The Canadian Sportsman
Dave & Dave
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When last we left our hero, Dave Landry… he was in the depths of depression after his expensive camera gear (think price tag of a small car) was ruined when salt water got into a small zipper opening in the “waterproof” backpack Landry had carefully placed in the (then-dry) live fish well of Ron Pierce’s boat.
That wasn’t the half of it.
After returning to shore, Pierce — oblivious to the sweat and panic covering Landry’s face — invited us back to his house. The plan was to see Pierce’s two young boys — Jesse and Keith — tear around the motocross course Ron had built in a paddock in his backyard.
Pierce had formulated an interesting plan for a photo op — stand under a jump as (then) 12-year-old Jesse flies over his head on a motorcycle. It took a little convincing. What boy really wants to crash, Evel Knievel-style, and splatter his own father all over his own backyard, especially with witnesses? Yet, eventually, Jesse agreed to the madness. Landry took a little longer to convince, but there was no talking Ron down.
Luckily, everything went smoothly, most notably the fact Jesse didn’t smash into Landry’s lone, remaining, working camera.
The day ended with a swim in the Pierce family’s pool near the head of the Mako shark Ron caught, killed, stuffed and had mounted on the barn wall closest to the pool.
This was just day one of a weekend trip to cover the Meadowlands Pace, but I realize chances for photographic excellence have plummeted like a Mafia victim tossed into the ocean.
The good news, I’m told, is Landry had recently returned to long distance running, which has done wonders for his stress level. Had this happened a year ago, he’d be really wound up about thousands of dollars of camera equipment being destroyed.
The fact he mentions he’s not stressed no less than 196 times in a span of 12 hours should be no cause for concern.
The Meadowlands, never an easy place to get great images, turns out to be this photographer’s nightmare, made scarier by the fact Landry has clearly lost his edge. At one point, he snaps — unfortunately, not photos — and starts swearing like the sailor he most certainly is not. It should be noted that this is not a man prone to profanity.
The big race is too late in the card. He can’t shoot anything at night. He hasn’t got a cover shot. The winner’s circle photos suck. Essentially, we’ve got nothing.
Just the words an editor longs to hear.
I hear this a lot in Landry’s quest for exceptional images. Thank goodness — I think — he has high standards.
It didn’t surprise me that what few images he did take of Pierce during our adventure on the high seas, were fabulous. So, too, were the ones of Pierce playing William Tell with motorcycles.
But it doesn’t change the essential fact that expensive camera equipment was ruined, his insurance deductible was $1,000, the whole thing was my bright idea and — though he doesn’t come right out and say it — this was partly my fault.
I do not take this burden lightly.
Just as I feel partly responsible almost a year to the day later when Landry, now sporting brand new camera equipment while again on assignment for us, lost his wedding ring on the beach in Prince Edward Island — even though I was 2,000 kms away in Ontario.
Which, in the interest of creative harmony and all things sharp and wonderful, tells me Landry should definitely stay away from the ocean and I should take up running.
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