Sportrait Woes

I don't know what it is about sports portraits.

They happen every week and I should really be prepared for them by now, but every week when I shoot one I always feel lost, confused, rushed and very much like I have no idea what I'm doing. This week in particular I have no excuse. One of the portrait's I had to shoot was of a football player who has been trying to put on weight. An illness made him drop 20 pounds during the summer, so he's spent the last few months trying to get back to his football playing weight. It seemed like a perfect time to "borrow" a portrait idea I saw on another photographer's photoblog recently.

Ken Ritchie shot this for a story on an old weight lifter. I didn't want it to be exactly the same, but in the same spirit. Of course mine ended up looking nothing like his. While his was well lit, tight and super clean and engaging, mine was typical me: kinda cluttered and loose with odd lighting and questionable focus.



Foiled again. Don't worry Ken, I will harness the power of your portraits soon enough.