Tennessee Sports

Tuesday June 18th, 2013

by Maria Luci

Three days; thirty athletes. That’s the gist of Robby Klein‘s latest assignment. But that’s not what he signed up for, at least initially. In fact, the Nashville-based shooter was first asked to photograph the University of Tennessee golf team, a relatively simple shoot—but things soon intensified as the project grew from golfer portraits to shots of athletes from every UT sport. Robby was happy to take on the challenge, especially since the photos would be used in the university’s annual athletics department funding campaign.

Robby decided from the beginning that he was going to go for the “hero” shot for each athlete. This was simple enough, involving a white backdrop and proper lighting, but it was the student athletes’ schedules—and sports “props”—that were a bit more difficult to work around. Robby explains,

All of the athletes still have class, and very busy schedules, so the shoot took three days. But one of the specific challenges that came up was photographing the rower with her oar; it was probably 4-5 times the length of her, and much larger then our shooting area. It came down to shooting it in sections and piecing it together later, fairly simple. But the moment it came in, we all just kind of looked at each other and laughed.

Rower shot in post production.

Robby was also amused at how concerned the students were about messing up the paper backdrop. “All the athletes were wearing their appropriate footwear, the paper didn’t stand a chance. We were getting action shots as well as portraits, so we had them run across the paper. Every single one of them would start at a run and then tiptoe when they got onto the paper. The only exception was some of the women’s soccer team—they were ready to just shred that bad boy up!”

The entire assignment was incredibly enjoyable for Robby, who felt privileged to be working with such talented athletes. He adds, “when you work with top athletes from a university like UT, you’re working with some of the top athletes in the country. These players are future NFL, NBA, etc. They’re very professional and most were excited to get the opportunity to be a part of this campaign, especially since they were the person selected to represent their sport.”

The client was also excited by the final shots. They’re now using the images in a campaign sent out to thousands of prospective donors, as well as online and on wall scrolls around UT.

View more at robbyklein.com.

Collection

Monday June 17th, 2013

by Maria Luci

Jim Golden is a Portland, Oregon-based portrait, fashion and still life photographer. While he’s adept at all three of these specialties, it’s Jim’s still life that really stands out to me—particularly his “Collection” series. The photographs in this series are meticulously styled and shot, creating mesmerizing looks at various item collections. According to Jim, the series stemmed from him noticing all the random objects people collect over time. From 8-track tapes to antique rifles, each of Jim’s illustrative photos represent a different person’s special collection (including his own large collection of more than 190 pieces of photographic equipment).

All of these neatly organized images are shot in-camera, with no compositing.

Prints from this series can be purchased here. View more at jimgoldenstudio.com.

Malta

Monday June 17th, 2013

by Maria Luci

Ah, beautiful Malta. Just South of Sicily, this lovely island is like a siren, beckoning to be photographed. Enchanted by its call, Swedish photographer Evan Pantiel made a quick trip to the renowned Mediterranean isle. There, he photographed and interviewed local fishermen to learn more about their lives and Maltese culture.

Evan recounts:

One of the advantages of living in Europe is the multitude of budget airlines that allow you to fly around the world for as little as $50.

I had a few days to kill between jobs, and seeing how little sun Sweden gets during the year, I chose to swing by Malta. I did some background research on the island, and decided to set my focus on Marsaxlokk, and the fishermen who work there. While Marsaxlokk has been visited and photographed by many before, I was unable to find any who had actually sat down and talked to the fishermen who spend their lives there.

The three days I was there, I spoke to many friendly locals, and ended up befriending a fisherman named Joseph. Joseph was named after the Prime Minister of Malta of 1921, and has been living in the city of Marsaxlokk his entire life. Owner of two boats, he spends most of his time in the down season repairing and fixing his vessels, and reminiscing of the good ole days with fellow retired fisherman. Upon talking with him, and hearing about his life, he expressed the concerns with the future of his profession and the increasing pressure the EU has put on their lifestyle.

From talking to Joseph, and meeting his numerous friends, we discussed what a labor intensive process fishing is, and how the ‘new generation’ would rather choose a more profitable and steady career. Despite these issues, Joseph wouldn’t change a thing. “My work is on the sea… I am independent. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes not so much.”

Evan Pantiel is based in Stockholm, Sweden. View more of his work at evanpantiel.com.

Sunday Spotlight: 6/16/13

Sunday June 16th, 2013

SaTEARday 6/15/13

Saturday June 15th, 2013

Purina
Jamey Guy

Road and Track
David Arky

Toontrack
Scott Witter

Fitness Magazine
Moya McAllister