Walking The Red Carpet with BEN STILLER! RAWtalk 189

Summary

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FroKnowsPhoto RAWtalk 189: Walking The Red Carpet with BEN STILLER!

Date: March 13, 2026
Hosts: Jared Polin (A), Stephen (B)
Special Theme: Behind the Scenes of “Born to Bowl” HBO Premiere, Canon’s New Retro Concept Camera, and Outdoor Sports Photography

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Episode Overview

In this highly anticipated episode, Jared and Stephen reunite for a jam-packed discussion covering:

• The debut of Canon’s surprise retro-inspired concept camera at CP+.
• Jared’s recent whirlwind assignments—from photographing Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic to the star-studded HBO “Born to Bowl” premiere with Ben Stiller.
• Deep-dive reflections on photo access, creative decisions, gear debates, and insightful stories from the red carpet and baseball field.
• Honest behind-the-scenes anecdotes about building a TV show from scratch—plus what it’s like to see your idea blossom with HBO, A24, and Ben Stiller in the room.

Tone: Candid, irreverent, and passionate as always.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Canon’s Surprise Retro Concept Camera at CP+

(Starts around 02:44)

• Overview: Canon revealed a waist-level, medium-format-style retro camera reminiscent of Hasselblad and Rolleiflex. Internet has (unflatteringly) dubbed it the “Canonblad.”
• Two versions exist: one retro and one modern.
  • Specs still unknown—a fixed, manual lens, possibly with a small 1-inch sensor
• Jared’s (A) take: “That’s fucking stupid. I have not heard that, Steven. That is terrible.” (03:05)
• Stephen’s (B) take: Sees appeal for younger, style-driven shooters seeking alternatives to smartphones but hopes for at least a micro four-thirds or APS-C sensor.
• Functionality: Analog-inspired with both digital and optical viewfinders—“choose your own adventure” shooting.
• Discussion of practicality and price: Both hosts agree the 1-inch sensor makes it more of a fun, entry market play than a pro tool—($599 “piece of shit,” per Jared).
• Retro Cameras: Worth the Hype?
  • Stephen: Explains growing demand for stylish, AE-1 inspired digital cameras; appeals to a fashion-oriented, Instagram-hungry generation.
  • Jared: Is unimpressed by “retro for retro’s sake.”
  • Quote: “I think it is a worthless piece of shit. It’s almost like having a Leica. What’s the point?” (07:55)

Timestamps:

• [02:44] – Canon concept camera debut, “Canonblad” nickname critique
• [03:20] – Physical design, user interface, speculation
• [05:14] – Should Canon release a digital AE-1?
• [06:11] – Price feasibility and market analysis

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2. Real-World Gear: Photojournalism at World Baseball Classic

(Begins around 15:19)

• Assignment: Jared documented Team Israel, talking lens selection (400mm vs 4x5; preferring behind-the-scenes, photojournalistic coverage).
• Access Challenges: Even as team photographer, MLB restrictions blocked some areas (clubhouse, on-field team portraits).
• Lens & Gear Breakdown:
  • Fisheye (7–14mm) for team huddle shots—“made it feel more inviting…like a hug because it was rounded on the edges.” (20:02)
  • 10–20mm for capturing stadium’s vastness, 28–70mm f/2 for subject isolation.
  • Decision fatigue: Challenging to juggle multiple cameras and lenses for tight timeframes.
    • Stephen: “Too much gear could definitely slow you down…you never know what you’re going to need.”
• On Cropping:
  • Jared refuses to crop his own baseball images for composition, but does so for team/client needs.
  • Notable exchange:
    • Stephen: “So many pictures I see of yours, I’m like, if you cropped that it’d be way better.” (19:15)
    • Jared: “No, no, no, no. Now I draw the line.”
• 4x5 Analog Workflow: Limiting himself to 16 sheets for portraits, discussing the pressure and meticulous process, including developing at home.
  • “There are so many pieces of the puzzle…if one of those things is off, the whole thing is boned.” (32:10)
  • Candid on retouching: Jared admits to removing a trash can via Lightroom but is transparent about edits:
    • “If I was to enter this into a contest, I would have to put it back in because I just did the healing thing. ...I’m not a big fan of it.” (35:10)
• Takeaway: The final photo is the lasting memory—worth taking risks or pushing boundaries to secure that shot.

Timestamps:

• [15:19] – World Baseball Classic access/story background
• [19:52] – Fisheye vs wide angle vs 28–70
• [25:17] – 4x5 photography, composing portraits
• [36:24] – On Photoshop, trash can confession

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3. Walking the (Not So Red) Carpet: The “Born to Bowl” HBO Premiere

(Begins around 47:39)

• Setting: Lucky Strike, Times Square, NYC. Attendees include Ben Stiller (EP), the bowling pros, PBA execs, and Jared’s close friends.
  • No actual red carpet—hosts agree they missed an opportunity:
    • Jared (A): “They should have put down something that looked like bowling lanes. That would have been awesome.” (49:02)
• Reflections on Success:
  • Jared (A): “All of these people are here today because of me, 100%. And this isn’t being an arrogant asshole. This is just a fact.” (50:02)
  • Stephen (B): “Own it, man…you are the seed that sprouted this whole thing. For sure. 100%.” (50:09)
  • Jared shares the grind of developing the project from kernel of an idea to full HBO launch—with him as co-executive producer, stills photographer, sometimes director, and more.
  • “When I say my show, it was because it started with me, and of course it expanded and had all these other people brought in and A24 and HBO, and it becomes a team effort. I could not have done it myself. But it all started there.” (53:01)
• Memorable Moments:
  • Ben Stiller goes out of his way to greet Jared before the press; “To me, that recognition is more important than being in front of the cameras by myself.” (54:49)
  • Group photo: Ben insists Jared stand next to him; Jared snaps a meta-photo of the press.
  • Insider note: Shooting the red carpet with a 10–20mm for behind-the-scenes flavor, despite darkness and high ISOs.
  • Troy (Jared’s friend)—in bowling shirt—boldly approaches Ben Stiller in the middle of the media scrum:
    • “Troy goes in to thank him about Walter Mitty…on the red carpet in front of a bunch of photographers and video people…He was being gracious and he was smiling, but he wasn’t looking to his handler to be moved along.” (58:22)
• Premiere Screening: Played across bowling lanes—hard to see, but surreal to watch next to the show's stars and the bowlers themselves.
• Recognition:
  • Director Brian shouts Jared out as “the seed that made this whole thing sprout because his photographs…kicked this whole thing off.” (60:29)
  • “It takes a fucking village,” Jared concedes, but is grateful not to be brushed aside as the show expands.

Timestamps:

• [47:39] – Premiere event prep, logistics
• [50:02] – Reflections on DIY spirit and ownership
• [54:49] – Ben Stiller’s acknowledgment
• [60:29] – Director Brian’s speech/shoutout

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4. Looking Ahead: “Born to Bowl” Release & What’s Next

(Begins around 63:09)

• Premiere Details:
  • Airs Monday, March 16, 9pm on HBO/HBO Max
  • 5-episode docuseries, hoping for Season 2+ if ratings and engagement are strong
• Approach: Crafted for both bowling fans and general viewers—“about people who so happen to be professional bowlers.”
• Marketing: HBO’s extensive campaign is underway—trailers, pre-rolls, posters, suggested QR codes for in-mall and bowling center displays.
• Cinematic Lens:
  • Jared reflects on shifting from YouTuber to “big leagues” of TV, balancing creative control with industry realities.
  • Stephen: “Casey Neistat is not the only YouTuber anymore with an [HBO] show. Jared Polin’s on that list.” (69:10)

Timestamps:

• [63:09] – HBO marketing deck and strategy
• [64:45] – Jared’s various credits (“co-executive producer, stills photographer…”)
• [66:11] – The challenge of selling to a non-bowling audience
• [68:59] – Reflections on the journey, hopes for future seasons

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “That’s fucking stupid. I have not heard that, Steven. That is terrible.” – Jared, upon hearing “Canonblad” nickname for the concept camera (03:05)
• “I think it is a worthless piece of shit. It’s almost like having a Leica. It’s like, why? Why would you do that?” – Jared, on digital AE-1 reissues (07:55)
• “There are so many pieces of the puzzle…if one of those things is off, the whole thing is boned.” – Jared, on 4x5 film workflow (32:10)
• “All of these people are here today because of me, 100%...I didn’t ask for permission. I did it. It started with me, and now we’re here.” – Jared, on birthing “Born to Bowl” (50:02)
• “I was a little disappointed there was no red carpet on the red carpet.” – Stephen, on HBO event (48:47)
• “Troy goes in to thank him about Walter Mitty…on the (red) carpet in front of a bunch of photographers…” – On the most fanboy moment of the night (57:20–58:22)
• “He’s the seed that made this whole thing sprout because his photographs…kicked this whole thing off.” – Director Brian, recognizing Jared’s contributions (60:29)
• “It takes a fucking village. It really does.” – Jared, acknowledging the teamwork behind the show (63:09)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:44 – Canon’s CP+ reveal, “Canonblad” nickname
• 08:53 – Price speculation, sensor talk
• 13:48 – Retro/fashion cameras and generational appeal
• 15:19 – World Baseball Classic coverage, lens choices
• 25:17 – 4x5 workflow, posing and access stories
• 36:24 – Retouching philosophy (trash can confession)
• 47:39 – “Born to Bowl” premiere logistics
• 50:02 – Ownership and origin story
• 54:49 – Ben Stiller acknowledgment
• 57:20 – Troy’s bold red carpet moment
• 60:29 – Director Brian’s public shoutout to Jared
• 63:09 – HBO marketing and Season 2 hopes
• 68:59 – Reflections, marketing advice, closing thoughts

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Final Thoughts

RAWtalk 189 delivers an invigorating journey through the intersections of tech, creativity, and persistence in the evolving photo/video world. Whether dissecting the esoteric market for retro cameras or reliving an HBO red carpet with Ben Stiller, Jared and Stephen keep it raw, honest, and relentlessly entertaining—offering both practical tips and a peek behind the curtain of what it’s like to see your passion project hit the global stage.

