Guns & Basketball … PNG & Cairns …

What a difference a week makes …

Chalk ‘n’ Cheese …

One week I’m in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, shooting (if you’ll excuse the term) images of camouflaged ‘Special Services’ police heavily armed with automatic weapons … and the next week I’m banging away at fourteen Commonwealth Games basketball games and the heir to the British throne. That’s why I’m thoroughly rapt with the job I’m privileged to do.

The story in PNG … with words by excellent ‘News’ journalist Charles Miranda … was based on gun running into Australia’s closest neighbour in the lead up to the visits of the World’s leaders (including Trump and Putin) to the APEC conference in Port Moresby in November. The story and pics got a great run in many News Ltd mastheads around the country including The Daily Telegraph, the Courier Mail, The West Australian … and more that I haven’t yet seen.

Back in Cairns in time for the XXI Commonwealth Games and the mens and womens Preliminary and Qualifying Finals basketball games with teams from India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria, New Zealand, Canada, England, Scotland … and Australia. (Sadly … the one game featuring England was disastrous if you hailed from across ‘The Ditch’ … they were duly thrashed by the Cannacks.)

Basketball, played in a perfectly lit but sterile indoor environment, is generally formulaic to shoot … but I did spend a few valuable minutes attempting something a little different during a couple of games … including an image I was a little pleased with (middle pic below) made during the Australian win over Nigeria. A slow shutter speed combined with a bit of vertical panning …

Prince Charles also made an appearance at the basketball and, as the ‘Pool’ photographer, my images of Charley were made available to all of Getty Images, the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) and my ’employer’ Australian Associated Press (AAP). Security, protocol, time restraints and bully tactics by broadcast media meant that good images were a challenge … but I did produce what I thought a nice comprehensive set.

So … a rewarding couple of weeks work … and variety is certainly the ‘spice of life’.

Below … one of my images of PNG ‘Special Services’ officers … and just one of the published ‘News’ feature pages (The Daily Telegraph) … pics from my Commonwealth Games basketball coverage (Australia V Nigeria and Scotland V Nigeria) and the visit of Prince Charles.

Images © Brian Cassey, News Ltd and AAP

Papua New Guinea 'Special Services' police - image by Brian Cassey

Papua New Guinea 'Special Services' police - The Daily Telegraph - by Brian Cassey

Australia's Angus Brandt (left) and Nigeria's Prince Orizu contest during the Men's Preliminary Round Pool A Basketball between Australia and Nigeria at the XXI Commonwealth Games Cairns, Australia. Image by Brian Cassey

Nigeria's Musa Usman goes up to shoot as Scotland's Alasdair Fraser tries to block during the Men's Qualifying Finals basketball game between Scotland and Nigeria at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Cairns - image by Brian Cassey

Britain's Prince Charles (with former Australian and WNBA basketball player Lauren Jackson to his right) during the India V New Zealand women's basketball game at the Commonwealth Games, Cairns - image by Brian Cassey