People always tell me I have the best seat in the house to watch Grizzlies games. I admit sitting under the basket is a great place to see the action, but in order to capture great images, there's a lot of preparation before the game, and anticipation during the game.

I arrive at the arena four hours before tip-off to begin my preparation. My usual game setup includes six cameras: four are used as remotes which I trigger from where I sit, and two are hand-held cameras. The remote cameras are positioned at the opposite end of the floor from where I sit aimed at the basket from different areas (i.e. behind the backboard glass, overhead in the catwalk, on the basketball stanchion, and on the floor with an assistant). They are all “synched” into the photo strobes (set up in the catwalk) and will trigger at the same time, so as to catch the action from one of the different angles.

Sometimes you can nail the same shot from all different sides. My hand-held cameras enable me to cover the action right in front of me, and also at the other end of the court. With this preparation I'm well suited to cover any and all action wherever it happens on the floor.

During the game I try to anticipate what the players will do in order to get positioned properly, but sometimes you need to just follow the action through your lens and trigger when the action is at its' peak! Here are some of my favorite shots from this season, including what I like about each one and why. I may have the best seat in the house, but it is still a job… although it's a job I love and look forward to each day.

View Joe's portfolio and learn more about the man behind the lens at joemurphyphotography.com.