Why Old Sports Photos Often Have a Blue Haze
Rich Clarkson’s photo of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then named Lew Alcindor, in the 1968 NCAA Men’s National Basketball Final Four semifinal game in Los Angeles is a masterpiece of composition, timing, and exposure. The square format is the result of shooting the game action with a Hasselblad – a practice that continued into the early 2000s. But that isn’t what makes this photo historically interesting.
The blue haze that adds such a wonderful ambiance to the arena is caused by cigarette smoke. The California Indoor Clean Air Act of 1976 was one of many regulations that started to clamp down on public smoking, and thus, we traded better light for better health. The same blue haze is evident in many historical boxing photos, like the ones made by Neil Leifer.
In 2006, then-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dr. Jerry Buss, pined for a more nostalgic look in the Staples Center. Thus, the lighting was focused on the court, with very little spill onto the arena seats. USA Today’s Robert Hanashiro captured the scene inside Staples Center.
And a similar scene inside UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
The look is more dramatic than a fully illuminated arena, but certainly still lacks the panache of the smoke-filled past.
About the author: Allen Murabayashi is the Chairman and co-founder of PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. Allen is a graduate of Yale University and flosses daily. This article was also published here.
