It had to be about 10:00am yesterday morning. The mayor's assistant called - "How soon can you be at the (Woburn) High School construction project?" I told him I had the morning free and would meet him and the mayor there.
Why were they calling me up here? I wasn't sure, but it became crystal clear the moment I arrived - LIGHTS. Indeed, the track has not yet been laid, the field turf has been ordered, but not installed, but there some 90 feet in the sky, the first light pole had been installed. The mayor thought it would be a nice photo feature. And you know what? He was right.
But then it happened again. For maybe the third or fourth time in my 20 year career. I got to meet the guys who install stadium lighting.
And it inevitably is a disaster - It goes some thing like this:
JB: "So, we got some nice new lights here huh?"
Lighting Guy "Yup - so bright you'll be able to see this place from Burlington"
JB: " Really? That bright? Are you sure??"
LG: - "Of course they are! I do the lighting for _________ (insert professional stadium name here)."
IT IS A FAIRY TALE FOLKS!!! Take it from me. I have shot at many fields. The best local field is Burlington, and we can squeek by at 800 iso for that - but the lights are uneven, so it is FLASHED football. The worst is, well, there is a tie for that - so again - flashed football - YUCK!
With any luck, the lights at the new Woburn High School will be OK. Now comes the fun part! Guess the WHITE BALANCE!
When the first light stanchion was hooked up and turned on here is what the lights looked like:
Seventeen individual light fixtures - half cool and half war.
Hmm,now multiply this by 4 stanchions, and it looks like I will need the one thing my friend Bud swears by:
A CUSTOM WB GREY CARD.
Hmmmm, guess I will have to order one.