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Transcript

[A]

Guess who I'm here with? My friend who. Who built a school for. For kids you can't see good. That. Yeah, Zoolander. It's Derek Zoolander. That's right. Stephen. My friend Ben.

[B]

Your best friend. Bff.

[A]

My best friend Ben. Ben Stiller. Blue Steel. Simple Jack. All those people.

[B]

Simple Jack. I like that. That's the character you name out.

[A]

I don't know. I've never seen it, so I don't even know. I still haven't watched it.

[B]

I said that to Troy. I'm like, I'm pretty sure he never seen Tropic Thunder. He's like, oh, no, he's seen Tropic Thunder. I'm like, no, no.

[A]

I'm pretty sure he never has tried years ago. And I might have been in a bad mood and I didn't enjoy some stuff that's.

[B]

I watch it with Troy.

[A]

Yeah, I watch it with Troy. You guys are going to hear us talk about Troy today. He's a. A friend of mine who went on a Canon trip in the past with me to Hawaii. Loves Jurassic park, has movie cars, is just a ball of joy.

[B]

He was the one. We talked about this before, but he was in the Jurassic park photo shoot that we did.

[A]

Yes, yes, He. I invited him. And thankfully he didn't interrupt Ben to do his Simple Jack impersonation. We'll talk more about that a little later on. But there is a lot to talk about this week, obviously. Last week I was traveling and I wanted to do a thing, but I ended up leaving Miami to go to Indianapolis. I'll talk more about that when we get to that. So I didn't have a free day to do a podcast with Stephen, but I did put out the Born to Bowl unofficial podcast where I talk about how the show. Show went from an idea to where it ended up. But what we're gonna do when we start the show today, we're gonna talk about the Canon concept camera. Cause we haven't done. Stephen and I haven't talked together on the podcast since that thing was announced or revealed.

[B]

We meant to talk about it last week, but obviously again, we had to skip that show.

[A]

Yeah, well, we didn't. We didn't do it. We weren't here.

[B]

We couldn't do it.

[A]

Yeah, there was just no chance. It was super busy. I'm gonna talk about the super busyness. Like, I was in Dallas and in. I did the World Baseball Classic. I talked about, do I take a 400 millimeter? I took the 4 by 5. We'll talk about whether the 400 was necessary. Where did I go after I left Team Israel and made the jump to somewhere? And then we'll also talk about the premiere, an HBO premiere event that we went to in Times Square for Born to bowl. And Ben Stiller was there and all the team was there and Stephen and a couple of friends were there. And there's a lot of stuff to talk about around that whole thing. But let's talk about the Canon concept camera which showed up at CP plus out of nowhere. Steven, take it away.

[B]

Yeah, so Canon showed off a waist level medium format style SLR at CP plus. Like you said, it mimics like a Hasselblad or a Rolleiflex or even like a Kodak Brownie camera from back in the day. People are calling it the canonblad. Canon has no currents.

[A]

That's terrible. That's stupid. Who said that?

[B]

I think everybody.

[A]

Cannonblad.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's fucking stupid. That's stupid. I have not heard that, Steven. That is terrible.

[B]

I've seen tons of comments about it. Every comment thread is like the Cannon blad.

[A]

Well, that's stupid because that's just terrible. I don't like that name.

[B]

Okay, well Canon has no current proposed name for it, so we're just gonna call it a concept camera for now. A retro concept camera. Now there are two versions that they showcase, like I said, a retro design and then they also have a modern design. It has a fixed unknown manual lens, we don't know what focal length, not sure the aperture, either 1 inch sensor which to me makes it seem like this is more like a fun play camera than a true professional camera. I'm assuming it's to appeal to the masses and younger generation with like a lower cost up front. But if they want something better than a smartphone, at least give us like Micro four Thirds or, or even APS C, that'd be great. The weird part is it looks like a TLR camera but acts like an slr. It has both a digital and an optical screen. So it's like choosing to use live view on an SLR or the optical viewfinder. Choose your own adventure type camera. The questions I have about the body are.

[A]

It's called sexy, Steven. My body is sexy sexy and I know it. Today was leg day.

[B]

But are there any mode dials of any kind? Any buttons in general? Like I couldn't really tell from the pictures. Any built in filters like Fuji has and all of their cameras. I will say though in the end it's very, very, very unlike Canon to actually allow People to touch and use the camera. Which makes me think it's more than just a concept at this point. It's an actual functioning camera. Like people were taking photos. We've seen plenty of concepts, me and you over the years at the Canon expos that were behind glass and never saw the light of day, but never could we actually touch or hold them or even use them.

[A]

You know what this reminds me of? They should really call it the Canon Blad. Fucking stupid.

[B]

But where is Canon ZF? Where's their X100 retro looking camera? We need an AE1 retro digital camera at this point.

[A]

We don't.

[B]

I think we do. I've said it time and time again,

[A]

we do not need a retro AE one. That's one of the things I'm tired of hearing.

[B]

My thing is they've got the heritage, they've got the legacy. The actual original camera, the AE1, it's already there. Just make a digital version of that and make it look cool.

[A]

Why? What purpose does it serve?

[B]

People like cameras that look retro, all the kids especially, it becomes a fashion statement.

[A]

Right, I, I get it.

[B]

Like look at Fuji. Fuji sells X1 hundreds like hotcakes because of the look.

[A]

I get it. But it serves no purpose. What are you gonna do? Take the, the what, what camera, what are they called? R6mark3 sensor or an R6mark II innards and put it into the thing. And all it is is just.

[B]

I mean that's basically what the ZF is. It's a Z6. Two, I think. Right?

[A]

Yeah. The ZF sucks.

[B]

It looks cool though. That is my point, is the look cool.

[A]

Cool. What I care about is how my camera looks versus how it actually functions.

[B]

Again, I've always said this though. It's. It's someone's secondary camera. It's not a primary camera for people.

[A]

But the problem is you put a full frame sensor into your secondary camera, you're at $2,500 right now for that camera. Maybe more. Because they have to make less of them. And when they run less of them, the price goes up. It could be a $3,000 body.

[B]

Well, or it could be EFC and have an APS C sensor.

[A]

Right. But I think they're on the right path with this concept camera.

[B]

You think this is more practical?

[A]

I do, I do. Because it's unique and different.

[B]

Just negates everything you just said.

[A]

Unique and different. It's not like, oh, let's bring back something because the 70 year olds think it would be great to have all these Dials and buttons. I just don't. I don't see that. I think it's a waste of time and money on their part and that's probably why they haven't done it. They probably done their research and realized that it's not economically sound to do that. Now if they want to make a middle of the road point and shoot camera and call it a full frame $3,000, a 7cr, like, fine, I like that model. I Rather take an R8, an R8 style camera and turn that into a modern functioning tool.

[B]

I've heard you say it time and time again, right?

[A]

But anyway, on this concept camera, I prefer the retro one over the modern look. Just because if you're gonna do it, do it. The reason I didn't shit on it and people are like, oh, if this was Nikon or Sony doing it, Jared would shit all over it.

[B]

It's like, Nikon maybe.

[A]

No, no. Because it's unique and different. It is something that is, that is like, you know what we like? What these kids, they're all going and buying these Rolliflexes. Why don't they call it the Canon Flex? Like that's better than Hasselblad Canon. So.

[B]

So you don't think like A retro inspired AE1 is unique and different than your standard Canon SLR or.

[A]

I think it is a worthless piece of shit. It's almost like having a Leica. It's like, why? Why would you do that? What, what's the point? What is the benefit to that camera?

[B]

What I find odd is that they never had a camera like this, like a waist level slr. So it's not really a retro inspired, you know, camera from their own legacy and heritage set of cameras.

[A]

Well, right. But it's something that they realize there's a lot of. You see on Instagram all the time that these people are younger people generally are picking up these cameras. And I've seen, I saw somebody, I don't know what sport they were shooting, but they brought like a four by five or a medium format and they didn't actually take film. They literally took pictures of the focusing screen and were like, it's so unique. And it's like, what are you doing? You're going to part of the way either go all in or don't. But just like taking the picture of the screen is not unique.

[B]

So if this came to fruition and Canon actually made it and sold it, how much do you think it would cost?

[A]

All right. In its current form, I think it's like a 599 piece of shit. Right.

[B]

I'm hoping it's like 599, especially with a smaller 1 inch sensor.

