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10/23/2006 12:17:47 PM · #1 |
so, ok. i found out two weeks ago that i was going to get to shoot photos of peyton manning. i didn't really know what the deal was: only that it was a video shoot for some endorsement work and i was going to be the "fly on the wall" guy while he was there.
let me just start by saying: I WAS AN HOUR LATE TO THE SHOOT! my stupid truck would not start (it does that when it's been raining, which it had for 2 days straight) and i wore the battery down trying to get it to go. i ended up borrowing my next door neighbor's car, so i showed up to the place driving a minivan covered in pro-homebirth and -midwifery bumper stickers. and, of course, i got stuck in the worst traffic possible for that day (hoosiers cannot drive in the rain), and the minivan had no windshield wipers. sigh. but i made it. enough about me.
this was the setup, really. two guys sitting on stools talking about cars. whoopee:
my first impression was that peyton really didn't want to be there...in between takes he kind of just slouched over and didn't interact with anyone. i know he had a lot on his mind -- it's the middle of the season and they only get one day off a week, but it's hard to feel sorry for someone who has a $100 million base paycheck (ps - what year was the picture on that site taken? 1989? i think he has braces on in it!)
he started to warm up as the day dragged on -- started cracking jokes with the copywriter, correcting his grammar and stuff. once they gave him a football to play with he was a lot less fidgity and more focused. wierd.
he's also really really tall, but not huge like I'M A FOOTBALL PLAYER AND I'M GOING TO EAT YOUR DOG. it was a bit surprising a) 'cause i'm kinda average and he had like a foot on me and b) everyone on tv looks the same size so they all must be gargantuan.
i have to say that although he gets lots of gooey press and swooney interviews, the guy is really humble and incredibly easy-going. at no point in time did i ever get the feeling that he wanted to rush things along or get the hell out -- when he did drift off you could tell he was just deep in thought. and at the end he thanked everyone really profusely, shook hands with everyone, and signed a ton of autographs. i didn't bring anything for him to sign because i didn't want to be that person, but then i was like the only one without anything for him to sign so i ended up being that person anyway. i should have had him sign my camera or something.
anyway, as for the photos, i really didn't know what i was going to be walking into. i rented a lens for the shoot: a Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR lens. that thing is a tank, but totally silent (which is awesome because i had to sneak around while they were filming). if you EVER get a chance to do something like this RENT SOME HIGH-END GLASS even if you have a little weenie camera like mine. i knew i wanted something fast because i knew i was totally out of control with the lighting, and i needed something zoomy because i didn't know how far away i was going to have to be.
the studio was set up with hot lights for the video. it was just two stools in a huge white wing wall and some mikes above the guys. they did some standing-up shots a bit later too. there were 3 cameras, a sound guy, and a bunch of lights on stands. at first i tried to just thread the needle and shoot through everything. then i just got ballsy and got right up next to the cameras and started shooting away. i did get busted once for letting the shutter go while they were talking (the mikes were picking it up, but i didn't ruin anything they said), so i had to be cagey and shoot during pauses in filming or between sentences.
all in all it was a ton of fun. i'm SO glad i rented the lens. i ended up taking about 300 shots over the course of 4.5 hours. without the VR i would have had to throw out a lot more than i did. some of the real winners are thumbed below.
thanks for reading! :) this was a big day for me and i am thrilled to talk about it.
     
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10/23/2006 12:28:37 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by muckpond:
... once they gave him a football to play with he was a lot less fidgity and more focused. wierd. ... |
Well, he IS a football player. :D
Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing some pics. |
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10/23/2006 12:37:05 PM · #3 |
this is awesome! these are crisp, clear and dead on! how fun!!!
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10/23/2006 01:47:12 PM · #4 |
thanks for sharing.....I've been eagerly awaiting seeing your pics.
now let me know if you ever get to do a shoot with Boomer Esiason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Message edited by author 2006-10-23 13:47:51.
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10/23/2006 01:54:18 PM · #5 |
What a great experience!
Nice to see some behind the scenes pics and you got some real great candids in the process. |
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10/23/2006 02:01:58 PM · #6 |
You got some really cool shots. What a great opportunity.
And yeah, NFL football players are enormous, they don't look that big on TV, since they're all huge. One of my friends played Def Line for the Buccaneers and he was like 6'7, 270lb and his bicep was bigger than my thigh. What's funny is that the QB's are usually at the small end of the size scale for football player, yet they are still pretty darn big compared to the rest of the population. |
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10/23/2006 02:39:00 PM · #7 |
| You really nailed these shots. Fantastic event for you. Congrats. |
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