All Korisliiga venues ‘rated’ Part 2 : Kataja Basket –
Part 2 of the Rating of all Korisliiga (men/women) venues from a photographers point of view, been getting some feedback on the first installment of the ratings – so let’s see how Part 2 will go down.
KATAJA BASKET (men)
Another one of the new batch of venues to arrive in Korisliiga in the last few years, so naturally expectations are high for these venues, not that it effects the ratings in any way.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 10/10 : Now, this is bit of an unfair answer or rating. I base this on the fact that Joensuu for me is the furthest place to travel to for a game. And I travel in my camper van, so of course will usually stay for a night in Joensuu before or after the game. The reason why it gets a 10/10 is that there is a camping area across the road from the Motonet Arena – so I can park my van, have a rest, maybe a sauna and a shower. Then the two minutes to the venue and after the game – two minutes back to the van and editing photos. Probably for a person just arriving with a car to the game, the parking by the venue is limited – but, I am rating this from how it works for me, so KATAJA BASKET – you get a full 10/10 for this!
PHOTO POSITIONS : 8/10 : There is space at both ends, you can get to the upper level for the different perspective as well. Changing sides is a little hassle and certain parts of the other baseline are a bit crowded due to the press table being placed there. Not sure why I can’t give it any higher as there really isn’t anything THAT wrong with the places..
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 8.5/10 : Lights here are very decent, some even angled towards the court so you get the light coming from the right angles towards the players. Points are deducted because of the angled lights – well some of them – really hitting my eyes when sitting on the baseline, and I seem to be sensitive to certain lights.. so often end up with a slight migraine due to these lights. Also – more deductions from the fact that lights go OFF as soon as game ends, so any celebration/etc images are rather impossible to capture as when the buzzer sounds – the lights go off.
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 7.5/10 : Why you ask?? There is seating on four sides, etc. Yes, seating is kind of on four sides, and some games they lower a curtain to make it three so the University badminton can train at the same times on the 1/3 of the court – at these games the rating would be 6.5/10 – see Kataja, you are getting away with some extra points on parking and background here 😉 Seating is also a bit raised from the court level – which is never ideal for photos as you’d like the crowd to be ‘right there’.
TOTAL : 34
KARHU BASKET (men)
The Arena that started the new venues coming, the ‘shiny new’ Arena that was built from scratch in a record time to a basketball crazy town in Pohjanmaa. But is it all a photographer could dream of?? Let’s find out!
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 10:10 : No camping area here outside the venue, but getting right from the main road to the big parking area is a breeze. Parking there for few hours before a game to rest and cook lunch is always a ‘go to’ when visiting Kauhajoki for a game. Luckily I always also leave a little late from the games, so the parking area has emptied by the time I get there – probably one of the places where most people seem to come by car (or tractor) to the game. Also – a big mention to the staff at Karhu Basket who reserved me a spot for one Final Series game the other season when I arrived late .. !!
PHOTO POSITIONS : 7.5/10 : Big LED boards take most of the baseline on both sides, so no chance to take those positions, but real baskets so getting under the hoops is easy, also the upper level/stands are good for photos. At the KarhuBasket Fans end of the court, you better have some rather good ear plugs if you plan to stay there – the big ‘church bell’ seems to have disappeared in the recent games – but the drums are still loud enough to give you tinnitus if you sit there without ear protection.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 8.5/10 : Really should be better for a venue that is this new, you do need to step the ISO a little here and the color/contrast is not as nice as in Nokia or Joensuu.
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 8.5/10 : Four sides, so extra .5 points for that, also that one of the ends is usually quite full and the sides you shoot towards tend to have decent amount of crowd. The upper level shooting does give a clean court to shoot at – but the venue is rarely full enough to give the WOW!! impact that we photographers love. The problem of bigger venues in Finland is that we just don’t have enough fans to fill them for Korisliiga games.
TOTAL : 34.5
KOUVOT (men) – KOUVOTTARET (women)
Lots was said about this venue in Keskelle Keksintöä podcast – and I have my own things to say about it as well, so here we go – what does MLL Arena in Kouvola get from photographer?
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 7.5/10 : The main parking area is compact and arriving on time I can get my van nicely parked there, but it does fill up quickly with players cars, staff, etc – there is a bigger field next to this where the over flow parking goes. Also this is more of a ‘city arena’ – so there are fair few twists and turns when arriving here.
