Posts from the ‘sports’ Category
Sports Illustrated ‘Boston Strong’ Cover Shoot
It’s not every day you get to be part of a historic event like the one I had the honor to document this past weekend for Sports Illustrated. I got a call from my good friend Brad Smith, Director of Photography at Sports Illustrated asking me to stop by his office to discuss an ambitious project they were working on for the one year anniversary cover of the Boston Marathon bombing. On top of being involved in this over-the-top production, I was able to meet and work with a legendary portrait photographer who was hired to take the cover photo, Gregory Heisler. He’s shot over 70 covers for TIME Magazine, among many more publications. He’s also recently put out his first book, 50 Portraits, which showcase some of his most memorable portraits from the past few decades.
The idea was to photograph the mayor of Boston, along with thousands of Bostonians, wearing Boston sports colors and outfits, at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the site of the tragic bombings one year prior. I know the whole Sports Illustrated team worked very hard to make such an event take place, especially the effort of Brad Smith should be commended. He personally made multiple trips to Boston to convince the mayor to shut down a busy city block for the morning and dealt with all the bureaucratic red tape. In addition, safety was a concern, so there was a noticeable police presence along with bomb-sniffing dogs. Safety was paramount.
The press release went out during the week prior to all Bostonians to show up at the finish line starting at 7AM for the 8AM arrival of the mayor. To our surprise there were already people lined up before 6AM when we arrived! I was tasked with making a time-lapse of the scene and documenting the entire process from a behind-the-scenes point of view.
The whole experience truly felt like a sporting event, as if the marathon was actually happening around us. The amazing thing was that we, the Sports Illustrated team, WERE the event! There was an estimated 3,000 Bostonians who showed up and packed tightly into the single city block. Everyone from survivors, first responders, organizers, firefighters, police officers, EMS, residents, their pets, and even the Boston RedSox World Series Trophy showed up for the shoot!
Gregory took the amazing cover photo while in a massive lift about 10 feet above the front of the crowd using a super-sharp Canon 17mm tilt/shift lens on a Canon 5D Mark III body. One of the things I love the most about Gregory’s work is how he uses light so subtly so that it feels like natural light. The entire street was in open shade, but he used a few strobes with an amber gel to subtly throw warm light across parts of the crowd making it seem like beautiful morning sunlight.
One trait of a talented photographer, beyond technical and creative ability, is how they interact with their subjects. It’s something that makes the best of the best stand out. Gregory got up in the lift and addressed the crowd of 3,000+ with a megaphone telling them how honored and excited he was to be given the privilege of photographing all the beautiful people. He made jokes and immediately lightened the mood causing laughter and cheer. It’s these sorts of traits that I will take with me in my own work and it’s something Gregory and I talk about in our recent podcast.
After about 10 minutes of actual shooting, it was all over and everyone dispersed back into the city. The group of people who showed up couldn’t have been better. There were zero incidents and after the shoot was complete we were amazed to see the streets completely clear of trash…almost unimaginable!
Thank you to Brad Smith and all of the Sports Illustrated team for allowing me to be part of this epic photo shoot. And thanks to the people of Boston for the inspiration showing your amazing resilience. This shoot will truly go in the record books!
Ron Blomberg for Sports Illustrated
I had a fun assignment last week for Sports Illustrated to photograph Major League Baseball’s first ever designated hitter (DH), Ron Blomberg.
Ron played for the Yankees back in the 70s and even won a 1977 World Series Championship Ring. He took it off at one point and it was so tight, I didn’t think he’d get it back on!
The shoot took place at Yankee Stadium where I had access to the field and players dugout. I actually haddn’t worked in Yankee stadium since the 2009 World Series where I made a fun time-lapse.
As with all my portraits, my goal is to get as much variety as possible, so I arrived early with my assistant in order to find numerous options. As it turned out, Ron got a bit delated, so we ended up having some time to kill, all alone, while hanging out in the dugout and field. It was definitely a cool experience to be by ourselves in such a famous stadium.
Ron showed up for the shot and was a super nice and talkative. He was willing to spend as much time and pose however we wanted him. I really enjoyed his company during the shoot as he kept it interesting with all his stories from his career.
Another exciting shoot for a great client and awesome editors!
How the photo ran in the Sports illustrated iPad edition.
