with some small adjustments by him.

We finished around 6p.
All of the equipment was setup yesterday and it will be broken down tomorrow. So all we had to do was clear the set and cameras from the stage.

It’s one of the most elaborate passion plays that I have ever seen. With the well made costumes, background scenery, the music and how they involve the audiences into the play, it’s all very well done.

We use 5 cameras to shoot the performance and I think that over the years, I have shot from just about every position, but for the last 5 or 6 years I’ve been shooting camera 4. Right up against the stage, slightly stage-left. A good position for getting some great shots, if not for one reason!

I’m crawling around on my knees for an hour and a half.
Which can get very painful after awhile. Even with Knee Pads it begins to hurt after 45 minutes or so.

I figure that it’s all part of shooting. That you have to learn to block out the pain and concentrate on getting the best shots that you can.

And I have gotten some pretty good shots over the years.

Saturday 4am
I hate waking up to that alarm clock sound, so when I have a very early crew call, I’ll usually fall asleep around 8pm the day before and wake up about 1 or 2am. I’ll spend the rest of my time watching programs that I’ve recorded on my DVR.

Saturday 5am
It’ll be dark driving to the TV40 station and it will be dark when I come home. Stopped off at the bank to pick up some cash and a gas station to get a sandwich and some milk. Breakfast of Champions!

Saturday 5:45am
Crew Call. The station is dark. Had to sit in my car for a few minutes waiting for someone to open the door.

Dave was suppose to Direct the 3 games that we’re shooting today, but Dave had a small stroke Thursday and is in the hospital resting. So with late notice, Shawn will be taking over.

Everybody that comes through the door, has that, “Why am I here” kind of look on their face.

Saturday 5am
The drive up to Marion High School, Marion IN is about a 1 hour drive and it’s still dark all the way up. Early morning light starts to peek out just about the time we arrive.

Saturday 7am
Only takes about 45 minutes for us to set up. Everybody knows what to do. We’ve all done it hundreds of times, so there are no directions given by anyone. Everyone just picks a task that needs to be done, and does it.

I start with getting my camera to it’s position and then laying out my camera cable from the truck to that position. Because I usually shoot shoulder-mounted, connecting the cable and setting up my camera, takes but a few minutes.

I’ll then go and help somebody else who has a longer cable run or I will help audio set up the Announcers Audio Booth. The Announcer’s station has to be Faxed out, or in other words tested. Play By Play, Color and Stats need to be able to hear not only themselves and each other, but also the Production Truck.

They also need to be able to Talk Back to themselves and the Truck without going on air. Add an extra mic for interviews and a Monitor to watch the Program from the Truck.

Saturday 8am
We will shoot 2 games this morning and afternoon. First game is at 10am so we have sometime, to hurry up and wait. The Hospitality Room is a good place to get some donuts or fruits and drinks.

Saturday 10am
First games is FT. Wayne Northrop vs New Haven. Though I felt that Northrop was the better, stronger team, it was New Haven that came away with a last minute win.

Saturday 12noon
Second game was Kokomo vs Carmel. Kokomo has always fielded a strong team, but I don’t think anybody is going to beat Carmel. (Though I keep Hoping!) They were state winners last year and appear to be on their way to back to back Championships. And indeed, they easily beat Kokomo.

Saturday 1:30pm
The next game isn’t until 8pm this evening, so we have a lot of time to kill. Thankfully, we get pay for just sitting around. But first, it’s off to lunch at Moe’s Southwest Grill. Mexican.

Saturday 3pm
A nice long lunch and we still have 5 hours to kill. What to do? Well some of us read a book or newspaper, other go off and find a cubbyhole to sleep in. Or some like me watch a group of crew members play a round of H-O-R-S-E.

What is H-O-R-S-E? Well, if you don’t know, it’s a game where you shoot baskets and if you make the basket, the next person has to make it the same way or type of shot as you did. If not he gets an H and so on. The first person to spell H O R S E is out.

They must have played that game for 2 hours or more. I stopped watching and started reading my paperback book. I always have one with me, for times just like this!

Saturday 8pm
Tonight’s Final Regional game of Carmel vs New Haven will be televised Live.
I wish that I had gotten a picture of the Satellite Truck, but I forgot all about it. Damn!

Saturday 9:30pm
Yeah, Carmel won again. There was hope there for a few minutes when New Haven took the lead in the 4 quarter. But Carmel is just to good.

I was shooting under the basket on the north end of the gym and the Carmel cheering section was seated right behind me. That cheering section is the 6th man on the field. They’re loud and animated with lots of slogans, chants, sound effects and name callings. Other schools have student fan sections, but nothing like what Carmel has. They are very organized and practice, and effective!

Saturday 10:15pm
On are way back to the station. Because of the short cable runs, striking went real quick. I drove the crew van back to the station.

Saturday 11pm
It’s been a very long 17 hour day. Sign out, say Good-bye, get into your car and go home. I got to the house around 11:45pm.

I shot the State Wrestling Finals for the IHSAA at Bankers Life. Wrestling has never been a sport I like shooting. It’s boring. The matches are too short and if you blink at the wrong time, you’ll miss everything. But I have to admit that this time around, there were a couple of matches that proved to be rather interesting.

Shot a couple of Pacers games and a Indiana Ice game this month.

I don’t think that I have ever shown what the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Control Room A looks like after the renovation and upgrade. We normally shoot out of B, but for the IHSAA Finals, they used A.

TV40 started a new show called Amos & Abdul.

Recorder columnist Amos Brown and political commentator Abdul-Hakim Shabazz are doing a Left vs Right, Point/Counterpoint type talk show. I shot the first 4 shows. One of their guest was Rick Hite, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief, who also did a turn on TV40′s Inside Indy which we shot the same day.

