Shoes are tools

Posted by Gordon King on May 22, 2011 | Comments Off

I firmly subscribe to the maxim “you’ve got to have the right tool for the job.”

Taking courtroom photos? Use the quietest camera possible. And in the case of our local courtrooms, put a 70-200 mm  f 2.8 lens on that camera body.

Shooting soccer, football or baseball? Time for the 400 mm f 2.8 on a Canon 1D Mark IV.

Quick-hit video in a relatively controlled environment? Our Canon 7D or Mark IVs will do the job quite nicely. But if the subjects are moving around a lot and deadlines aren’t an issue, one of our dedicated video cameras with accurate follow autofocus may the better choice.

Shoes are another tool. Without the right pair of shoes we can’t do our jobs properly.  In our job it’s very important to have the right footwear for the assignment at hand (which explains why I have a box full of shoes and boots in the back of my car).

You can’t photograph a wildland fire wearing dress shoes (though I have, on more than one occasion, seen a local female television reporter show up at a wildfire wearing heels).

And it’s not a good idea to photograph at a dairy wearing tennis shoes. Photographing a funeral? That’s when dress shoes are the right call.

So when I tagged along with an avalanche crew earlier this week my Dynafit ZZero backcountry boots were the proper tool so I could ski along with the crew. (Go here for the story, photos and video of the avalanche-control work).

And when I was covering flooding this week, I donned a pair of inexpensive, knee-high rubber boots.

It would be nice to have a pair of waders for flood coverage but these “shoes” cost too much for the amount of use I’d get out of them in our relatively dry climate. So, I settle for the $17 rubber boots purchased at the local farm-supply store. If I must venture into deeper water I’ll just get wet feet and legs.

These rubber boots are also great for muddy barnyard assignments.

I’ve also got leather boots for covering forest and wildland fires, sturdy hiking shoes for other outdoor assignments. And, of course, a pair of dress shoes for covering funerals and other occasions which demand a coat and tie.

My daily, go-to-the office, routine assignment shoes are leather Keens which are acceptable in most settings and clean up easily should I walk into an unplanned situation.

Ideally, all these shoes should fit well and be comfortable all day. Realistically, it doesn’t happen. I can’t walk miles in those rubber boots. And my dress shoes? They look better than they feel.

But, as they say, use the right tool for the job.

 

–Gordon King