[A]

I would prefer that it doesn't have a 1 inch sensor. I would think if they wanted to do this and come up with something like. But, but remember it feels like it's going to have just a built in lens. I don't think they're going to put an RF mount on it. It's going to be manual, one lens focus manually. Yeah.

[B]

As of now it's a fixed manual lens.

[A]

I think if they put an APS C sensor in there better than one inch. I think one inch is just a bad choice. Same if it was a couple dollars more. You have a small the APS C sensor. You do manual focus, you waist level, look down. Rather not have the LCD screen for that. If they can make the screen bright enough and you focus on it and you shoot, I think that would be fantastic. I mean they have pretty inexpensive lenses that are fast. You've seen what they've done with the 45:12, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not saying you put a 45:12 on it but something similar. And who cares about the chromatic aberration. It doesn't have to be perfect but let light in.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. That gives it character for sure.

[A]

I like the feel of it kind of winds a little bit. I like the feel of you press the shutter button. But you do have to have your aperture, your shutter speed and your ISO. You still need to be able to control those things.

[B]

And that's what Fuji always gets right is having that tactile feedback, those manual dials, that kind of stuff, the winding mechanisms. And I'm hoping Canon brings that to a camera like this. And like you said, you still have some buttons for true manual exposure. All of that dedicated buttons. And again 1 inch sensor tells me cheap like hopefully $500 or sub 500. But we've also seen thousand plus dollar 1 inch sensor cameras. But granted they're technologically better.

[A]

So the reason I kind of am drawn to it is more so that it's slightly different and it has you shoot in a different way. It's not taking something that they already have or trying to bring back an AE one which is going to shoot the same way because you'll have your auto or your manual and it's just like using an or R6 mark 2 or 3 just in a different body. I just think that it's a different approach and it's a unique thing that is just different. And if Nikon was to do something like this or Sony was to do something like this. I probably would have had the same reaction because I'm like, well, that is different. That's not just trying to bring back the past. Just to bring back the past of something they already had. It's like, okay, how could we find this market or feed this market today that is into retro, but not have it be the super expensive full frame sensor? Same thing as something that already exists from us, just in a different shell. So okay, that's my take.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Steven disagrees is I just.

[B]

I want an AE1 retro camera.

[A]

Would you spend $3,000 on that?

[B]

Absolutely not. $3,000.

[A]

That's how much it would be.

[B]

Why do you say that The ZF is $1,800 right now?

[A]

That's the ZF. It's a piece of shit. I think it would be a $3,000 body because it. Just. Because they wouldn't be making a lot of them and they have to justify the cost and expense of producing it.

[B]

I don't know. I think of an R8 and R8 is 1500 bucks. And they put guts of that into a retro design. I would think $2,000.

[A]

I mean, if they can hit $2,000. Sure. But I did. But my thing is, if you're going to make a retro camera, strip it down.

[B]

Oh yeah, no, for sure.

[A]

Manual focus.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

Manual focus, only minimal buttons. Right. But then it's just like, okay, I get it then it's either a fashion statement or it's a different piece. I'm actually kind of tired of film photographers right now. Again, not from the sense of I am all for, as I've said before, young photographers who've never ever experienced film going through the process, start to finish. You want to process your own black and white negatives. You can scan them after that because you're not going to get into a dark room and enlarger. There are places you could do that that would be awesome to go through the process. But it's still this idea of just because I shot it on film. It's all of a sudden amazing and incredible. Even though it's a piece of shit photo. Right. So I'm just. Everything is like, oh, it's retro, it's film, I gotta do it. And it's. It's becoming overdone. But I'm all for someone trying and learning the experience. Oh, what I was gonna say about that is. But the expense of it becomes insane. So if the camera like an AE one allows you to take 24 or 12, 24 or 36 pictures and then you have to wait a day to download them. Well, people would be pissed off, you know, but you really want to build a retro camera, make you wait 24 hours to offload the film or at least call it an hour because it's a hour lag.

[B]

Just think the younger generation would flip out about that because they need everything right now to post it immediately. I don't know.

[A]

Right. Then why do you need a retro camera?

[B]

The look again. I find it odd though that Canon showcased this and said nothing about it online.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No proposed press release or blurb or internal memo?

[A]

No, I had to reach out to Canon.

[B]

That's what I was going to say. We had to ask them for information and they had to send us a

[A]

quote because they had no idea it was coming either.

[B]

Canon usa, you're talking. Yes.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Interesting. I mean, it seems like guerrilla marketing or maybe it really isn't coming and they're just like, let's just show it off anyway. And they don't care about it. But I don't know. Just very odd that they showed it off, let people use it, it actually works. And then don't tell anybody that wasn't at the show about it.

[A]

They're just testing the waters. It's not the first time. I mean, they had that Golf 180 camera that failed that they never made.

[B]

Was that actually made?

[A]

No, it was like made.

[B]

It works. It's.

[A]

They probably. Right. But it's super. It's super rudimentary. You can totally see that it's 3D printed and. And that it's just early and not all the buttons are there. I would give them a green light personally to go for something like this. If they can hit a right price point and get at least okay quality.

[B]

Would you call it the Cannon Blad?

[A]

I would call it the Cannon blad. I don't. What. What would you call it? The Canon. The Canon. Just. Just call it the Canon. I don't know, retro, whatever. Just call it something.

[B]

It would be a new line. Like they have the V line, the R line, obviously. And then what would this be called?

[A]

The Z line for Xenials, zoomers, Whatever. Okay. So I've been extremely busy with traveling around. A few weeks ago, I was in Dallas. I was filming for hopefully season two of Born to Bowl. We're going to talk about Born to Bowl. The trailer is out now on YouTub YouTube. Just look up Born to Bowl. HBO has it up there. And you can Watch and enjoy and you're probably going to start seeing a lot of ads for it, which is a good thing. Last week was super busy because it was finally leaving for the World Baseball Classic. It's been something I've been. Has been in the works with the Team Israel people to go and do their behind the scenes photos. We talked about what lenses I would take, whether the 400 was necessary or not. I'll get to that in a minute. But it was a, you know, I took Austin with me for a bunch of it and you know, we flew to Palm Beach, Palm Beach Island, Palm beach in Florida, because that's where the team started doing some practice games and practice and warmups against other teams before we ended up driving to Miami. But what was great was having almost all the access that I needed. I say almost because there were certain places I couldn't go that I wish I could go. Like the, the clubhouse when they had the jerseys hanging with none of the players there for like another. It would have been the perfect place to use the new fisheye. Yeah. In the, in the clubhouse with all the jerseys hanging. And it would have been great for Austin to get in there and shoot some video.

[B]

I'm just very surprised you didn't have that access. Being the team photographer.

[A]

Yeah, you know, being the team photographer in theory should have allowed me to do that, but there's some strict things with Major League Baseball. But I think there might have been some crossed wires being that this wasn't even part. I mean, it's a lead up to the World Baseball Classic. So I get it when you get to Miami that you don't have access. But what I will tell you is a guy like Rob Tringali, who is shooting for Major League Baseball was in Team USA's locker rooms. He was in other locker rooms, clubhouses, and you could see his photos posted because he just.

[B]

Did anyone else get access? Being a team photographer?

[A]

I don't know that. Those I don't know because I didn't really see others because I left before the games started in Miami. But I will say that the 400 was unnecessary so I didn't bring it. The 1 to 3 was great for shooting game action. Sure, a 400 would be good for getting tighter shots of the third baseman or the second or shortstop or outfield stuff. But my focus all along was behind the scenes. And that's more photojournalistic, that doesn't require shooting. Everything super tight.

[B]

And if you guys recall, we talked about you bringing a TC to possibly make your 300 into a 400 if need be. And I think you forgot it, right?

[A]

I was packing everything and I didn't go grab it. And then I thought maybe. Then when I was there, I was like, it might have been good to have the TC to just throw it on during game action. But at the end of the day, one of the things I did, the shortstop made a really good play and I just banged out over 100 images of him doing it. And I had Austin cut it into a video clip, which was awesome. What I did do is I did crop into those for the team because it's for them. It's not for me. So that was for them. I just made it look cool. Cropped in. Yeah, the 400 would have been better for that and I would have tracked him. But, man, cropping is super enticing. If you ever get into it, it's just like, yeah. Oh. But you know what I also noticed behind the crop? No, it's not. But what I also noticed is sometimes when you started to do that for those pictures, it changed the composition of how I would have done it. Because my compositions are like, perfect, Steven.

[B]

I have reframed pictures composition wise, like post cropping, and the crop has made it way better than like, my original composition that I saw on camera.

[A]

It's because you're not as good as me. So we draw the lines.

[B]

So many pictures I see of yours, I'm like, if you crop that, it'd be way better.

[A]

No, no, no, no. Now I draw the line. But I will say that the players were awesome. The players were super appreciative of the images that I was getting. The coaches were super appreciative of that. Appreciative of that, which was awesome. The. I mean, I'm inside the team huddle on the field. Like they're at the pitcher's mound or around the pitcher's mound, and the coach has all the team around. And I put on the 7 to 14 fisheye from cannon and really enjoyed using that lens more than the 10 to 20 for that.

[B]

That really surprises me that you prefer the fisheye look over the 10 to 20, because you could have shot even wider at 10 if you wanted to if you really needed the extra width or.