I have another Pacers game to shoot later this week and I’ll be shooting the State basketball playoffs for the next few weeks, but after that, things will start to get thin. There will still be Pacers and Ice but I’ll need to begin drumming up work for the summer.

In order to break the routine you try different things, like maybe a new technique that you saw another cameraman use or being more aggressive with your shooting. If you’re really lucky, you might be able to learn a new position, but that can be hard to come by if you don’t have anyone willing to train you.

This month was no different.
A lot of the usual events. Inside Indy, several High School Basketball games and Corporate Conferences. A Hockey game and later next week a Pacer game and more high school basketball.

One of the more unusual events was the Stanley Black & Decker Conference. That was a two day shoot and they actually fed us, which most corporations don’t normally do. You have to sit there at your camera while all those people eat their meal. If you’re smart, you bring something to snack on or a sandwich and something to drink.

But Stanley fed us – breakfast, lunch and dinner, and all the meals were great!

The Exact Target function at the Indiana Roof stands out because the entertainment was so inept.

They hired a improvisation comedy group that just never connected with their audience. They were suppose to do two 20 minute sessions with a break in-between. But after the first session, Exact Target cancelled the second session because their employees were walking out.

They were so bad, that even I was betting that they weren’t going to be coming back.

The basketball game that I did last night was fun because TV40 Sports fed us at a little restaurant in Anderson, IN. The Real Hacienda Mexican Restaurant.

I’ve eaten there before and the food is always good.

Two days of nothing but basketball with some of the best High School teams in the state. The game is hosted at the world’s largest high school fieldhouse, (New Castle, IN – capacity 9,325).

But wait a minute!
We just had a Huge Snowstorm that started Wednesday night and continued on Thursday morning, so Thursday’s games have been called off. The four games that we were suppose to shoot today, have now been added to Friday.

That’s shooting EIGHT games in one day.
Eight games in one day!
It’s tough shooting two games back to back, but shooting eight games, one right after another? Tomorrow is going to be a real back breaker.

Day 1:Thursday Dec 27th
Crew Call was for 3:30pm in New Castle, IN. We first ate lunch at Stacks (a local restaurant) and
then we Set Up our equipment at the New Castle HS around 5pm.

We finished setup around 8pm and then went and checked into our hotel. I will be rooming with Robert Lewis, who I also drove up to New Castle. Around 9pm, most of the crew went bowling, a tradition that this crew does every year at the Hall of Fame.

I stayed in the hotel room to get some rest.

By the way, it’s called the Hall of Fame Classic because the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame building is right next door to the gym. Their one of the sponsors of the games.

Day 2: Friday Dec 28th
Woke up at 5:45am.
Another tradition is that the crew always has breakfast at Stacks and this time I
think that I ordered more then I could chew.
I was stuffed!

Crew Call was for 7:30am.
We faxed cameras and everybody bitched about how much they were not looking forward to doing this. But do it we did, starting with the first game at 9am.

There were 3 down cameraman Ian Webb, Rick Klemczewski and myself. The 3 of us rotated the 2 down camera positions, so that it was basically 2 games on, 1 game off. Rick got the short end of the stick, he had to shoot 6 games while Ian and I only shot 5.
We pulled rank over him!

But even with your time off, you were still pulling cable for the Opening Standup or filling in another position to give that operator some, Me time. So, no matter how you look at it, it was a long day for everybody.

The last game finished about 10:30pm and we were out of there by 11:30pm.

The Legacy High School Basketball Showcase is a full day of basketball showcasing some of Indiana’s best players to college scouts. Ten teams and 5 games.

I got in early Saturday morning to set up the production truck. It only took about and hour and a half. TV40 will show all 5 games. The first 4 games will be webcast only and the last game will be televised.

I didn’t have to stay for the webcast games, so after setting up cameras, I left around 11:30am. They left a single cameraman and engineer to cover the 4 games. That’s a lot of games for one cameraman to shoot but they found somebody to do it.

Just as long as it isn’t me.

I got back to Arsenal Tech Gym about 6pm to shoot the last, 5th game. That’s when I found out who the Announcing Talent had been all day for the webcast games.

Dennis Kasey and Keith Passon!

Dennis is a Account Executive with WHMB-TV, who also produces all of TV40′s sports events. He is an wealth of sport knowledge.

But Keith Passon! Keith is WHMB’s General Manager. I never expected to see him behind the mic calling the Play-by-Play for games.
But there he was.
I had to get a picture!

The final game was between Chicago Curie vs Arsenal Tech. Tech won easily with Trey Lyles putting on a showcase for the college scouts.

I think that we will be seeing more of Trey on the college level.

I was station at Zweibrucken AFB in Germany, which was only one of two Air Force bases that had a Ice Skating Ring. The other base being, The Air Force Academy.

The Zweibrucken AFB Skating Ring was open to the public and all the local German kids and young adults came there in the evening, specially Saturday night. I use to go to that ring everyday after work. It became kind of a obsession for me, and I became quite good at skating.

I even became a Skate Monitor. (Everybody say, Ohoooo Ahhhhh!)
But I got a lot of dates as a Skate Monitor. It was a Chick Magnet.

Anyhow, I always wanted to shoot a hockey game, but never had the opportunity until now. The Indiana Ice are a part of the United States Hockey Tier 1 League. The Ice even won the Clark Cup Championship in the 2008-09 season, though I don’t think that they are all that good now.

I figured that the game would be fast to shoot, and it was, but after a few minutes of panning, I got the hang of it. If you lose the puck, just follow where all the players are skating toward and there it will be. Three 20 minute periods with 15 minutes in-between each period.

The game was fun to shoot. It was something different!
The Ice lost in a overtime shootout.
I think that I have a couple more Ice games this month.