The People’s Bootcamp
About three weeks ago I was assigned to photograph an exercise “bootcamp” class for a New York Times Styles story. For those of you who don’t know, a bootcamp class is a short, high-intensity workout led by an instructor, sort of like a military bootcamp. Though I’m certain a real military bootcamp is much more difficult both mentally and physically, this class is intended for people who wish to have the same sort of high-intensity workout a trainee would in the military.
Anyhow, this particular bootcamp is called The People’s Bootcamp and is led by Adam Rosante and is a “pay-what-you-can” 45-minute workout. with a warmup and cool down. He had the idea to start his own bootcamp and when researching competition and found the prices of these classes were super expensive (some topping $50/class). Adam’s philosophy is that “effective lifelong fitness should be accessible to everyone regardless of what you have in the bank.” Awesome.
I was so inspired when I visited his class for the shoot that decided to begin taking the class myself and have since been to 5 consecutive classes since my original visit. I played sports all in my adolescence through to the varsity level in high school. Since then I’ve tried to keep in shape mostly by jogging in the park on a regular basis. I’ve tried various classes (yoga/spinning/boxing) and different gyms, but they were never my cup of tea…they also they were pricy. But when I was exposed to Adam’s bootcamp it brought me back to those days in high school when I was a football player and wrestler training. I knew this was something I wanted to do. There’s something about having a coach yelling at you and the camaraderie of executing difficult tasks with classmates all going through the same agony.
So, I highly recommend Adam’s class if you’re in the NYC area…if not, look for similar classes near you…they’re great because it’ll push you to your personal max no matter your fitness level or body type.
Thanks Adam for whipping me back into shape…still a long way to go!
Breakfast of Champions…at Tiffany’s
A few years back in 2008 I received a last-minute assignment to run to Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue to document a party already in process: the NFL Champion New York Giants were receiving their Superbowl rings. I quickly suited up and cabbed down to the famous jewelry store to find the entire team celebrating their new bling. As a freelance photographer, it’s always fun finding myself in these random situations…one minute I’m in my boxers watching TV on my couch and the next I’m in formal attire amidst the Superbowl-winning Giants.
That assignment stuck with me for years and I knew I wanted to shoot it again. So when I saw earlier this year that the Giants were again playing in the Superbowl, I called my friends at the New York Times with a pitch to again shoot the ring ceremony (should the Giants win), but this time with the idea to set up a photo booth. Fortunately for me, the Giants won the Superbowl and my editors at The Times liked the idea and made it happen.
The ring ceremony didn’t take place until mid-May, so I had to twiddle my thumbs for a while. When the date finally came, there was some difficulty getting access, even though it had been approved months in advance and even confirmed days/hours before the event itself. Sometimes part of making your way in the photography business isn’t just about creating pretty photos, but it’s also dealing with PR agents and being able to keep calm and work your way though issues that may arise.
Originally I was told I would be able to set up a photo booth on the floor where I’d have all the players walk through and snap their own photo with the help of my pal and assistant Mike Isler, while at the same time roaming the floor of Tiffany’s documenting the players having a good time. When we arrived hours in advance we were denied access and told to come back when the event started. When we returned, we were told that we didn’t have the access we were promised. This kind of thing happens all too often.
After a bunch of back and fourth, I was able to gain access, but far too late to successfully get the whole team through my photo-booth. Rather than dozens of players, I got three, but at least they were quality including Eli Manning himself! Thanks to my assistant Mike Isler, I was able to have him help set up the booth while I roamed the floor of the store snapping photos.
Hopefully the Giants will win the Superbowl again someday so I have the opportunity to celebrate with the team once more! Maybe this time with a little more communication I’ll be able to get the entire project completed.
And a few from 2008…
NYC Triathlon Underwear Run
Early this morning I had a NY Times assignment to photograph a lady named Caroline Gaynor who is a triathlete who helps blind athletes compete in triathlons. I always love an assignment in Central Park, so I decided to take an early walk before the heat of the day hit…it’s been in the upper 90’s and humid lately. While in the park I was passing the Turtle Pond and even came across a turtle laying eggs in the mud.
Anyhow, my shoot went well and Caroline told me about an Underwear Run that she was participating in later in the evening and I knew I had to witness it. I showed up at the 72nd Street Traverse and found a couple hundred men and women wearing next-to-nothing ready to to jog in the 90+ degree heat. Even the Naked Cowboy was on hand to be an official cheerleader. Next year if you’re around, I’d recommend checking out the Underwear Run….good times!
