The 2017 Presidents Cup for the PGA TOUR with my iPhone 8 Plus

Posted on October 10, 2017

The Statue of Liberty is seen at sunrise from a ferry behind Brad Mangin before the third round of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on September 30, 2017 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Brad Mangin/PGA TOUR)

 

Two weeks ago I flew from Atlanta to Newark, New Jersey after shooting the TOUR Championship on assignment for the PGA TOUR. The reason for flying to Newark? The Presidents Cup was about to begin at Liberty National in Jersey City and I was on assignment again for the TOUR to shoot features with my iPhone for their various social media channels. The exciting aspect of this event was I would be shooting with the new iPhone 8 Plus. I always love getting a new iPhone and seeing what kinds of new and cool things I can do with it. This was going to be a fun week!

I hit the ground running on Monday as soon as I landed. After getting my new iPhone in Tribeca I made my way to the Conrad Hotel where both the United States and International teams were staying. Players on both teams were going through television and portrait stations all day and night and my goal was to get there and try out the new Portrait Lighting Modes on the new iPhone 8 Plus on the golfers. That is a topic for another blog post!

The best part of the Presidents Cup was the location of the host golf course- Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. Situated just across the river from Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty this incredible piece of property offered spectacular views all week long. I think it was unanimous among the players, fans, and media that they wouldn’t mind if Liberty National became the permanent United States host for the Presidents Cup every four years it was so fabulous.

Besides shooting at the golf course during the four day tournament I was able to travel around New York City to shoot various feature assignments at fun places like NBC and Ellis Island. The real highlight away from the course came before sunrise on Saturday morning when I left my hotel at 5am with our crew to head for the course to shoot the pretty morning light. Great PGA TOUR staff photographers Stan Badz and Ryan Young, along with amazing Texas-based freelancer Darren Carroll were all heading out to make spectacular pictures of guys hitting at the range with the Manhattan skyline in the background. I didn’t think we needed a goofy guy with a phone out there with them so I decided to get on one of the special ferries they had going back-and-forth from the course to midtown Manhattan beginning at 6am. The amazing thing about this ferry was that it went right by the Statue of Liberty and even slowed down when we got close.

I had never been on a ferry in New York before this trip and I gotta tell you that the two hours I spent taking consecutive round trips on the boat between 6am and 8am were some of the most special two hours I have spent in a long time. I was the only passenger for the trips from the course to Manhattan. I had the entire boat to myself! Everything was working. The light was insane. The clouds were amazing. There were pictures everywhere. It was dark for most of the first trip so I used it more as a scouting mission. The second trip happened right around sunrise and that is when all the pictures started to happen. Look down below and you will see what I am talking about. Speaking of looking below, I think now would be a good time to look at all of my favorite pictures from the week.

As usual this event offered so many fun things for me to shoot with my iPhone. I could not get enough of the details in the United States team cabin. I am such a sucker for boxes of pencils and empty locker rooms. The stuff I did in there on Friday were some of my favorite pictures of the week.

Shooting two events in consecutive weeks with my phone for the TOUR was a crazy/fun experience. But I am not finished showing you what we did at the Presidents Cup. The next installment of my blog will focus on the portraits I did of over 100 people that week of everyone from security guards to fans to players to former Presidents of the United States. Stay tuned!