[A]

The problem with the 10 to 20 is when you get people on the edges, it looks bad. And what I liked about being in the circle of the players is that the fisheye made it feel more inviting because it just felt like a hug because it was rounded on the edges.

[B]

I was gonna say I would clean. The fisheye would look even worse on the edges. Because it's literally a fisheye.

[A]

No, just it looked better. Cause it didn't stretch things out. Now that's not for everything. I preferred the fisheye in those situations. Up close in a group, it just felt better. But the 10 millimeter was great. When I was out on the field in Miami, going out to center field with all the players going to get their team photo taken and having them walk towards me with. The whole reason I shot 10 is because I wanted to show the vastness of the stadium. Lone Depot park in Miami. I wanted all of the lights that were up above. I wanted to see the empty seats. I didn't want just a tighter photo. Now I had a 28 to 70 on my right side and I had the 10 to 20 on another camera. And I did do some with the 28 to 70, which are nice because the F2 isolates the subject more. The subjects. But the 10, when you could just get that wide shot, it was great. So having the access to the field during practice, I mean, I'm laying on the ground, I'm getting close to players. I'm going behind pitchers with the fisheye, getting those cool shots. I'm putting an 85, 12 on to get some of the tighter portraits that. Because I could move around. That was also difficult. Trying to move around with all the different gear and choosing between two cameras and what should I shoot now and what should I shoot with now? It becomes overwhelming.

[B]

Too much gear could definitely slow you down for sure. But it's one of those things like you never know what you're gonna need in that moment.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's great to have everything on you.

[A]

Yeah. I was happy with what I had. And Austin had the 24 to 105 and the 70 to 200, which for a video shooter, everything you need. Kind of like everything you need.

[B]

I don't to go any wider than 24 video wise, because it starts to get real wonky and distorted looking.

[A]

What about my 10 millimeters in the born to bowl show? Steven down low when you obviously need

[B]

to be ultra ultra wide. Sure. But like I'm saying, from a run and gun situation, if I'm following someone and have the space, I. I'd prefer to be 24 or longer all day.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I've said it before. The 24 to 105.28 is such a great run and gun video lens. I mean even a photo lens too. But. But video wise, that is like almost 99% of what you need for the entire shoot. Unless you really need the reach and need to be at 70 to 200 or something.

[A]

Yeah, I know this from when, you know, shooting the bowling show, that the 24 to 105 is on my camera about 90% of the time. And I will also say that the people shooting Sony that have 24 to 70 are lacking the long. Like the 70 just doesn't cut it.

[B]

Just need that extra 35 mil.

[A]

Yep, it really does make a difference at that point. From 70 to 105 is a huge difference.

[B]

What I really like is Nikon 24 to 120. You get the extra even more. 15 millimeters. Granted, I think it's an F4 if I recall, but it's still much better than 24 to 105.

[A]

I mean 24, if. If there was a 24 to 1. I mean, how much bigger would it be than the two? You know, the 24 to 105 for reference is a 70 to 200 body. It's the same as the 70 to 200. So. So back to the Marlins training camp. Cause that's where the first game was between Team Israel and the the minor league. Well, not minor league, but the spring training Marlins. The lead up was great. Getting the candids, the behind the scenes with the mirrorless cameras was awesome. But I also took the four by five. But I made the conscious decision that the second game, when we got to Port St Lucie the next day, which is where the Mets have their spring training, I made the decision that all of the stuff leading up to the game, before the national anthem and everything would be done with the four by five. And the reason I had to make that decision is if you try to have your mirrorless cameras out at the same time and you have your four by five, you're going to end up missing something. I'm going to miss something Anyway, having my 4x5 out. But if you try to do two things, you end up missing everything. And so I made the conscious decision that today is four by five day leading. Like the whole practice in the morning leading up to the game, then I would switch over and when I did, and I'll get back to that in a second, the 4x5. But when I did switch over for the national anthem, I went back to my R1s. I also put the 10 millimeter on. Got super low in the on deck circle for the guy warming up. Big sun flare coming in from the top over his head. Looked awesome at 10 millimeters. The problem was Getting the camera low enough to the ground and being able to see it and get my lines right. Because the Canon flip out screen's a piece of shit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it just doesn't do it. So I'm shooting blind with the camera lower because I can't see the screen and flipping it to the side, I can't get my lines right. So hopefully Canon fits fixes this with an R1, Mark 2 or something. Please, please, Canon fix this. So back to the 4x5. You got to see my 4x5 shots.

[B]

Yes. There was only like 12, right. Or something like that.

[A]

I delivered. I only took 16 sheets and some of those I ended up taking two of the same subject. So I ended up with 12 and every. Well, well, let's see. One of them wasn't really sharp. I think 11 out of 16 wasn't perfectly sharp. That's pretty damn good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And so there was one photo that I was. That I envisioned leading up to the whole thing. Garrett Stubbs is a catcher for the Phillies. His brother C.J. stubbs is a catcher in the minor leagues. He played up in the majors for a minute. So I know that they're both catchers and their brothers. And so I got some great stuff the day before of them coming out of the dugout. I actually grabbed the 15 to 35 from Austin because he had that for video just in case. And I didn't want to use the 10 for this for this because it just felt. I didn't want the F4. I wanted the 2. 8. So I used the 15, got them both coming out of the dugout as they're walking out smiling together. It's a mate. Like, those are. Those are shots that live on. That's what I'm hoping for. But it lives on for them. Them. That was my goal. Get photos for these guys. That puts them in this place. They played for Team Israel, they played in the wbc. And these are memories that they will live on with forever in photos. Oh, that reminds me that anytime someone gives me shit about shooting, I kind of remind. Or being seen or being part of it. I kind of remind people that no one really is going to sit there and say, oh, remember that guy that walked on the field during like before the game and that was distracting? Like, no, no one says that. All they care about is the final image. The only thing that lives on from these events other than the memories in your mind are generally photographs. Same thing with weddings. Of course. Yes, people shoot video, but the food gets eaten and shit out the flowers fucking die. The photos live on. Those are the important things that are the memories are the photos. And so that's why I'm not afraid to push the boundaries to get the shot. Because I know that the players are going to like them and the players are going to respect them and enjoy them for the rest of their life. That's the point.

[B]

As long as it's not affecting actual gameplay.

[A]

You need situational awareness at all times. You still need situational awareness. And that's not saying that you won't make a mistake every once in a while, but you got to learn from that. But the Garrett Stubbs and C.J. stubbs portrait, and I'll be posting it on Instagram soon, that I wanted was the two of them in the dugout in uniform with their catcher's gear on. The reason the in uniform is important is that in this day and age, everybody has warm up gear. They wear T shirts, they wear different things. They don't wear full uniforms. Like in the 1920s, the tens, the twenties, the thirties, the forties, the fifties, the players only had one uniform and they wore that during batting practice and they wore the full uniform. Which makes those images from those eras much better because it's much better than a guy just wearing a warm up T shirt. Right, I get it. That's the time. But he's like, yeah, we'll come out in uniform and with our gear. So he came out, he's like, hey, we got like 10 minutes. And I had like two different scenes I wanted to capture. And I was like, okay, all right, we'll do this. Austin starts filming. I film my forehead camera, I film my 360 camera. But I tell them what I want. I'm like, all right, Garrett, you're shorter. So you're going to stand and then C.J. you're going to sit on the bench, turn your legs at like a 45 towards me. And I directed him on exactly what I wanted. And I reminded them that you need to keep your heads on the same plane. This is one of the first times that I was trying to do two people in the same photograph with the 4x5. Not counting the Civil War stuff. Right. That was a lot of people in it. But in, in baseball, the only one up to this point was Nick Castellanos with his son Liam in front of the Green Monster in Boston.

[B]

So because you're shooting wide open, right?

[A]

Or I'm shooting, I'm shooting under f4. Well, four by the equivalent of f2.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because it's an f25 lens, which is the equivalent of f1.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, man. And you're fairly close. So your depth of field is next to nothing. And you're looking for critical. Critical sharp focus.

[A]

I am. And if you look at the photo, which you've seen, you can see the evenness. Headroom has the right amount of headroom. And the feet room matches the headroom at the top. I got all. And I crushed it, dude. I forget this shit is upside down at this point. I forget that it's upside down when I'm doing. Just doesn't compute. My head has. It's just. I see it and yeah, I get it. It's upside down. But my. I figured it out.

[B]

And then everything that's on the left is really the right. Everything's mirrored. Basically.

[A]

Yes. If I want to go one way, I have to actually technically go the other way. But if you look at the wall on the major, you see the Major League baseball sign, you see some other writing. You can see the narrow depth, how shallow the field is that I have. So I was probably. Because what was great was this is in what's called open shade. Right. It's outside, but it's open shade in the dugout. That means the sun isn't beating down into the dugout, but it's a softer, cleaner light. And because the warning track is a certain color, it reflects light back in to the dugout.

[B]

Just bounces everywhere. Yeah.

[A]

And it gives it a very Rembrandt style soft light that just. It gives some dimension to it. So I tell them, you gotta stay still. I've made the decision these days to take two shots basically of the same thing. Because I've noticed sometimes they shift and whatever. I could move the camera, I could do something. But I got it set up quickly, got the perfect frame. Austin and I did discuss, before any players came out, making sure that there's no bogeys in the background, you know, no distractions or bad things like trash cans. And the trash cans in the right hand side, which I've removed.

