Paris Austin (3)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Paris Austin (3);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

Per usual I started the Cal Men's Basketball game with my M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 and 9mm f/8 fisheye bodycap lens.

TeamNovember 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Team;
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

Darius McNeill (1)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Darius McNeill (1);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

While I sometimes swap the fisheye for the M. Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8, especially for NBA games when I'm not on strobes, the wide and zoom are my wheelhouse for basketball.

I know photographers that use full frame 24-70mm and 70-200mm, while I could use the 12-40mm f/2.8, I just don't really prefer that focal range for basketball, seem not quite wide to feel epic, but not quite long enough to get a nice feature.

I was using the fisheye but I felt like I wanted to be a little tighter and have a little more control, as I was thinking of switching to the 7-14mm that was in my bag, but then I had an "aha" moment: just as I could use the f/8 fisheye because I was on strobes, I could use the 12-100mm f/4 without worry about being too dark using an f/4 lens instead of f/2.8

Justice Sueing (10)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Justice Sueing (10);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

So while I kept the 40-150mm on one body, I put the 12-100mm on the other body and used it nearly exclusively for the rest of the game. It's such a great range for basketball.

It's wide enough to get the inbound pass full body, the high five at the line and the huddle shot.

Andre Kelly (22)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Andre Kelly (22);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos
Paris Austin (3)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Paris Austin (3);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

TeamNovember 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Team;
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

But still can zoom in enough to get the tighter portrait.

Justice Sueing (10)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Justice Sueing (10);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos Still long enough to not totally lose the cross court action.

TeamNovember 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Team;
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

And the whole range in between.

Matt Bradley (20)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Matt Bradley (20);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

It also reminds me how much I like using strobes. Even though Haas Pavilion is bright enough to get away with not having strobes and I generally prefer to capture scenes as they are, and there is the trade off of recycle time and not being able to motor drive, the strobes just really make the action "pop".

Jacobi Gordon (24), Matt Bradley (20)November 13, 2018; Berkeley, California, USA; College Men's Basketball: Hampton Pirates at California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion; Jacobi Gordon (24), Matt Bradley (20);
Photo credit: Kelley L Cox- KLC fotos

For the full set of images - check out KLCfotos.com