More photos from the Underwear Run in my archives.
One on One with Olympian Aly Raisman
A few years ago I started a relationship with US Weekly Magazine when they were running a special issue on Justin Bieber. For those of you who don’t know, I spent about 6 months shadowing him for a book project and subsequently as his tour photographer. I was surprised to find out that US Weekly high-quality special issues called “bookazines” about ten times per year that sell for $9.99.
So the magazine needed some pictures and I was a good source. Since then I’ve shot a few more times for the publication documenting the lives of celebrities. Most recently they sent me to Massachusetts to spend a few days with Olympic gymnastic hopeful Aly Raisman. Since my time with her in June, she’s gone on to qualify and is currently competing (and doing quite well) at the Olympic Games in London.
This shoot was a mix of documentary and portraiture as the magazine wanted to show various aspects of Aly’s life. For instance; she’s 18 years old, lives at home with her parents, was just asked to the prom by a friend, and spends obscene amounts of her time practicing her sport at Brestyan’s Gymnastics.
The day started when I arrived to her home and was first greeted by her two overly-excited dogs who put me through my paces until my newness wore off. She has a big family, two sisters, one brother, a neighbor friend who is apparently a fixture at their household. Also a Boston Bruin loving father and a sweet mother who homemade a wonderful buffet of great food and snacks.
After having her hair and makeup done, Aly gave me a tour of her family’s massive home and grounds. We took portraits in various locations around the home and outside in their vast yard. In her bedroom, she keeps every medal won, credentials, and ID numbers from her various competitions throughout her life. She showed me her prom dress and even her prom date came over for a portrait with Aly.
Interestingly, while I working there was a videographer named Torey Champagne who had been working on a long term documentary on Aly’s bid for the Olympics called Quest For Gold. He was a really cool guy and documented our photo shoot as well as interviewed me. His documentary is currently on Comcast Sports Net…I still haven’t seen it, but if you have…tell me if I made it in!
The next morning I visited her briefly at the gym where she was training with Coach Brestyan. I was simply blown away at how incredibly athletic Aly was. I’ve watch gymnastics on TV whenever the Olympics are on, but until you see the athleticism in person, you have no idea how intense these gymnasts are. When I arrived she was just finishing her bar routine and moving to the balance beam. First of all, that beam is 4″ wide…unbelievable…and she was doing armless flips and twirls with ease. Pretty soon her practice was wound down with a stretching routine that was simply painful to watch.
It’s always a pleasure documenting amazing people. Aly’s the real deal. Go USA!
The New York City Triathlon
As a freelancer, I’m always waiting for the phone to ring because a ringing phone usually means work’s calling. It’s always nice to hear the familiar voice of a photo editor on the other end asking my availability. The only thing that spoils it is when they pre-empt the assignment pitch with “So you’re an early riser, right?” delivered in a tone closely associated with a mischievous grin . I answered with “Oh boy…what’s the assignment and how early?…”
As it turned out, the next morning was the NYC Triathlon and the New York Times wanted one nice photo of the event for the paper. Given triathlons consist of swimming, biking, and running; we figured swimming would be the most visual portion to photograph…especially since it took place in the Hudson River!
So I found out I needed to be to my assignment by 5:50AM as that’s when the swimming portion for the pros was scheduled to begin. Unfortunately when I woke up at 5AM, the weather was rainy, hot, and humidity was at 99% according to the forecast. Yuck. With an oversized umbrella and rain-jacket, I made my way to Riverside Park along the Hudson on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, down to the dock where all the triathletes would soon be exiting the water, and waited. The race had been delayed about 30 minutes. Hurry up and wait. In the rain.
After passing the time under my umbrella, I could finally see the flapping arms and faces of swimmers popping up, down, in, and out of the water. Moments later the pros and elite athletes first approached and stormed out of the choppy, brown Hudson River gasping for air and pulling themselves out or the water, some with the help of lifeguards. Up the ramp and down the dock barefoot they clambered down the bike path where they jumped on their bikes and headed north along the West Side Highway continuing about 24 miles before ending in Central Park with a near 6 mile run. Woah.