[B]

One job, Austin. One job. Actually, like seven jobs he was doing.

[A]

You can't blame him, because it's not just him. I didn't. I forgot. Because what happened is when Garrett came out, he's like, we got like six minutes now.

[B]

We talked about this yesterday or the day before when you. When you brought this up. A lot of times you tell me, like, we need to do this, this, and that. And, like, you're giving me, like, a checklist of things While I'm also, like, trying to focus on filming. And it's very difficult to focus on the more important thing, filming while trying to be like, oh, wait, I gotta remember to look for bogeys in the background. Or check your framing and stuff like that. So I get, like, missing that. And then obviously you're busy with framing the actual shot and just trying to make it quick. And it's all within, what, five or six minutes? So it's understandable that you guys just forgot to check or didn't realize it, you know?

[A]

Yeah. Because I'm looking at critical focus. So I lock in my focus. I take the first sheet. I'm like, great, let's do it again. I check my focus again. Still looks sharp, right? Cause I like to just double check.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Put the next one sheet in there, take the photo, and I'm good to go. Now, there was one weird thing that happened when I was shooting the 4 by 5 is I did a couple of pictures out on the field, which are pretty cool. Like the pitcher in the outfield facing the outfield wall. But then you see he's facing the outfield wall and I'm shooting into the field. Looks awesome with the background and everything. But there was a. It was weird because I think I forgot to reverse one of the negative slides. Because I have. If it's silver, that means I haven't taken. It's unexposed. And if it shows the black on the line, that means it's exposed. I got confused about something. Whatever, it ended up working out. Cause all 16 images were exposed properly and were developed fine. And you'll see this when we do a video. Because Austin was filming, I stopped after we were done shooting. And I was like, austin, I'm like, let's record this. And I say this with 4 by 5 all the time to people. I said, there are so many pieces of the puzzle. You have to do that. You have to get right to get a solid image. To get a proper exposed image focused. There's so many things you have to do. But if one of those things is off, the whole thing is boned. So you have to get like 15 things right. If you get one of them wrong, you're screwed. Like if the focus shifts, if the exposure is off, if they move or they blink, if you expose the negative by accident, when you get to develop it, if you don't develop the shit properly, there are so many things that you have to do right. And only one thing that you have to get wrong to bone your entire shoot.

[B]

And the unfortunate part is you won't know until the shoot is completed and done and it's days later when you're developing.

[A]

Well, that's why I put a forehead camera on as I'm opening The. The. The 4x5 container to make sure like

[B]

you can go back and see where. If something happened, like where you messed up at or what.

[A]

Oh, no, no, no, no. This is just to get my reaction to if there is something on the negatives and if there isn't something on you get my exact reaction to what happened. You would see be like, oh, fuck. So what you do, like I take the first negative out and instantly I can see there's images there. Right. And they look like they're exposed nicely. Nice thick negatives, good exposures. And I told Stephen this the other day, you could be off by three stops of light with a four by five negative. It's 100 speed film. And still when you scan it, have enough detail to bring it back. You just have so much latitude with the size of the negative. That's why micro4 thirds sucks when you have so little. You're such a little thing to capture the image. That's why medium format is so good because you have so much more data to work with.

[B]

Well, speaking of scanning and editing and post processing the photo, do you want to talk about the trash can, the bogeys in the background?

[A]

Well, I mentioned that there was a trash can in the background and I mentioned I removed the trash can in the background.

[B]

Oh, you did? Okay. Okay, never mind.

[A]

Yeah, no, it makes for a better image in that case, if it was something like integral to the image, that's a different story for me. This is tough because I don't want to do it. I don't want to take it out. I don't want to. And if I was to enter this into a contest, I would have to put it back in because I just did the healing thing. I also think way back in the day they did do airbrushing of negatives to change things. I'm not a big fan of it, so I don't want to justify it and get into the habit of doing it. Just that the shot is so much better. It's infinitely better that the fucking trash can isn't on the right hand side. Yeah. And what was interesting, there were two shots. So I did the two. The first one, of course, you have the trash can and there was a person in the background up against. So out of focus in the background up against the going out onto the Field, I didn't notice it, but then the next one doesn't have the person ended up just being the right shot. And yeah, in lightroom, just highlight the. The thing. I use the remove and goodbye to the trash can and it just, it just makes for a better picture. But I'm letting everybody know I'm not hiding the fact.

[B]

Who cares?

[A]

Oh, I. I do. I do. I don't like. I don't like, you know me, I'm so.

[B]

No one would have, no one would have ever known if you didn't say anything.

[A]

But I, I like to stay up front.

[B]

It'd be different if you were like swapping faces and stuff like that, or highly editing the. The person, the subject, but just removing a distracting element in the photo. I think that's totally fine.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, back in the day we used to remove branches also with the healing tool. I remember that like stuff. But anyway, I just want to let everybody know that's what I did because I don't like hiding things and I want to be up front and transparent about it.

[B]

Man. Cropping and removing stuff in the image. Who are you, Jared?

[A]

Well, no, the baseball. My baseball images didn't get cropped.

[B]

It's just funny that you're like, I will crop somebody else's, but mine, I will not.

[A]

The same thing happened when it came to weddings. When I shot weddings, if it needed to fit into a square in the photo book, I didn't care because it was for them. That didn't matter to me. But even way back then, I had the same thought process, like, I won't. I don't want to crop my images. But then when it came to putting it in a book, it didn't matter. It wasn't for me. It was for them. They're the client. And it just fit the square anyway. So I only took 16 sheets with the 4x5. It's a thing that I had to drag with me. I had to take the film and put it through, hand check it and then anyway, we end up going. We go to Miami the lead up to the World Baseball Classic. There's going to be four games for Team Israel. And I was going to leave on the Monday to fly back to New York to go to the bowling premiere and then fly back Tuesday for the last game that ended up not happening. When we got to Miami, I ended up photographing Austin didn't have access. We couldn't for whatever reason get a pass properly done. And I ended up going in myself and I sent Austin back. He did some work back at the hotel. I went in, I hung out with the players on the field, did the photo, the candids that I could get done. Wasn't allowed to take a photo of the team photo. Major League Baseball said, jared, you can't take this photo. I said, okay.

[B]

Was it the photographer saying that or.

[A]

No, it was Major League Baseball's. The head of photography there said that.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So I listened. I didn't want to do that, but what I did take a picture of was the photographer taking the picture so that I could give it to her because she probably doesn't get a lot of photos of herself in those situations.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

Yeah. So that's one thing. But I really like the pictures I got on the field there. What was awesome is one of the. One of the ballplayers who was taking batting practice almost last, which means he was a bench guy. He wasn't going to probably play. He goes, can you get a couple of photos for my parents of me in the batting cage, in the turtle, you know, on the field, I was like, 100%. That's all I want is if a player has something they would like, just come up and ask me, right? And then after I left, I had a player, was like, do you have any more of me pitching? Because I submit like the best photos. I would do that. I told them I wasn't going to submit photos right away, but at the end of each day, I went through, sat there, edited like the 130 or 150 keepers from the day, and then uploaded them to the Dropbox for Team Israel to use. So one of the players asked if it was a picture and I did have more. So I just sent him the sequences I had, right? I just sent him the whole sequence. And he was happy.

[B]

Give him everything, right?

[A]

So he was super happy. Like, you don't need to be like, no, no, I can't send you, dad. It's like, whatever you need, I got you. So then what happened is I was supposed to stay there and photograph the first two games, then fly to New York and basically go home from there. And then I realized we were done the practice at 1pm on a Thursday, and Team Israel wasn't going to play again until Saturday at 7. So that's like 40 hours of me just with nothing to do in, you know, other than doing maybe the podcast. Nothing to do. While there, I also came to the realization that my access was going to be totally nil at that point, Right. I wasn't going to be able to be on the field when the. When the team is lining up and they're singing the Haktua. What's the Israel? Israel.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

National anthem and thumb. What's it called? It's called the Haktiva. Not the Haktuva, not the Haktua.

[B]

Than the Haktua.

[A]

It's a H, a T I K V A H. It's actually a very catchy tune. It's a really good melody. Stephen, I would ask you to play it, but I'm not going to have you play it right now. I just.

[B]

I can't believe that you wouldn't have access, though. I mean, you are the team photographer. It makes no sense.

[A]

It makes no sense. I don't want to go to.

[B]

You don't want to just be shooting, like, where the press will be shooting. You want to be. You want to have access to the field.

[A]

Yeah. So there was a little confusion going on between am I considered media or am I considered the team photographer? And I was considered the team photographer. The higher ups called me their team photographer. But there was a little disconnect on the telling Major League Baseball that. So it's not Major League Baseball's fault. It's more of a communication. Yeah. And I just. I kept trying because I know going on the field on Thursday, one of the security guards is like, where does it say team photographer? Because it says Froknow's photo. And you know what I said to him? I'm like, that's a great question. I asked myself the same thing. I wasn't doing to be like, it

[B]

does look like media. That sucks.

[A]

I'm like. Because he's like, yeah, you're not really supposed to be out this far. I'm like, I know. I agree with. You're right.

[B]

Everything you're saying is right.

