[Edit: my cable and therefore my internet went out as I was typing this so it is just now getting posted]
It may not come as a surprise to many of you who know me but I get asked on a daily basis if people tell me that I look like Tiger Woods. The guy is an amazing player, fantastic role model for kids and is an inspiration to myself so I take it as a huge compliment. To be honest I don't totally see it but I must be wrong because I would say that people comment on my similarity to Eldrick at least 8-10 times a week. I got asked three times today alone. The above picture was taken by my professor last year during a lighting demonstration and I just so happened to have my TW getup on that day.
So when DAVE BLACK called me up and asked if I wanted to be a faux Tiger Woods model for him for a shoot that he was doing for Nikon I gladly accepted the gig. I met Dave at Mr. Clarkson's Sports Photography Workshop this past June and he is good friends with my boss at The Gazette, Mark Reis. I have to be honest, I've never done any modeling before and don't really plan to do any in the future (I like to be on the other side of the lens) so I didn't really know what to expect. Dave just wanted me to hit drives with good form. I'm a 3 handicap so it was pretty straightforward for me to do what he was hoping for.
We shot the images this morning at Patty Jewitt Golf Course here in Colorado Springs on the lesson tee. Dave wanted to use the signature Tiger "look" so I of course showed up in black pants, shoes, belt, a red shirt and black TW hat. Tiger might be to only other person to own as much Nike golf apparel as I do and I made sure to bring a slew of pants and shirts every color of the rainbow as well as white Nike golf shoes, belt and TW hat. [Note to self: buy stock in Nike apparel]
Dave had nearly everything set up when I arrived and we got right to work trying to get that perfect image of impact which turned out to be a little more difficult than I think both of us anticipated.
After about 15 balls or so we got yelled at by a greenskeeper mowing the fairway. Apparently I was a little too good and was hitting them too far into the fairway. Dave talked to a few different course personnel the day before and we had given the go ahead to hit into that area. The greenskeeper apparently wasn't on the same page because he proceeded to yell at us and told Dave, "Tell Tiger junior over here that he needs to tone it down, NOW."
It was quite a sight because Dave couldn't have been more of a gentleman and apologized profusely to the guy but he didn't care. After another minute or so of banter on the guys behalf he left and we both shared a chuckle out of it. A course ranger came over soon there after and couldn't have been nicer about the situation. He even brought us back a bunch of the balls that I had hit off into the distance.
We did a few more shots, changed positions, changed clubs, hit a few more and finished up shortly before 10am. In addition to being one of the greatest sports photographers in the world I quickly learned how great of a person he is. While we got all the gear put away in his truck we talked shop which was a treat for me because I always learn something talking to great photographers such as Dave. Sure Tiger Woods is my "hero" if you will but I really look up to photographers like Dave, Mr. Rich Clarkson, Donald Miralle, Vincent Laforet and others alike whom I can actually talk to. Lets be honest, I'm probably not going the have the chance to talk shop with Tiger but I can with these great photographers and that is why I think our profession is so great. The photography community is small and everyone knows each other. Photographers are willing to share their insights with other shooters and the last time I checked Tiger wasn't giving Phill any tips.
I had a great time modeling today, if you consider me hitting golf balls as modeling. I would probably be out doing that anyway but today I got to learn something as well. I'll post a pic or two when Dave gets the images back from the client and sends me a CD.
Back to work tomorrow.
-JCE
www.jcedmonds.com
No comments:
Post a Comment