PGA Championship

[Dbl]

Had an opportunity to spend the last practice day out at Hazeltine on Wednesday. I decided to travel light and only carried one camera and one lens because of the heat that day. I have a ton of stock shots, golfers swinging and hitting but I was on the lookout for some different angles and lighting. These are a few of those attempts. All were shot with the Mark IIN and 300/2.8, most with a 1.7 TC attached. ISO and shutter speeds are all over the place because of the lighting and backgrounds.

#1 Waiting to go "In the hole!"

#2 Rory McIlroy watches his tee shot go to the flag.

#3 This was an almost shot, If the player had been in shadow and the ball in the sun it would have been perfect, still it sort of works. I pre-focused on a spot on the green and waited for the ball to roll into that zone with the player in the background. Keith Dicciani putting. Yes the greens were bumpy and the ball is in the air on this one.

#4 Michael Jordi and caddy walk up the 15th fairway.

#5 Keith Dicciani blasting out of the sand on 14.

#6 Spectators along the water on #12.

And a few of the golfers themselves.

#7 Corry Pavin putting on 15.

#8 John Daly in his...colorful attire out of the sand on the 12th.

#9 Padraig Harrington lines up a putt on the 12th.

#10 Chad Campbell walking off the 16th tee. I was looking for the player and the PGA sign in the same frame. Another 30 minutes later and this would have had much better lighting. As you can tell I was out fairly early in the morning.

I've got many player action shots as well, just trying to post something a bit different. Hope you enjoy a few of these.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Nice Shots

Gotta love the pants Daly was wearing!!

[Birdsong]

Very nice. 5 is my favorite. And 9.

[Jim Almquist]

My picks would be 1,3 and 5 I like your timing and a different look that's very interesting. Boy has Daly ever looked any worse. For some reason the saying " rode hard and put away wet" comes to mind.

[PatriotsFan]

Yeah Daly actually looks thinner than normal but his face looks beat red which is usually due to alcohol. Hes had some tough times and at one time was a darn good golfer and hes a helluva guy too. Kinda guy ya wish was better just to watch him act a fool at times. Wish he would turn things around.

[Dbl]

Quote:

For some reason the saying " rode hard and put away wet" comes to mind

Jim, the exact same thing came to my mind when I saw him.

The camera did not do him any justice.

And his bag has more sponsors than a Nascar driver!

[finnbay]

Hey, Dan! I thought of you this past week when I saw the crowds at the practice rounds, and heard they were encouraging photographers to take photos. Wasn't surprised to see this thread when I got home a couple of hours ago from a trip to the deer shack. Great shots! I take quite a bit of golf photos during the spring, and can sure appreciate what you've done with these!

[Dbl]

Thanks Ken, I did have a bit of a hassle at the entry gate. The security guard wasn't sure about the size of the lens on my camera! I did mention there were no restrictions listed by the PGA. It was busy and I don't think he wanted to deal with it.

I know what you mean about taking the normal golf shots. I just wanted to find something a bit different. Lighting was not to my favor on the east side of the course early in the morning as some of these shots show. I had fun at any rate and I got a lot of the stock shots as well, fun day.

[Steve Foss]

Great images, Dan. Brings back my golfing days for sure.

[Canon Guy]

Wonderful series! The first two are my favorites.

[bassNspear]

Awesome looking shots! Must have been a awesome time out there take shots of pros and a awesome golf course!