[A]

You're right. But I am their team photographer, and obviously they know that because I'm standing here. They haven't asked me to leave. He's like, okay. And he let me do it. But I'm like, yeah, you're absolutely right. It really should say team photographer on my past. And he said, yeah, because on the other teams, a few of the other teams, they had content creators and they had this, and they had something that said that. I was like, yeah, so I'm going to try and get that. But whatever. He let me be out there. But I knew that come game time, I would be in the photo. Well, next to the Major League Baseball photographers who are there to shoot the games and are Going to give all of the photos to the teams. And so I was like, why am I here? It doesn't make sense for me to be here. And there was an. And I was needed in Indianapolis. I was needed for the second major of the bowling season, for the development of season two. So this footage, the footage that I. So I left was sent Austin home Thursday night. He got the. He flew home at 10 o'. Clock. 9:55 to be exact. Stephen.

[B]

Good to know. Good to know.

[A]

I know it wasn't 10, it was

[B]

9:55 there where he was.

[A]

It was 78 degrees.

[B]

What was his heart rate?

[A]

It was 72. I was like, do you want to fly home now or do you want to fly home in the morning? I gave him the option to make it easy. And he's like, I'll go home tonight. I was like, okay. So we booked it, got him there. I ended up going to a Leica event when he went to the airport.

[B]

How about you?

[A]

My buddy shoots Laika. And I ended. He's like, you should come to the Leica Miami event. Just because I was like, all right, I'm here. I might as well. We'll go to dinner. It was one of the guys I went to.

[B]

Did you guys take pictures of his Leica and then post it?

[A]

You know, the funny thing is he. He bought the M11 monochrome that I used in Paris.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

From the New York store.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. He's the one who bought it.

[B]

Oh, he bought your version. Like the one you used physically, the one I used. Oh, wow.

[A]

Yeah. Which was new when I took it.

[B]

What did they give him, discount wise? Because it was already.

[A]

I believe it's at least 10% off.

[B]

That's not bad.

[A]

No, it's over $1,000 off.

[B]

That's what I mean.

[A]

But that's 10%.

[B]

Doesn't sound like a lot, but when it's a Leica, it's a $10,000 camera. Yeah. Thousand bucks.

[A]

Remember, it's an open box. So.

[B]

And you used it for two days, three days.

[A]

I did. I did.

[B]

That's great.

[A]

But that's just how they couldn't sell it as new. So anyway, I go to the Leica event. Really boring. They're talking about. The people are very nice. They're talking about the watches. The Leica watches. Yeah. Because they're getting into watches, you know, we might as well sell something expensive. Doesn't. Doesn't. Doesn't float my. What? Doesn't float my boat. Ah, yes. Doesn't float my boat. I don't care about watches. I had nothing bad to say while I was there because everybody's nice and that's their choice. They like Leicas.

[B]

And there's all men, all doctors and lawyers attending.

[A]

All men, maybe one woman, all white older men. But. Should I talk about the weird email I got?

[B]

Yeah. Yes.

[A]

You want to know the weird email? I get a weird email from Nikon Rumors guy just randomly the next day. It was nice running into you at the Leica event. I didn't want to say hi because I like to be incognito is basically what he said. So the Nikon Rumors guy, who I believe his name is Peter or goes by Peter, I don't know what his real name is and no one knows his true identity, was that the event? And didn't let on. But the good news is there was like eight people there, nine people there. So if I see photos from the event, we could probably start to distill down who it might be. But the guy didn't want to come up and blow his cover. So there's that. That was just random.

[B]

Very, very random. The irony that it's the Nikon Rumors guy at a Leica event, that's the funny part.

[A]

Yeah, he probably makes all shit ton of money off of Nikon Rumors and just bought Leicas.

[B]

I so wish it was the Sony Alpha Rubers guy, though.

[A]

Oh, do you know.

[B]

Obviously know his name and what he looks like.

[A]

Yes. Do you know what's amazing? He didn't. He didn't notice the secret Nikon I had, the one that's not out yet.

[B]

Oh, that Nikon. Yeah, he didn't notice tape on it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, he didn't notice it.

[B]

Oh, good. That's good.

[A]

Anyway, back to. Back to the. The team Israel. I ended up leaving. I go to Indianapolis because I am needed at the bowling event. And it ended up being the right decision to go there because I would have had so much downtime. And the team still got all of the photos that they would have gotten. They just got better stuff because that's what Major League Baseball is there to do. They could be on the field to take the national anthem photo. I wasn't going to be allowed to be on there. Couldn't go into the clubhouse. So it kind of made no sense to spend all day doing nothing to just go to the park to shoot a game. I only care about the candidates. All right, moving on. Indianapolis, Great time. Not going to talk about shooting that. Other than, oh, I had the R1s. I didn't have a C80 because I didn't pack the C80. I wasn't supposed to go.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I wasn't supposed to be going to Indianapolis to help.

[B]

And you ended up just swapping gear with Austin right before you?

[A]

That's correct. Now, I had. In the back of my mind, if I end up bailing, how will we make this work? Because I'm like, I can use my R1s. Austin's going to have the 24 to 105 and the 70 to 200. Those are the lenses that I would use. I gave him. So we swapped bags. He takes my roller bag with my 4x5. I take his backpack. He takes his cameras, takes other. I give him my 28 to 70. I give him my 100 to 300 in a backpack so he could take that. I keep the 24 to 105, the 70 to 200, the fisheye, and the 10 to 22 R1s. I take his. His microphone. I take the. The monitor, the. The display, and we swapped gear, and it worked out perfectly. Well, that's great. I was able to shoot with the R1s because that's what I had. Same as the C80. It's basically the same sensor.

[B]

Yeah, I think it is.

[A]

It doesn't have a triple base ISO.

[B]

No, it does.

[A]

Oh, does it?

[B]

It's different, though. It's 800-1600 and 12. And the C80 is 800, 3200. So I don't think it's. I think either the sensor's optimized or tweaked in the C80 or it truly is a different sensor. I don't know. But everything else lines up spec for spec.

[A]

Yeah. Anyway, shoot that event, hopefully for season two of the show. Monday, fly to New York for the premiere of Born to Bowl. Born to Bowl. That's what we're getting into now. I've never been to a premiere like this.

[B]

Or be a part of a premiere.

[A]

Well, or be a part of the premiere. It took place in New York City at the Lucky Strike in Times Square. And this is all put together by hbo. It's an invite only. They're gonna have a screening of the first episode, which is like 27, 28 minutes long. There's five total episodes, so roughly two and a half hours long. It's a season, it's a docu series. And at this event, you're gonna have Ben Stiller. You're gonna liev. Schreiber didn't. He wasn't. He didn't end up being there. But he's the.

[B]

Oh, yeah, he wasn't there.

[A]

He's the narrator. I invited Steven, my friend Katie, Troy, his girlfriend Christina. I think that's who I invited. Oh, another friend of mine, Richard, who's from New York, made it easy. But. So I show up early. I'm supposed to walk the. They say red carpet. There was actually no red carpet. It's just a step and repeat thing.

[B]

Yeah, I was a little disappointed that there was no red carpet on the red carpet.

[A]

They should really put down one so you're not just seeing the floor and so that it looks more authentic.

[B]

It's just a giant, long step and repeat.

[A]

Actually, you know what they should have done? What? They should have put down something that looked like bowling lanes.

[B]

That would have been cool.

[A]

That would have been cool as the flooring. That would have been awesome. They didn't do that. So anyway, I'm there a little early. They're setting up. We're waiting for all the bowlers to get there. We're waiting for the producers and directors and Ben Stiller. And I sat down. Right? Like, I sat down because am I shooting it? I decide to take out my camera.

[B]

So weird.

[A]

Well, you know that I get very disappointed if I don't like my. That's what I do. This is my event.

[B]

Well, we'll circle back to that when we start talking about the red carpet part.

[A]

All right. Well, anyway, I broke out the 10 to 20. The reason I broke out the 10 to 20 and not a 24 to 105, which would have been the right choice to photograph a step and repeat was because I didn't want to photograph a step and repeat. I wanted to get more of the behind the scenes look, and I'm going to be posting those on Instagram as well. But I sat down away from everybody for a second, and I was like, you know what? All of these people are here today because of me, 100%. And this isn't being an arrogant asshole. This is just a fact.

[B]

Own it, man. Because you really. Everyone is there because of you. You are the seed that sprouted this whole thing. For sure. 100%.

[A]

Correct. And that's a good term. And you'll hear that from Brian, the director, because we're gonna roll. What he had to say in a minute when he was thanking people. But I sat there and I was just like, if I. They're here because of me. Because I went and tried something. I didn't ask for permission. I did it. It started with me, and now we're here. With 200 plus people showing up. HBO Press, all the. Ben Stiller, everybody. Like, like all of that started with me. Now, it's not to say that the PBA wasn't trying for years to do something similar, but they didn't have any success at that point until I came along and did something. I had an idea. We executed and we literally got an HBO fucking show.

[B]

Insane. Absolutely insane.

[A]

And everybody in that room was there because of me. So there was a spot on the. The line for Steven to shoot or Froknow's photo to shoot.

[B]

Yeah, I was your press photographer for

[A]

the night with his phone. It just made it easier. We weren't.

