Keep your eye on the ball -- but stand still

I was hired here at the Record-Journal in Meriden, Ct. back in 1967. My first camera was the Speed Graphic. Luckily for me, my dad owned one and I had used it for photography school in Vt. My first assignment that day was to shoot the 'bearded lady' at the circus that was in town. Two shots-one horizontal and one verticle-that was it. They both came out fine.

We retired that camera shortly after, but I still miss the pure joy of using it to shoot with. We sent it on to one of our bureaus where a reporter used it for a few years to shoot mostly weekend assignments, like the high school football games. We would get his film back and try to get a decent photo out of what he shot, but they were always blurry. We went over the directions with him and we even sent the camera out for a check-up. Then one day I met someone that had seen "our little reporter with the big camera" shooting a football game and he commented on how he had never seen anyone shoot like he did. He would run along the sidelines chasing the players down-field and shoot on the run! When we told him he had to stand still, his photos came out much sharper!!