PHOTO POSITIONS : 6/10 : The venues is very compact so basically you are sitting with the fans on the seats – the place under the basket is one where you don’t want to go with more than one camera – as players are likely to crash to you as you are just about on the limit of safety zone. At the corners you might end up sitting on the stairs – which is great it is allowed – luckily the games I’ve attended, there is always few places under the baskets reserved for media – but really the space to work here is rather limited.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7/10 : Nothing to write home about here, it is OK – not bad, not good – not much contrast either, so pretty neutral which is reflected on the score as well.
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 7.5/10 : Going as high as I can with three sides seating – with also the ends being nicely crowded most of the time. The third side is pretty harsh – with the benches and then the walls there behind it – seating is pretty low on the sides and ends so you gotta work with your framing and it’ll look good. Some upper level photo places are possible – which give you a chance to vary your angles a little.
TOTAL : 28
KOBRAT (men)
One venue that got a lot of stick in the Keskelle Keksintöä pod – with the swimming hall announcements, views on TV, and so on. What about the photographer – love or hate the Kobra-Arena??
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 7/10 : Another place where arriving early is the key, but a little bit like with Joensuu, I tend to arrive here early so there is always a place to park with a view of the river – so that is a nice way spend few hours preparing for the game and enjoying a nice lunch and a nap. But if you arrive late – I actually would not know where to park here.
POSITIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7.5/10 : Baselines are yours to play with, benches are rather close to the court so perhaps not sitting on the floor under the baskets, but all corners are fair game and the small advertising boards can easily be moved few centimetres to make a gap for you to shoot from. No upper level to speak of here – so only the court level to shoot.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 6/10 : Probably one of the oldest venues in the league and lights are fitting the era when this was built – using anti-flick mode on the cameras to compensate for it and getting decent results – but definitely not the venue where you have the best and brightest and most contrast on the lights – a challenge for us with cameras!
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 6/10 : I don’t know, really not the best venue by any means – the seating is close, there are three sides, but it is just the age of the building that shows off in the photos. I mean I do love my visits to Lapua for games and always feel like I captured something good – but as for a bigger set of images with a nice background – this is not the place.
TOTAL : 26.5
KORIHAIT (men)
Whether you call this Uusikaupunki 400 Arena or Pohitulli, it is another one of the venues that reminds you of the golden age of 1980’s and when things were ‘better’ – I never visited this venue then so can’t tell much about it – seen some old video footage and it looks good.
ARRIVAL/PARKING : 6/10 : OK – I need to re-visit this venue once the building works are done, but for the last two years or so the parking is located by the near-by ice rink parking and then it’s a bit of a walk along a (at autumn/spring) wet and slushy pedestrian path and through some construction tunnel to the venue itself. Bit of a maze and unclear – but looking forward to the new venue opening early 2025!
PHOTO POSITIONS : 5.5/10 : One end is seating, the other is empty – the seating used to be empty and you had space there, now the team is doing well so the seating is always full. The other end you can sit between the press table and home bench – under the basket is sort of OK – but as it is a ceiling hanging basket, you are likely to be ran into by Mikael Aalto after a dunk 😉 SCARY!! So not a great choice of places – but it does work for what it is.
LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY : 7/10 : Surprisingly good – the light is on OK level for modern cameras, not giving much contrast so PP is needed at the editing stage. But light is constant unlike some other venues – so we do give thumbs up for that!
BACKGROUND FOR PHOTOS : 8/10 : Going very positive here – this would have been maybe 5/10 few years ago, but now with the sudden revival of UU Korihait – their fans have started to fill the seats and their fan group is amongst one of the most colourful in the league. I remember going there maybe one and half seasons ago with the tread of shooting with empty seats at the background… only to find the venue fully packed and World Champion Coach Gordon Herbert casually leaning on the railings in the upper section as he watched the game.
TOTAL : 26.5
RATINGS AFTER PART 2/3 :
- 1 – BC NOKIA / KARHUBASKET 34.5
- 2 – KATAJA BASKET 34
- 3 – HELSINKI BASKETBALL ACADEMY 33
- 4 – BISONS – ESPOO BASKET TEAM 29
- 5 – FORSSAN ALKU – KOUVOT – KOUVOTTARET 28
- 6 – KOBRAT – KORIHAIT 26.5
- 7 – HELSINKI SEAGULLS – TOPO 23.5
