Well, now I have seen them: The cheap,  wrinkled, uncomfortable (on me) advertiser-friendly red vests. What can I say. They make me see red (In a bad way.)

Cheap. They are cheap. Cotton. It is not likely — if ever — they will be laundered before the season is through. Hopefully someone smelly will not wear one before I get into it.

Yours truly will be modeling #103. Fellow photographer's Lloyd Fox (#105) and Gene Sweeney Jr. (#104) are also here and will be draped in the NFL's finest.

Gene is going to photograph for the first quarter, then will take discs from Lloyd and me to transmit back to Baltimore for early deadlines and the Web site.

Lloyd Fox gets ready before the game at Paul Brown Stadium.

Gene Sweeney Jr. prepares his computer and equipment in the room where we will be working Monday night.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals will line in the national spotlight tonight on Monday Night Football. It is the first time the Bengals have opened on MNF. The AFC North rivals have high expectations for the season, so it should be exciting.

Lurking in the not so distant dark tonight will be the infamous "red vest," which will make its Assaf debut. Along with the "lime green dots" on the back of the quarterback helmets, the television cameramen in black vests (lucky dogs) and the ginormous number of people on the sidelines doing nothing (while not wearing vests) but watching and cheering, things seem nutty.  

There should be time to make a post before the game tonight, but thanks to deadline pressure it will be difficult to do more until after the winner has been decided. Look for posts on the experience of the game tomorrow.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Well, the National Football League preseason has started and the red vests are in evidence. The National Press Photographers Association has an article today describing a bit of the wrangling and word play over the NFL's new rules concerning the photographers and their sanctioned attire with small advertisements.

All ethics and control issues aside, looking at the vests in the article photo it is still bewildering as to why they have to be red. They have large numbers on the back ('and I feel like a number...'*) and the photographer must wear a second badge. It is large and easily identifiable — and not red — so it seems overkill to megameter** proportions. Everyone wearing black or gray would also stand out but without the distraction. The only plausible answer to be discerned from the choice is the color coincides with Canon's branding scheme. It has always been red as can be evidenced at their site.

The word "billboard" seems to sum it up. Blaring and annoying. 

'Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind...'*** 

*With apologies to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

** A very long metric descriptor I remember from an 8th grade textbook. 

***With apologies to The Five Man Electrical Band

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

This sentence was just added to the previous entry on the red vests. Let me be clear, I have no problem with wearing a vest on the sideline. But red? It seems a little overkill, which is why I wrote the previous entry.

The vests are not a problems in and of themselves, though blaring red seems a little too much. At Preakness they give us black and gold. The people wearing black stand out like crazy in the crowd, but yet do not ruin the background of the photo.

The National Press Photographers Association also has a letter it sent to the NFL.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Regular reader, and always-at-the-ready Towson University photojournalist, Patrick Smith forwarded  this editorial from The Sun's sister paper Chicago Tribune. A very good stance on the issue that makes more of the points concerning the ability of the people not working for the National Football League to be unfettered by conspicuous advertising.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)