It was my first time shooting or even witnessing a triathlon and I was truly amazed at the determination and strength of its competitors. It’s even inspired me to work towards a goal of someday competing in a race like that myself…though we’ll see if that ever happens….
Big congrats to my triathlete/photographer pal Jason DeCrow for completing the course!
Canon vs. Nikon Shootout – Results are in!
A few weeks ago I was approached by Josh Lehrer of Unique Photo asking if I’d be interested in taking part in a Nikon D3S vs. Canon 1D Mark IV shootout with my Nikon-shooting pal, David Bergman. Josh took us to a very dimly-lit sporting venue in Long Island where David and I shot side-by-side at the various ISO settings so he could later create a write-up.
Both cameras proved to be great tools and improvements on their predecessors….Click here to see the results on Josh’s blog post to see the side-by-side comparisons and download the RAW files!
What are your thoughts? Who won? Canon or Nikon?
The shootout banner he made cracks me up!
The World Series Time-Lapse
Lately, as I’ve been transitioning into cinematography, I’ve been experimenting with time-lapse photography. I’ve had a lot of practice while working on my latest project, Betrayed, (a motion picture short shot exclusively with the 5D Mark II staring Seth Gilliam from ‘The Wire’, Cara Buono from ‘The Sopranos‘ and PJ Sosko and is due out very soon!) so I decided to take what I’d learned to the World Series because I thought it would be a great opportunity to attempt this hit-or-miss process.
This time-lapse is a compilation of over 5,000 still-images I took from 3 cameras from about 25 locations, all around the inside/outside of Yankee Stadium, that gives a narrative of attending a game-winning World Series during the inaugural season of baseball’s most famous stadium.
This was probably one of the most tiring and time-consuming processes I’ve undertaken with still-photography. I arrived at Yankees Stadium around 3PM prior to the game and began scouting out locations for the time-lapse. The process itself took many hours and required me to rush around the monstrous stadium – scaling the upper decks, zipping back and forth from the outfield to the infield, and inside and out. Finally, I arrived home around 1:30AM and began downloading to my computer the 125GB (12,000 images) of RAW footage I’d collected.
After properly organizing all the files, I set my computer to stitch and render all the still images together in a low-resolution format just so I could see if the time-lapse actually worked. Exhausted, I finally got to bed around 5:30 AM while my computer rendered the files down. Given that the time-lapse consisted only of still images and not video, the files were 3-4 times the size of HD! Needless to say, my computer spent a good chunk of time rendering all the data.
The next morning, I woke up early to check out what I’d shot, and was truly excited by what I saw; the already visually interesting images came to life in a surreal way.
Finally, after stitching together all the raw footage, I handed over the files to my trusted editor/web designer, Laia Prats, to throw everything into Final Cut Pro and help me put it all together and add the audio track. I truly couldn’t have done this without her help. (THANK YOU soooo much, Laia!) If you ever need a website built, logo made, or any graphic design, I highly recommend Laia! She’s my designer.
Also, check out the write up on the New York Times LENS Blog.
A selection of snaps I took while at the stadium:
World Series Snaps – Images by Robert Caplin
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – World Series Performance
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – World Series 2009 – Images by Robert Caplin
Wow, what a night!
While shooting the World Series for MLB’s public relations dept., I had the opportunity to get some pretty exclusive access to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance prior to the opening pitch. What I found so amazing about the experience was that I felt I was documenting a genuine moment in both performer’s lives.
Jay-Z and Keys started their walk to the stage from center field which created this amazing scene where they were walking towards me far off in the distance while the Jumbotron overpowered the stadium with their larger-than-life figures. Upon arriving to the stage entrance, which is where I was shooting from, they had a few moments to wait until the live broadcast began when they could take the stage. At that point, you could tell they were super excited as the hammed it up to the camera and shared animated glances at each other. I would imagine, no matter how many concerts or stadiums they’ve played in the past, this had to be one the the most memorable moments in their lives happening in front of me. I know both are native New Yorkers and Yankees fans, quite an honor it would be to play for the world LIVE on television and in front of thousands at the Stadium. I was truly honored to have been given that opportunity. I’ll never forget this evening, that’s for sure. What a show!
I hope you enjoy the photos!
Congrats to the Yankees and to Jay-Z and Alicia on the killer evening!
Here’s the broadcast on YouTube!
More World Series photos to come….
