Photographer's Spotlight: Kentucky Wildcats
Photographer's Spotlight: Kentucky Wildcats
Photographer's Spotlight: Kentucky Wildcats
I'm pleased to feature the 2013 University of Kentucky Wildcats in this installment of the Photographer's Spotlight blog/photo album series.
Here is the photo album link:
http://www.gymnastike.org/photoalbum/449035-Photographers-Spotlight-2013-Kentucky-Wildcats
The images are all from the 2013 SEC Championships, which was the one and only time I was able to photograph the Wildcats this season.
The beautiful and dramatic pose in the photo above is courtesy of UK freshman Marissa Beucler. For that photo, I went with a smooth black and white texture, with deep blacks and a crisp silver tone with subtle to medium highlights.
The depth of the black color has the effect of turning Kentucky's blue leotards into a rich dark gray that brings out the silver/chrome sequin lettering on her sleeve.
Use of strong shadowing along her legs contrasted with a brush of light along her face finishes the look and I think compliments the drama of the pose.
I love the picture above. This is UK all-arounder Kayla Sienkowski.
When this picture came together I was really excited because it was the first time I had used certain combinations of toner on a black and white canvas and actually got the effect I was striving to achieve.
I was going for a variation of early 1940's era photographic styles. Understand I wasn't trying to copy that look, I wanted to create my own version - a reimagining.
I can't give away all my secrets, but I will say that the look combines layers of various b&w toners and a subtle grain in the style of the old Kodak Tri-X film which was introduced around that time.
In full HD, the picture looks gorgeous. That in large part is due to Kayla being such a beautiful woman in the first place. She's very photogenic and the photo album definitely includes more photos of her.
The photo above, featuring Alexis Gross, was an attempt to use space, perspective and light in a way that is not typical in gymnastics action photography, and hopefully you the audience will find it interesting. You won't find a picture like this on the NCAA website. I wanted to take pictures like this at the NCAA Championships but quite frankly certain NCAA personnel are extremely hostile to photographers, but that's a subject for another day.
Thankfully the SEC's media relations were very gracious and respectful to the photographers. Hopefully it will stay that way in 2014. I can't say enough nice things about the way the Southeastern Conference handled media relations at the championships this year.
In the three pictures above, the top one features freshman Tiara Phipps. I like the simplicity of the image and the role that light and shadow plays in its composition. I've seen other photos of Tiara hitting this pose and mostly, they are very forgettable.
The strong highlight and white color on her hand, which crosses slightly into clipping, combined with the color saturation and underexposure of the rest of the frame demands the eye to focus on the power and intensity of her fully extended hand/finger tips.
Kayla and Marissa are back for encores in the second and third photos, respectively. Whereas previous photos of them were in black and white palettes, these are examples of the type of color saturation and shadow I was able to achieve using a Canon 135mm prime lens.
In HD, the third photo of Marissa on floor has beautiful rich, deep blues in the leotard and floor.
I can't close out this blog without giving a shout out to two of the nicest coaches I had the privilege of meeting at the SEC Championships. That's head coach Tim Garrison on the left and Assistant Coach Chuck Dickerson on the right. Tim and Chuck were very accomodating of my photography and as long as I positioned myself with common sense and safety in mind, they let me do my thing. They are great guys and I wish them good luck next season.
Again, the 2013 Kentucky Wildcats photo album on Gymnastike is located here:
http://www.gymnastike.org/photoalbum/449035-Photographers-Spotlight-2013-Kentucky-Wildcats