Picking up from my latest newsletter (want to get in on that?
sign up here), fall means football and JLP was busy all summer shooting features and profiles on a variety of college and pro ballers around the country. These few just dropped so I wanted to share some behind the scenes and extra frames.
I'll start with the worst, first... I've only shot at Boston College once now, but that was enough... never again.
ESPN sent me up to do a really interesting story about how BC has a tough time getting exposure and recruiting nationally in such a pro sports-obsessed city like Boston (story included in the All-Boston issue on newsstands now). The players we shot were also cool (featured are RB Montel Harris and LB Luke Kuechly) however, without going into things, we ran into a gross lack of professionalism in the BC sports department and everything suffered. Anywho, here are a couple more...
Next up I spent some sweaty time with Kansas City Chiefs RB Thomas Jones, who
Muscle & Fitness (first time client, hooking up with former
ESPN louper J-Rod at his new digs!) says has the best arms in pro ball. Dude is crazy strong, and I like his tats; plus his mom was a coal miner which is pretty awesome.
This was another weird one (our original location was wall-to-wall soccer moms "exercising" while watching "The View" and drinking Frappuccinos) but we made it work, and then of course finding that awesome Greek statue "fresco" (located in a sweltering stairwell) totally made my day and the magazine found a home for the portrait as well!
Note the weight (400 lbs) that TJ is ripping full sets on here... you start to understand how this man survived a dozen years (RBs average 2-3) in the NFL and gained 10,000 yards in his career.
Last up is another ESPN the Mag. feature on goals that I was happy to shoot a couple of segments of (not able to share the other part yet). I went back down to my beloved
U (University of Miami) to meet DT Marcus Forston whose goals include finishing his classwork and graduating above a 3.0 GPA (he's well above it already) as a criminal justice major. It's pretty cool doing a story on a stud linebacker who is also a smart kid (and a nice guy).
In contrast to BC, the Hurricanes sports department came through and helped me talk our way into shooting for a very brief couple of minutes in the busy library stacks on campus (I was actually hoping to do the whole shoot here but it wasn't going to happen... librarians). Because I know you are wondering, Marcus is holding about 75 lbs of books in the shot below (and not breaking a sweat of course).
Back in May I had my first chance to work with Golf Digest with a week-long feature on golf & travel in Las Vegas as part of their ultimate buddy trips series (out now in the Dec. 2011 issue). My assistant Brian and I worked pretty damn hard, clocking in multiple extremely early mornings. But it was a fun week and super great working with DoP Christian Iooss and writers Pete Finch and Matt Ginella.
The challenge of the job was to find a taste of Vegas in every aspect of what we were shooting... eg. golf courses tend to look a lot like other golf courses anywhere else. Luckily Vegas knows how to bring it with "gaming" holes, Par Mates (female caddies - opening spread ,with Old Tom Morris, and below) and other treats. Pete & Matt visited every course in the LV area, and I followed up at about 8 of them to shoot specific holes or atmosphere. On the strip I shot impersonators, gambling, VIP pool scenes, food, drinking, tourists and anything else we could find. We even lugged around a bag full of clubs to shoot Brian in front of iconic Vegas landmarks (became the issue's ToC pic). Unfortunately there were no tigers, Carrot Top, or jackpots.
The best part of the week for me was another early morning spent at North Las Vegas Municipal GC, far and away the least expensive course in the LV area. Writer Matt Ginella played the most expensive/exclusive (Shadow Creek - $500/rnd) and the least (N. LV Muni $7/rnd) back-to-back and I took it upon myself to drop by for the Muni Memorial Day tournament when all of the die hard regulars played together. Die hard is the right phrase because on tourney day the temp dropped 30 degrees and the winds were howling up to 50 MPH; which didn't stop these guys even a little, even though the scene resembled a Three Stooges episode.
The experience shooting at North Las Vegas GC inspired a portrait series that I'll be continuing focused on these small, neighborhood Munis that are affordable so that friends and families can enjoy golf without the extraneous trappings. To me there is a beauty akin to sandlot baseball at some of the Par 3 muni courses, a little rough around the edges, but filled with the memories of those who play there. Enjoy some more from Vegas:
