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Apr, 2017Views
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Contest Finalist in Fitness Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this image inside a regular high school gym. I bring all of my own lighting, backdrops and equipment (including extension cords and ladders) to make sure I can make shoots at schools happen. You can't assume schools have all of these things. Often times schools can be on tight budgets so you need to do your homework and make sure you are bringing everything you might need. Coaches are super busy and believe it or not...pictures are not their biggest priority. If they know you always bring what you need and find you efficient and produce good work you will get call backs everytime.Time
I arrived mid day to give myself a good hour to set up. I started around 12 to be ready for boys to come in starting around 1:30 PMLighting
Using Elinchrom 6 ft octabank on the subjects left at a 45 degree angle and a 2 ft strip box on his right. The octabank is positioned in a way so as to not spill onto the black seamless paper. I used canned atmosphere to capture the fog in the lights. I also sprayed him with water to get the light to define the body more and make it more interesting.Equipment
I used my D4S and 85mm prime lens. I find the 85 does an incredible job with portrait work whether in natural light or with studio strobes. No tripod here...I have them and used to always bring them. Funny though, I never use them. They always seem to restrict me a bit.Inspiration
This was a senior photography project I was interested in for a high school in Cedar Hill, Texas just south of Dallas. I wanted to take several of their graduating seniors and try some special effects in camera. This is an incredible community that supports this team and I drive about 4 hours on several Fridays across the season to shoot them on the sidelines. You build a bit of a relationship with these guys across several seasons and I wanted to give something back. This young man plays several sports and he asked about doing something with his shoulder pads and bat and I said ok...let's do it! I knew that I wanted dramatic light to help the image feel strong and edgy.Editing
Post processing in this image included basic clean up of skin and dodging and burning. I did clone the haze in spots that were missed in camera to give it a more natural look.In my camera bag
What I carry in my bag on a normal basis would include 2 camera bodies. Nikon D4S and D810. I need to be able to shoot in low light, action, and/or portraiture on a given notice. I also go everywhere with my 50mm, 85mm, 24-70 and 70-200. On game nights I also pack my 300 mm prime lens. It has to be one of the sweeeeetest lenses on the planet! I have even shot a portrait with it....for real...Feedback
Absolutely. Getting your athletes to mentally prepare for this is just as important as any other aspect of this work. We talk about what matters to them. I try to push them inside of themselves to find what drives them - search for moments from games that have been the most intense and to push that out to the lens. Also a great tip for guys that are in shape...get the abs to pop by...after they do warm up with some weights, etc. 1. Deep breath in and push out all of the air in their lungs 2. Hold their breath at that point. 3. I have them blink to me when they think they only have about 5 sec left before they will have to let out their breath and then snap the picture. This helps to make the abs pop much more. Add lotion before you spray w water...this will help the water to bead up like sweat.
