WPEC Photojournalist, Casey Lang, remains hospitalized in critical condition after being struck by a car Saturday night (10/27).

Lang was covering a fatal plane crash in West Palm Beach, FL. He crossed a dimly lit street when he was hit by a car driven by a 77 year old man. The 28 year-old photographer was rushed to an area hospital with skull fractures and other injuries. No charges have been filed against the driver.

All of us at b-roll.net wish Casey the best, and hope everyone stays safe out there…

More information about Lang and the latest on his condition can be found at:

b-roll.net FORUM
WPEC’s website
Palm Beach Post

UPDATE:
Lang’s family have set up a website for Casey at: http://www.caseylang.net with daily updates are at: http://www.caseylang.net/updates.html. (note: these pages have music beds that may be loud if you view them at work.)

WPEC News 12 has posted a story about Casey on their website.

UPDATE (11/9/07) From: Mark Bournes of Shark Video Productions

Casey Lang remains in intensive care in critical but stable condition.

His right leg was badly broken, and he suffered significant head injuries. According to his brother, “Casey is functioning mentally at a similar level to a 3-year-old child.”

A website now being maintained by his family reports that he has been removed from a ventilator, is able to sit up on his own, and has overcome a dangerous bout with pneumonia.

The website also reveals that when Casey’s brother Kent was first contacted about the accident, he was told that his brother was “dead on arrival.”

NFL Films is capturing all the gridiron action in its award-winning, signature style this fall using an expanded complement of Fujinon HD lenses. A large complement of Fujinon HD lenses, including HA25X11.5 ENG-Style telephoto lenses, HA22X7.8 telephoto lenses and HA13X4.5 super wide angle lenses have been added to the company’s equipment roster. NFL Films plans to round out the remainder of their cameras with Fujinon glass as well.

According to Hank McElwee, NFL Films’ Director of Photography, putting HD lenses on film cameras has never been done on this scale before. The high speed film cameras used by NFL Films help create the slow motion highlights that are a classic element of NFL Films productions. Putting Fujinon HD lenses on high-speed film cameras allows NFL Films to improve image quality while maintaining its signature style.

NFL Films, based in Mount Laurel, New Jersey is best known for producing compelling highlight films of the National Football League, but the company also shoots a variety of other events including rock concerts and commercials in the off-season. Recently, NFL Films had six crews stationed in Wisconsin and then in Kansas City following the Kansas City Chiefs during training camp. The show was produced for HBO and called “Hard Knocks, Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs.” The crews were using Fujinon’s HA25X11.5 ENG-style telephoto lenses and HA22X7.8 telephoto lens mounted on Arriflex, Aaton and Sony HD cameras to shoot the team at practice and at pre-season games.

NFL Films is a long-time user of Fujinon lenses. McElwee said that the decision to add more lenses to NFL Films’ inventory stemmed from a recognition of value and a familiarity with Fujinon quality and performance. “All of our existing Fujinon lenses were used during the last Super Bowl. They performed tremendously in all the rain we had that day. They perform equally as well in, for example, Green Bay where we often have to deal with frigid conditions. The workmanship of these lenses is outstanding, and I know I’m getting a lot for the money.”

NFL Films is upgrading its equipment with an eye toward shooting completely in HD within the next couple of years. “Three years ago, we had all SD lenses on the ground, so we brought in a number of lenses for evaluation,” explained McElwee. “The Fujinon lens offers more speed, and it’s great when you want cutaways of the coach from across the field. The fact that it’s HD and you’re fully covering the 16×9 frame helped us decide to go again with Fujinon.”

All of the lenses that NFL Films purchased have Fujinon’s Digi Power Zoom mechanism built in, which is used often during concert productions. But McElwee explained that all NFL Films’ camera operators zoom by hand when shooting football: “We have some of the best camera operators in the field shooting for us. One in particular, Don Marx, is a real talent behind the camera, probably the best sports cinematographer in the world. When he shoots night games with the 22X using the 2X extender, he just loves that he can follow the ball through the air and still get enough light (exposure) stop to do what he does.”

A folding chair, a campfire and a book… really not a bad combination. Camping this past weekend in Maryland, I discovered a quiet morning in the woods. With my feet propped up, I pulled out a new book from my bag.

Rich Underwood, a photographer and director in San Diego, recently sent me a copy of his latest book, Roll! Shooting TV News.

Having read a lot of textbooks in college about our industry, none of them ever seemed up-to-date. The equipment they described wasn’t state of the art, and the techniques always seemed theoretical and somewhat boring.

Roll! is far from being a textbook. Roll! describes the stories behind the stories.

In having conversations with some of the world’s best TV photographers, Underwood gives us an insight into what it takes to be great. Intermixed with captivating stories from the field, these top professionals give valuable tips on lighting, composition, storytelling, editing, freelancing and ethics.

In one book, Underwood tells the remarkable stories of professionals you know, like John DeTarsio, Ray Farkas, Lisa Berglund and Mike Elwell, along with Kevin Sites of Yahoo! News and David Hands of TVcameramen.com. He covers all aspects of the industry–from network shooters to one-man-bands in local stations and from NPPA purists to new media pioneers.

I created b-roll.net as a resource for shooters around the world to share their experiences. With Roll! Underwood has translated that feeling of exchange into a book. He sneaks smart tips, tricks and theories in with fun stories from the road. It’s a b-roll NIGHT on steroids.

Lenslinger has sung the praises of Roll!.

Read an excerpt of the book on Rich Underwood’s website.

Purchase this book from Amazon.com.