A couple of weeks ago, I was able to realize one of my lifelong dreams…Being hired to shoot a feature photo story for the Sporting News Magazine! Ever since I was a little kid, I had a subscription to the Sporting News. In fact, I read it from cover to cover every week as it was the only way I could get all the box scores and check out how my favorite baseball players were doing.(It was well before the tv/internet age where we can now find anything we want in seconds!)
I was also always drawn to the dramatic photography that the Sporting News was known for. So, when I got the call to photograph Dallas Cowboy Demarcus Ware for the magazine, I immediately jumped at the chance.
The assignment was to photograph Demarcus and his teammates working out at a local Hummer dealership.(It's where they are working out during the lockout since they cannot use the Dallas Cowboys Valley Ranch facilities.) I spoke to Ware's trainer to get the logistics and came up with a game plan…BTW, check out Impact Performance and Fitness as Kevin and his team will get you in shape fast!
Also, a special thanks to Alycia, Darryl, and Albert for helping me out on the shoot!
For the lead in shot, I wanted to get a shot of Demarcus looking bigger than life at the dealership. We did this by borrowing a H2 Hummer and Pre Lighting the scene with 2 Profoto D1 Air Units powered by the Profoto Batpac. Here is a quick setup shot of the lights as well as Darryl standing in…(Keep in mind, we had to shoot this at about 12:30pm in the afternoon!)
I asked Demarcus if he could work up a little sweat and then hop outside for a few seconds and then I'd let him get back to the workout… I literally took two shots once we set him up and the main shot was done! No more than 30 seconds total! Here is the full shot as well as the way it ran in the magazine…
Once we had the outdoor shot, the editor wanted me to get some action shots of Demarcus and the other Cowboys working out. The only problem was that I didn't want to interrupt the training session as this is serious business for these guys! Keeping that in mind, I utilized a couple of assistants for each of my Profoto D1 Air units that I used. As Demarcus would move, my assistants would move the lights. I used the D1 Air remote control on my camera hotshoe to power up and down each light as needed.
I always feel that the color and consistency of the Profoto strobes are second to none and I always know what I am going to get! This enabled me to get all the dramatic shots I needed and the Sporting News was very pleased with the results! Here are a few…
The Sporting News also wanted me to get a shot of Demarcus working the "Ropes". Demarcus thought it would be funny to grab my camera and get a shot of me working the ropes! (As Channel 11 Sports anchor Babe Laufenberg looks on.)
All goofing off aside, we moved the lights around to the sides of Demarcus and I was able to get a really cool shot of him in action…
And how it looked in the magazine…
Finally, I got a couple of standard portrait type shots. This one with a ringlight…
And this one with a 4×6 Softbox mounted onto a Profoto D1 Air Unit…(This shot was used in the table of contents.)
I hope some will find this behind the scenes look informative, but feel free to ask any questions in the comments section. I had a blast and can't wait to do another feature soon!
