All Korisliiga (men&women) venues ‘rated’ from photographers viewpoint – Part BC Nokia to HBA
With the great idea I stole from Kristian Palotie and Anni Jämsä of the Keskelle Keksintöä-podcast, as they rated the men’s Korisliiga venues on their latest episode.
I liked their reasoning, but also felt that with writing the list on a Blog/Website post would be a fun thing to do from my own point of view.
The venues will get a rating on different categories – ARRIVAL/PARKING – PHOTO POSITIONS – LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY – BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Each category will be scored from 4 to 10, and thus the maximum points will be 40 and minimum 16, let’s see which venue comes out on top on this little list.
BC NOKIA (men/women)
Brand new venue with only few games played there, so very little experience of this place and I am sure it will develop as the season goes on.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 7/10 : Very easy to arrive, not a long drive from the motorway, no sign posts yet to the Arena so luckily I knew where the old venue used to be, so found it easy. Parking spaces seemed a little limited if there is a busy game, also it extremely muddy on the day I went there. So – easy to get to, bit limited on space and need of good shoes to walk from the parking lot to the Arena.
PHOTO POSITIONS : 9/10 : Plenty of space on the baseline, easy to get to concourse area to take some photos from higher up, ‘real baskets’ so it’s safe to get to under the basket to shoot, easy to move around. And at least at the game I was, there were no LED boards to restrict the positions.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 10/10 : Definitely was a pleasure to shoot here, lighting seemed good, ISO could be kept low, contrast was good .. nicely done!
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 8.5/10 : Might sound harsh, but some of the seating is quite far away, the upper level LED advertisement is a bit distracting at times. And for the game I was at, big venue and not many people there .. empty seats don’t make a good background.
TOTAL 34.5
BISONS (men)
Venue where back in the day I believe even VTB league was played by the then Bisons, seems a long time ago now, even if some VTB stickers are still to be found over in some doors, etc.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 8/10 : Enough space on various areas around the school to park, easy enough to get with my van, and simple and straightforward walk to the venue itself. Not much else needed to say.
PHOTO POSITIONS : 6.5/10 : This is a small gym, with seating on three sides and then benches on the last side. Seating is very close to the court and it always seems that both home and away fans have come here with drums – so which ever corner you want to sit – better have ear plugs with you (otherwise your ears will rings for a LONG time after the game). You can still move pretty freely from lower level to the concourse area during the game to get a different angle.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7/10 : Bit of a flat light, not offering too much on the contrast, but there is enough of it so no need to up the ISO too high.
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 7.5/10 : Crowd on three sides, with opposing fans nicely at both ends, side stand looking pretty full most of the games. The one side with benches does have some nice BISONS banners to make it look better, but can’t get away from the fact that it is a wall.. and with that, can’t go higher than 7.5.
TOTAL : 29
EBT (women) :
Another school gym venue and naturally that does bring certain things with itself, but this place does have a strange little charm about it, at least for me.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 7/10 : Enough space as the venue isn’t that big, but it is kind of far away from the school, and during the winter the path is extremely icy and autumn and spring.. you are bound to step into a puddle or two on your way 🙂
PHOTO POSITIONS : 8.5/10 : You do have the whole baseline to move freely, and can get up to the seating area for a higher vantage point, the handball goals give you a nice back support under the baskets, so an extra .5 points for that one. Little minus that you can only move on three sides of the court.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7.5/10 : Pretty much could copy the thoughts from Bisons – same kind of lighting as there, flat-ish, but still the lights have been upgraded here in the last few years, so bonus points for that!
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 6 : Feel bad giving such a low score, but you have walls on three sides and then the seating is so high on the one side that it rarely makes any impact on the images. The background isn’t bad as such, but just a bit boring with only walls …
TOTAL : 29
FORSSAN ALKU (women)
The famous Feeniks, many people who have watched or played basketball in Finland have stories about this place.. from few decades ago. Recent times maybe not so much .. even I remember taking photos of Finland vs Team GB (women) in this venue some 15 years ago or something…
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 8.5/10 : Another easy to get to venue (worry not – not every place is easy!!), parking on a gravel parking lot, but space definitely will not run out here. Arriving early you can pretty much park by the door as well
PHOTO POSITIONS : 6/10 : Small venue with not much extra space anywhere, under the baskets is not recommended as you will either trip a player or a referee. Corners are the only places, plus maybe above one of the baskets on the cafe side – unless too many people have moved their chairs to watch the game from here. But for a small venue – this is what one kind of expects.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7.5/10 Bit of a flat light, not offering too much on the contrast, but there is enough of it so no need to up the ISO too high. (now I really did copy/paste this from Bisons).
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 6/10 : Seating only on one side, walls that some players have said (they caused me vertigo..) .. the background does not inspire too much over here, with the limitations on on the spaces as well, it is what it is for a smallish venue.
TOTAL : 28
HELSINKI SEAGULLS (men)
The place affectionally called ‘The Museum’ – place filled with history, as in the the 1950’s the Olympics had events held at this place.. which still looks pretty much like it did then. And reminders of those days are everywhere to be seen in the venue.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 4/10 : Helsinki .. that really sums it up 🙂 Kisahalli parking it what it is, on a weekday game I might find a space with my van (and pay about €20 for parking), on a weekend game there is no chance of van space there. In no way the fault of the team, but as we talk venues.. parking at this venue is the worst in the league.
PHOTO POSITIONS : 5.5/10 : The baseline is dangerous – maybe about a meter from baseline to wall .. so you choose the place at your own peril. Seen few photographers take a hit with players running into them. The upper level behind baskets is about 9/10 for a shooting from there, but yea – not really many good spaces for photographers.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 6.5/10 : Oldish lights I guess, so giving strange tints to various parts of the court, sometimes also takes a while for the lights to warm-up – so you need to change setting mid-game. Repeating the saying ‘ The Museum ‘ ..
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7.5/10 : Two sides of seating, so can’t go higher than this – as 8 would be minimum three sided seating. The side opposite to benches is good – if you are lucky to get a photo-spot on the bench side, even if it is also the corporate side (as well as the junior fans side!!). But then you have two walls and the bench side has a high-ish wall before the crowd start higher up/further away.
TOTAL : 23.5
HBA (women)
ARRIVAL/PARKING : .. Helsinki.. you expect me to say? 7/10 : Yes and no – the Urhea-Halli own parking is minimal and reserved for athletes, etc, so you need to park a little bit further away and of course it is not free. But there is space and the walk is not too bad for the venue. Outside of Helsinki this would get maybe 5.5 .. but with it being Helsinki, I give it a generous7
POSITIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 9.5/10 : No LEDs, able to move, real baskets, upper level for different point of view, yes – this pretty much ticks all the boxes one can ask for in this category.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 8 : Kinda harsh to give only an 8, but with this being a new venue and the basketball court is at the center of this, the lighting could have been done much better than it has. The lights are OK, but positioning of the over head lights is not ideal so the contrast isn’t quite there without some gentle PP on the computer.
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 8.5 : Four sides of seating, even if hardly ever full apart from Susiladies games, seating close enough to the court, the upper level gives some of the best views from that angle in the league. The court is CLEAN without too many other lines messing it up.
TOTAL : 33
RATINGS AFTER PART 1/3 :
- BC NOKIA 34.5
2. HELSINKI BASKETBALL ACADEMY : 33
3. BISONS – ESPOO BASKET TEAM : 29
4. FORSSAN ALKU : 28
5. HELSINKI SEAGULLS : 23.5