[B]

Which, by the way, I think I definitely pissed off photographers that were shooting because I could. I was getting nasty looks from them. Like, if I was behind them, they're kind of like looking at me like, who are you? Why are you here? Like, you're interrupting my shot. And I'm like, I just wanted to be like, look, I've done this a thousand times working for the radio station stuff. I know what the hell I'm doing. I just happen to have a phone in my hand instead of a real camera.

[A]

Yeah. Stephen was doing behind the scenes video for the red carpet stuff for us.

[B]

And there were HBO people also doing like behind the scenes video with the. Their phone for social.

[A]

Right. And then there was. The pba had their own cameras. Good. You know, people set up with a full rig, which was great. So lots of, lots of coverage. The only thing that wasn't great about the step and repeat area is they didn't set up any lights.

[B]

So no continuous lights.

[A]

No continuous lighting. You. Everybody was popping off strobes, which was

[B]

also hard to bounce because we had a black ceiling. So.

[A]

Right, right. So one of the. One of the. Cool. I think I was supposed to walk the red carpet. Sorry, the. The step and repeat myself. I was on the list to do it, but they never really came and got me to go by myself.

[B]

So that's what I want to circle back around you saying that you were shooting the event. I honestly think they thought you were press half the time because you were with the press shooting, like, the press.

[A]

Well, they let me go where I wanted and didn't stop me, so that was good. So they knew me. Why did they know me? Because there's my. On a piece of paper, there's a face list. Right. For everybody at the event. That's important. Basically.

[B]

Basically for the photographers, the caption names.

[A]

Well, right. And to see, like, this person is part of it. This person's a part of it.

[B]

Executive producer, producer, director, whatever.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Oh, and let me just take a step back. I am considered a co executive producer. That means we're literally executive producers. But there's a group of us that started it and they just clumped it together. I was unaware that co executive was different than executive producer.

[B]

Technically is.

[A]

Technically. But. But that's. That's just in. In title. When I say that it's my show, people are like, what do you mean it's your show? Or they're like, were you involved in this? I was like, was I involved in this? The answer to that is yes, it's my show. When I say my show, it was because it. It started with me, and of course it expanded and had all of these other people brought in and a 24 and HBO, and it becomes a team effort. I could not have done it myself. But it all started. It all started there. And not only was I producing on the ground, so like executive producing and directing. Certain times when it was just me and a shooter. Right. So directing, producing, interviewing, doing stills, second camera, shooting for video. As a cinematographer, I'm 100% capable of shooting a show with video because I've done it and you see a lot of my clips in it. But yeah, so I basically had a shit ton of roles. You know, Ben Stiller's an executive producer. Was it. I know. I don't know if you asked me, like, was I upset? I didn't get to walk that. Yeah.

[B]

So in the end, you never got to walk the red carpet and they kind of just skipped over you, and I don't know, I felt like you should have went, yeah.

[A]

Let me. Let me explain why I wasn't upset. 1. I, like, I didn't want to be. Well, I like being the center of attention, but I knew that this wasn't my center of attention event. This wasn't for me. This is for the show, but it's my show. There's no reason to make a big, big deal out of them not having me walk the thing. And the reason why is you saw me standing off to the side, just in a random area. And Ben came in, and then he saw me and he came over and he shook my hand. He stepped out of the area of where the step and repeat was to come over and say hi. And to me, that recognition is more important than being in front of the cameras by myself.

[B]

Huge.

[A]

That's all I cared about. Then when it came to doing a group shot, Ben was like, stand Next to me, like, physically put me next to him. So I stood next to him. We did the shot. I had the camera in my hand because I had it with me. The PR people for the HBO and other people were like, give us your camera. I was like, no, this is my camera. I want it. Because then I remembered I wanted to take a picture of the photographers taking pictures of me. And so I did do that high ISO and all because it's F4 and really low lighting.

[B]

Yeah, I did actually look at the metadata. You had a couple at 16,000 ISO. That should tell people how low lit the entire red carpet was. They really should have had some sort of continuous lighting, especially for, like people shooting video.

[A]

It also shows you why F4 sucks. And look, if I'm at 16,000 and I'm using a 2.8, then I'm at 8,000. And then if I'm using an F2, what am I at? 4,000, 5,000, roughly.

[B]

Oh, no, you'd be at 8,000 with 2 8. And then you'd be at 4,000 with F2. And then at 14 you'd be not 1 4.

[A]

I said F2.

[B]

Yeah, F2, you'd be at 4,000.

[A]

Full stops. Yes. 28 to 2. Oh is a full stop. So I would have been at 4,000. Then 14 would be another stop. So then, I mean, yeah, obviously one day, if Canon comes out with that super fast glass, that's going to be super awesome.

[B]

Do you think the 14 1.4 would have helped or were you mainly like even wider? Like 10?

[A]

Now 1414 would have probably been a good choice because I didn't know it was a 10.

[B]

I actually, I actually thought that was the lens you were using all night until you told me it was a 10.20after.

[A]

Yeah, the 14 1.4 would have been a great one to use for that. You're right. I didn't even think about it. I don't. I didn't have it. Austin took that home with him.

[B]

Well, what were you shooting at? Like, were you around 14 mil or were you wider or.

[A]

Most of it's at 10 millimeters.

[B]

Okay, so the 14 might not have been a good choice.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Well.

[A]

Well, I would have moved my feet more. I did zoom in on a few.

[B]

We couldn't pack up.

[A]

No, the four, you're right. The 14 would have been perfect from the back. It would have been fine. There is a big difference between 10 and 14. But I still love 14. I really do. So, yeah, the 1414 would have been a perfect choice for that. But anyway, what'd you think of the event?

[B]

It was a great night. I finally put a face to all the names that you've been saying over the past few years. It was great to officially meet everybody involved. Was obviously surreal to be a couple feet away from Ben Stiller and seeing him in person.

[A]

Hey, speaking of being a few feet away from Ben Stiller, you and I are standing there. Ben is about to be. He's doing interviews, and he's like.

[B]

He's walking the line, basically, and doing interviews with the press.

[A]

My friend Troy, who loves movies and is all over the place, steps to my left side and goes, jared, why don't you introduce me to your friend? And then he goes right in. And I'm like. And I turned to you, I said, did he. Did he just do that?

[B]

Was Ben, like, actively, like, being interviewed or. No. Was this.

[A]

No, he was done being interviewed, being shushed, moved over to the next part.

[B]

His handler was constantly moving him. And then all of a sudden, Troy just stops.

[A]

Troy goes in to thank him about Walter Mitty.

[B]

But on the red carpet, keep in

[A]

mind, on the thing, just a random

[B]

guy coming up, a random fan.

[A]

Not where Troy wearing his polyester bowling shirt, Neon is supposed to be. And then I was before then I was gonna pull him out.

[B]

Dude. Me and you, like, looked at each other. I'm like, what is he doing? Because, you know, he could have gotten kicked out for something like that, maybe.

[A]

And then I realized Ben is deeply engaged in looking actually like he's enjoying this.

[B]

Keep in mind, it's on the red carpet in front of a bunch of photographers and video people. I think he's gonna.

[A]

He was being gracious and he was smiling, but he wasn't looking to his handler to be moved along.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And Troy didn't take too long.

[B]

I'm sure his handler didn't try and move him along. I think she didn't know who Troy was. And she's like, you know what? I'll just let him talk.

[A]

So. But then I remembered I had a camera in my hands. Took a couple pictures because I knew Troy would appreciate a couple of photos with him. And then Troy got out of there, and then Ben continued on. And so that was just hilarious that Troy. We looked at each other, was like. He just. That's a thing. We're like, that's a thing.

[B]

It's so Troy. That's all I gotta say.

[A]

Yeah. So anyway, you. Yeah. What do you think of just how they did the Event.

[B]

Well, so we did the red carpet part and then they had us set up in the actual bowling lane section. And that's where they premiered the show and played the episode. My only gripe about watching the show is that they had big screens playing it, but at the end of the bowling lane. So like 60ft away.

[A]

60ft plus 15 more feet.

[B]

Oh, there you. So 75ft. So it was. And probably more like a hundred where I was standing. So it was tough to kind of see. But I mean, I could actually see it. I was curious going into it. Like, how are they gonna. Where are they gonna play the show at? It's a bowling alley. Bowling center.

[A]

Yeah, they have projectors everywhere already. But so before, before all of this started though, they, I guess a 24 or HBO, somebody was. Was talking and then they brought up the directors to talk about the show. And I, I didn't know, like. Like, is someone gonna shout me out? Cause I'm not gonna get to talk. Cause again, you get pushed down, not in a bad way. Other people get brought in. Without these directors, we don't have a show. Right. Like, that was a big integral part with HBO was they wanted these directors. So that's how it is. That's just what it is. And so you get on board with it. You work together for the betterment of the team and the betterment of the product. And so you got James and you got Brian. And Brian spoke last. And we're going to roll the audio right now. From what he had to say.

[B]

We're not going to call out everybody,

[A]

but obviously Johnny Hausetter, Johnny Vogler, Jared

[B]

Pollan, who, if you don't know him,

[A]

he's the guy with a fro. Really.

[B]

You know, he's the seed that made

[A]

this whole thing sprout because his photographs, him going out and photographing these bowlers, you know, kicked this whole thing off. So for him to say that that was truly appreciate. I was very appreciative of that because there was absolutely a possibility that you just get brushed under the rug and don't get recognized as the seed that set this in motion. That was great.

