CUTLINE: Augusta State University’s basketball guard Caleb Brown, left, of Dumfries, Va. and forward Howard Brown, of Savannah, Ga. have a combined seven NCAA Division II and Peach Belt Conference tournament rings, Their closest national title win was in 2008 when Winona State defeated Augusta State 87-76. As of Jan. 16 They look for their elusive win this season currently ranked third in the nation at 14-1.
THOUGHTS: This photo was taken about three weeks ago.
It was a single assignment.
I knew a day in advance I’d be shooting it so I prepared mentally as I started drawing up ideas in my head. As I was walking my dog Sam in my backyard, where I do most of my thinking, I remembered a poster I saw on the wall of the hair salon in Provo, Utah where I used to get my haircut. It was a poster depicting the great Michael Jordan with all his championship rings on one hand. I’m sorry, I looked and can’t find the photographer who produced the photo, my apologies. But this was kinda the base for of the final concept. Remember, in photography, everything has been done/shot, it’s all about refining what has been done. I decided to do my own spin on it.
When I got to Augusta State University’s Christenberry Field House, one player was ready and the other was still changing from practice. It was good because it gave me the five minutes needed to set up. The Media Relations Director, Joey Warren, is the best I’ve ever worked with. Really bends over backward to help me accomplish anything I want to creatively. The players Caleb and Howard were cool too about showing off their best serious pose. People who want to be photographed always helps.
Obstacle number one: Forgot my light stands. Solution: Manfrotto magic arms. Obstacle two: Dark backdrop. Solution: Joey Warren’s shirt would suffice. Obstacle three: Ball placement. Solution: Again, Mr. Warren would hold the ball.
I kinda work half planned, half improv, moreso because of the nature of newspapers, when I’m shooting. The idea from the MJ poster was the base but it wasn’t ’til I arrived did the ball and the kind of light I wanted to use hit me. Instead of high key like in the poster, I decided on my favorite portrait look, low key. Dark skin produces so much better than light skin when working with hard light so I decided on 10 and 20 degree grid spots. Two heads were pointed at 45 degree angles and the ball would be illuminated by light spill from the key lights. Mr. Warren’s shirt ended up being irrelevant since light fall off was pretty drastic.
This shot was right near the beginning of the shoot. I fired off about 65 frames. This pose was very natural before I started interfering with the posing. About 99.9 percent of the time finding moments, even if a posed situation, end up being the best portraits.
In the end I liked the tones on the B&W edition. Tones reveal the soul in my personal opinion. Not always, but in this case yes.
Tags: asu, basketball, bling, players, rings
Camera data: 48mm, f/14, ISO 200, 1/250 second
Date Taken: 21-Jan-2011 20:14:37