"The University of Denver sophomore gymnasts, from left, Taylor Stanford, Danielle Kirchhof, Annamari Maaranen, Kristina Coccia and Amanda Johnason pose for a portrait on the University of Denver campus in Denver, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008."
When was the last time that you worked with 14 divas? I'm only kidding. I shot the DU Gymnastics photos for their media guide for the second straight year this past week. It was a rather long day but the girls were great. Having my friends as subjects for a commercial shoot is always great. I know them, they know me, and that allows us to get some great images.
I was really pleased with the images from last year so it took me a little while to come up with something better than the previous year. Last year I shot them on top of a parking garage with downtown Denver in the background. This year, however, the client (DU media relations) wanted everything shot on campus to go along with their branding initiative. It can limit ones thought process but as a marketing guy I can understand how it can be difficult to brand an image of the girls at say Red Rocks or downtown.
In addition to the media guide cover and class shots to go on the inside cover I
had to produce individual environmental portraits around campus for all of the girls. These images would be used on their bio pages. The girls had class throughout the day so I had to shoot them in small groups between 10am and 3pm before moving onto the class and cover shots.
The individual shots such as this one of Kelly all turned out great.
I had my good buddy Mike assisting me throughout the entire day which was a huge help. The more and more I use an assistant the more I realize how much of a help it is and how it can keep the flow of a shoot going. Additionally, having a voice activated light stand (Mike) is great. He has come a LONG way from when I met him this time last year and it has been great to have someone to talk shop with on a daily basis. We also both share an obsession with sushi and Kona grill happy hour which we have visited almost every week since March.
After individuals we set up the class (Frosh., Sophs., ect) shots outside of their gym with the copper walls of the Ritchie Center as a backdrop. I have been waiting to try out a particular lighting scheme and I thought this was the perfect assignment for it. I used 4 heads and 3 packs for the shot. THe main light was 1,000WS though a HUGE home made beauty dish that I made the night before. Mike and I made smaller versions of the beauty dish a few months ago for our speedlights using a plastic plant bowl, a CD/DVD case and a parabolic mirror. Those were around 14 inches in diameter but the one that I made for the shoot was probably around 30+ inches. It made for a great semi-soft source that created the perfect look. I also threw up two kickers off to each side as well as a head on the background. The top image is an out take from the shoot. The final images were nice and "smiley" as requested by the client and without the kickers and flare in the image.
The cover was shot up on top of the law school parking lot. I had the girls roll a balance beam (read: heavy beast) up to the top on some 4-wheel dollies that I brought. I wanted to achieve two different looks but one got somewhat scrapped when I realized that I didn't have enough power to light the girls with a soft source. I could have just used hard light and looking back I should have just tried it but I had a plan and I was on a time limit so I didn't want to sway from my schedule. We mad a few frames and then moved the beam all of 60 feet to get a different look with Williams Tower in the background. The final image looked great but the client still "shopped" in some mountains and the Denver masthead. Most importantly to me the shoot finished on schedule with the time that I was allotted and the client was pleased with the images. I turned the cover and class images around overnight so that the client could go to print the following day.
The most important thing when working on any assignment is to finish on time, early if possible, and produce images that meet the clients needs and vision. I accomplished all of that with this assignment so therefore I can call it a success.
-JCE
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