my latest magazine shoot - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/02/2006 03:28:36 PM · #1

the continuing chronicle of my freelancing...

yesterday, i braved the 100degree heat to head down to williamsburg for an assignment for the William & Mary Alumni Magazine. they're doing a feature article on the debbie taylor, the head women's basketball coach, and they hired me to shoot the artwork.

i never know what to expect, going into assignments like this. they gave me some parameters, but pretty much leave it up to me to figure out how to handle it. essentially, the parameters are to deliver 300dpi images that can be run as a full-page bleed, with room for text to be overlaid. for the most part, this means shooting horizontally with a vertical composition, to allow as much flexibility as possible for cropping and sizing.

i also never know what to expect of the subject and the environment. are they used to the camera? do they like the camera? are they used to one-on-one's with photographers? is the place photo-friendly? so much to think about, especially being on their turf (i guess that's one of the advantages to having a studio--having your subjects come onto your turf.).

coach taylor and i hit it off immediately. although i didn't know her in college (she was a freshman when i was a senior), one of her closest friends was a good friend of mine while in school. it always helps, being able to find common ground. establishing a rapport with your subject really helps lower the barrier that the cold metal and glass can put between you.

before we got going, i asked her how she had been shot before. she said it had always been down on the gym floor. so, i immediately decided that we would shoot from everywhere BUT the gym floor. i also asked her if she could spin a ball on her finger. she said she doubted it and i told her that we might as well find out. so she got a ball and we headed up into the bleachers.

we shot all the way around william and mary hall, all the while with her assuring me that she was not photogenic and that it was nearly impossible to get a good picture of her. i told her that it might be true, but that i would give it my best shot...

i'd have to say, i'm pretty happy with the results.

more here

cheers,
skip

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

08/02/2006 03:33:13 PM · #2

Sounds like you did a great job. I went to your link and although it brough up your page there weren't any images.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

08/02/2006 03:36:01 PM · #3

Originally posted by Judi:

I went to your link and although it brough up your page there weren't any images.

don't know why...it's a standard simpleviewer gallery that uses flash. what type of browser/op system are you using?

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

08/02/2006 03:37:08 PM · #4

Great work, Skip. I'm so proud of your sucesses and I'm glad you're sharing your saga with us! :)

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/02/2006 03:43:29 PM · #5

Hmmm interesting. I tried the link again. I got your background and text and such, so I clicked on home. All I got was plain text jammed against the left side...no background or colour. I clicked on your About, services and prints and got error 404. No images on any pages.

I am using Firefox.

Nikonian Ninja

Nikon D50

Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon

08/02/2006 03:46:05 PM · #6

it came up fine for me. I use Avant browser. Great job by the way! they all look great and I'm sure they will be very pleased!

quiet_observation

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/02/2006 03:47:19 PM · #7

Not photogenic? Lovely portraits-has she seen these yet?

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

08/02/2006 03:49:04 PM · #8

Came up fine for me too. I'm using IE.

Great stuff, Skip. But what business does someone have coaching a basketball team if they can't confidently spin a ball on their finger?
:-)

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/02/2006 03:52:24 PM · #9

It was Firefox all along...I just opened it in IE and it worked...great images...wahoo!

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/02/2006 03:52:41 PM · #10

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

But what business does someone have coaching a basketball team if they can't confidently spin a ball on their finger?
:-)

Yeah, or roll the ball across their back shoulders like Meadowlark.

Site worked fine for me in IE and I am majorly impressed. You are all pro, Skip!

rubienne

Nikon D50

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

08/02/2006 03:54:57 PM · #11

Really good images. Love the creative use of perspective and DoF. Very professional.

Pug-H

Pentax K10D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

08/02/2006 03:56:35 PM · #12

Yep, doesn't work in Firefox (maybe because of Adblock), but is viewable in IE.

skylen

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

08/02/2006 04:00:13 PM · #13

Works for me in Firefox. Do you have the Flash player plugin installed?

P.S. I am using Adblock Plus w/Filterset.G too.

Message edited by author 2006-08-02 16:01:10.

jusdino4it

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro for Canon

08/02/2006 04:02:00 PM · #14

very nice.

jdannels

Nikon D300s

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

08/02/2006 04:16:09 PM · #15

Awesome skip, then I went through your galleries, truly amazing stuff there too, and congrats on th Kodak POTD. If I ever grow up I want your job, lol.

pineapple

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

08/02/2006 04:21:50 PM · #16

Skip is not Firefox friendly. I guess he works for MS now and again. The site / Flash whatever does not work for me and the links on the home page are dead too.

Sunniee

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

08/02/2006 04:31:30 PM · #17

Looked at the gallery, great work!!! congrats!!

digitalknight

Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera

08/02/2006 04:35:44 PM · #18

Excellent work - she looks plenty photogenic to me - that's on you as I see it. I think this might be the most challenging type of photography and you pulled it of like a champ.

LevT

OM System OM-1

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

08/02/2006 04:50:44 PM · #19

Good work, Skip. She will be very pleased.

I can see your gallery in Firefox (under Linux) just fine. Could it be that some people do not have falsh plugin installed/updated?

ShaneBlake

Nikon D7100

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

08/02/2006 04:52:52 PM · #20

Originally posted by skiprow:

i'd have to say, i'm pretty happy with the results.

and happy you should be... and i'm sure she was as well...

i do like this photo best from the bunch... i also really liked the second one in the first row...

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

08/02/2006 04:58:50 PM · #21

Outstanding work Skip! There are some real gems in there. I particularly liked, 0061, 0077, 0068. There was only one that I didn't care for, shot quite wide with her at the RH side of the frame, kinda made her look too wide (0009).

Cutter

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

08/02/2006 05:03:49 PM · #22

very cool and well executed.

Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX Diagonal Fisheye for Nikon

08/02/2006 05:34:45 PM · #23

thanks, everyone!

just a couple notes...

yeah, the whole site needs some work to make it work with all the main browsers.

as for the shoot, YES, the client is ecstatic, and i have reason to believe the subject will be, as well.

whenever i set out on a shoot like this, my goal is to create a headache for the photo director. i want it to be a problem for them to have too much good stuff to pick through, rather than for them to be coming back and wondering, "well, do you have anything else..."

spinning a ball HA! no, that's not a requisite, but it does take either a bit of practice, or a fairly quick shutter (blur can always be added later...did i say that out loud?) ;-)

muckpond

Nikon D200

08/03/2006 09:24:22 AM · #24

i couldn't see all of the shots, but the main one posted here is stunning.

congrats on the upgrade, too -- did i miss a thread? :P