[B]

A couple of people too.

[A]

Well, that was a great way to. This is only one person you should have shouted out.

[B]

Ben Stiller, maybe.

[A]

Me, Ben Stiller, me.

[B]

I mean, Ben Stiller is obviously the reason, like he's the marketing for this whole thing.

[A]

It was a big part to have been involved. That definitely is a very big thing for anybody because, I mean, he's got severance and all those Other stuff. And they already filmed Meet the Four, by the way.

[B]

I was going to say, is. Is that currently being filmed or was it already filmed?

[A]

He already did that. He's been super. But he doesn't stop. He is so busy.

[B]

Well, I think he came, they were saying, from production, from a set to the premiere.

[A]

Yeah, I don't even remember what he's

[B]

working on now, but I don't know either. I'm sure it's multiple projects, if I had to guess.

[A]

But he stuck around for a long time. I didn't think he was going to stay for a while.

[B]

That was the other thing I was going to say. I assumed he was going to show face, do the red carpet and leave. And he was there for the entire premiere. He stayed for another at least hour after. And he was bowling with the bowlers. Talked with all the bowlers. Yeah, he was there for probably a good two hours and just had people talking to him, coming up to him. I wanted to go up to him, but I'm like, you know what? This is not my place. This is not my thing. I'm not part of the show. I'm just gonna. Just gonna watch Fly on the Wall style. But it was pretty surreal, like I said, to not only see him in person, but to also watch the show with him only being a couple feet over. And you know that, like, oh, Ben Stiller's watching this year with me.

[A]

Just.

[B]

Just wild. I've seen so many of his movies over the years, and he's been one of my favorite actors. And it's just crazy that you are connected to him at this point.

[A]

Yeah, it's just my life, Steven. It's just my life. But no, I was super appreciative that Brian took the time to spend that amount of time shouting me out. It's just nice to be recognized. If I wasn't, I would have been a little upset, probably just because it just, you know, you don't want to feel like you've been pushed out.

[B]

Like you said, all those people, and the whole reason that they're there is because of you.

[A]

And that's what he said. Yes, the seed started there, and I understand that the seed starts there, but it takes a fucking village. It really does. Speaking of villages, I did get to see the HBO marketing plan, and I've never seen anything so impressive from a. I was like, wow, it is a

[B]

very, very lengthy deck of marketing material.

[A]

A really cool deck. I can't go into details about any of it, but it is amazing to see the lengths they go through to promote a show. It's just amazing what goes into this entire process.

[B]

And to see that it's going to be a pre roll on like HBO shows and stuff like that is really cool because some of the shows like the Pit, that's one of my current

[A]

favorite shows before that.

[B]

And I'm really curious if it's going to pop up next time I watch it as like a pre roll out or whatever.

[A]

Right. So you don't have to be into bowling to enjoy this. It's about people who so happen to be professional bowlers. Monday 16th March at 9pm is when it premieres on HBO linear and then HBO Max as well. So that's for On Demand. You can watch it later. There's going to be five episodes. They'll come out every Monday for five weeks. And hopefully season two gets picked up. And if season two gets picked up and we can add extra episodes, you Hope to do 8 to 10. If we could do 10 and the budgets go up, up, go up. They go up and they go up. If they go up. That's a. That's a thing. That's good. Knowing that the crazy thing is the season has already started for bowling and we'd be jumping right back in right away basically with the same team. But if there's more budget, maybe there's another shooter we add that takes the second shooter role. That helps with verite stuff. But I am absolutely going to still shoot. They want me to shoot. The directors want me to shoot because I get the different angles. I see differently than these shooters.

[B]

Are you also listed as camera operator or are you just co executive.

[A]

No, I have co executive producer, stills photographer, still photographer. I'm. I think extra camera, something like that.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think I'm in there.

[B]

I saw your name in the credits. One of the first few credits that rolled.

[A]

No, I forgot to see my name.

[B]

Oh, yeah, it was big. It was big on the screen.

[A]

Yeah, but not that one. Ours blinks off the fastest because it's after some other executive producers who are just executive producers in name. Right.

[B]

They.

[A]

They had that. So. But again, to me, it's all about, you know, Ben recognizing and I know. And the people that know. No, that's the point. The people that know.

[B]

No, 100%. So I will say, speaking of the episodes, it was pretty cool to watch the show right behind the actual bowlers in the show. It was interesting to see their reactions in real time because this is also the first time they've seen it. Correct?

[A]

Yep. They haven't seen it.

[B]

You kind of see them, like, poking fun at each other when they would say something on the screen or are kind of looking over like, oh, sorry, I shouldn't have said that about you. Like, it was just funny seeing their reactions and kind of talking shit on screen with the guy being right next to you.

[A]

Well, that's the thing is, yes, there's going to be that. And we'll see how the players react together after they hear the things that other people have said about them. Because people are mic'd up and it has to be real, it just has to be. And Kyle Troup, who's one of our main guys, said he's like, I was tearing up watching that because it was personal.

[B]

And keep in mind that this episode, episode one is really all about Kyle Troupe. It's like kind of his story.

[A]

Yeah, it's Kyle and one other bowler. And so you'll see that. And then. And then Anthony Simonson, who's definitely a hothead. People always call him a hothead. He saw it, he's like, yeah, they probably built me up to, you know, be disliked, but I know they're going to bring it around to the more personal stuff and I'll leave it at that. And you'll end up hating Simo at the beginning and I think you'll end up loving him by the end of his episode just because that's just the nature of how the story goes. So the poster is out, the trailer is out, and by the time some of you are listening to this, the show might be out on March 16th. So please tune in, please watch with friends, please just let it roll on your screen or share something or. I don't know how they decide so fast whether we get a season two or not, but they will. And that's it. I mean, for me, yeah, it's a success, but it's not now at this point. It's not a success until it's season two and then three. I think if you can get two seasons, you're going to get three. I really do. I think if you can get past the initial one and get people. People really enjoy it and it's just a matter of can they get the word out to get the masses to enjoy.

[B]

That's the hard part, is trying to get someone to watch what looks to be just a. A show about bowling, when really, again, it's about the people. It's more of a reality TV show.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

About the people. It's a Doctor who only happen to be Bowling, I think that's gonna be the hard sell, is to get people just to click in the first place. I mean, we have the same problem with YouTube thumbnails and titles. It's great video. Just how do you get people to click on it even though they might think it's about something else or whatever.

[A]

The crazy thing is I'm getting messages from random people being like, I saw this trailer run, I saw this ad, I saw this billboard in LA and New York, the cw. So when there's bowling, I don't know I can share what numbers, but and the amount of bowling fans that are watching, got to see a trailer for it. And each week, the bowling show on Sundays when they're live, they're going to do more promotion for the show on the actual show while people are watching.

[B]

The PBA should be promoting this at every single bowling center around the U.S.

[A]

yeah, they are, hopefully. Well, they will. They'll be putting it on the screen. They'll have posters. I suggested they get postcards printed. 100,000 postcards from gotprint.com is under $3,000, by the way. 100,000 of them. 400 plus bowling centers in the country. Bolero slash Lucky Strike. And then I was like, yeah, you should print out the poster on there, but also put a QR code on there that launches the trailer instantly on YouTube. That's exactly. Watch the trailer now and that will grab people. I know bowlers. If the bowling community likes it, which a lot of people that have seen it have said even as bowlers that they were engaged, that is a win. Because we also know that the non bowlers, it's built for them as well. So I've had enough. Stephen, we got to get to work.

[B]

I'll say it again. Congratulations on all of this, on the success of actually having an HBO show. It's pretty mind blowing that Casey Neistat is not the only YouTuber anymore with a YouTube show. Jared Poland's on that list.

[A]

You mean HBO show with a HBO show. Well, he's the one who also said you shouldn't do an HBO show. That's what he said. Because he lost control and they, they buried it different. Well, it was a different situation. It was a different situation. This is. This is different. Do I wish this could come out public, you know, on a YouTube channel and be successful? Sure. It's just a whole different ballgame when all these people, a 24 and people get involved. It's the big leagues.

[B]

And then you wonder, you know, if HBO does give up on it and not green light a season two. Will another, you know, will Netflix pick it up or that we've seen them jump networks and streaming platforms.

[A]

So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know all the rights on that. I don't know how all that works. Hopefully hbo, hopefully it's a hit for them. And hopefully if it's a hit for them, then it's a hit for us. And that's really what matters right now. I get that we did it. You know me with celebrating it's not a success unless it keeps going onto the next thing. But basically, there is more. There is more. I've had more calls about other stuff.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

So, guys, we thank you very much for listening. This is 189, right? Stephen Rawl Talk?

[B]

I believe so, yeah.

[A]

Because you didn't last week didn't get the Rawl Talk, Monaco. It was just a little behind the scenes of how the show came about from day one and how some fortuitous meetings led to success.

[B]

Oh, you mean the Born to Bowl.

[A]

Born to bowl unofficial podcast?

[B]

That's a totally separate podcast from Raw Talk.

[A]

All right, so this is Raw Talk 189, guys. Thank you very much for listening. Jared polin, fro knows photo.com See you.

[B]

Bye.