Portraits

The cyclist and the shadow

August 10, 2011

Shot an on-the-fly portrait today of John Cox, who is competing in the time-trial and road-race cycling portions of this year’s Wyoming Senior Olympics. Didn’t have much time to think up an idea so I decided to try a shadow technique I had seen used before for a portrait of Lance Armstrong. I used fishing line to hang the front wheel from his time-trial bike to the ceiling while the reporter who wrote the story, Alex Riley, held the wheel in position using the line. After going all summer without touching our studio lights, it seems like I’ve shot a lot of portraits as of late. I shot a few of University of Wyoming football players this weekend that I’ll post later after they are published.

John Cox, the WYDOT director, poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011, with the front wheel of his time trial bicycle shadowed in the background. Cox is competing in the cycling time trial and road race in this year's senior olympics.

National handball champion Lloyd Garcia

July 3, 2011

On Thursday I had the opportunity to photograph a portrait of Cheyenne native Lloyd Garcia, who recently won a handball national title in a 50-55 age group at the 61st annual U.S. Handball Association’s Four-Wall Championships in Fridley, Minn. The title was the one thing missing from Garcia’s trophy case that is filled with accolades from a career spanning more than 30 years. I decided to shoot the portrait on the roof at our downtown Cheyenne office. I was tempted to shoot in the studio, but I liked the cloud formations from an incoming storm. The lighting was extremely simple: one Canon 550EX shot through an orange gel and an umbrella at full power. I asked Garcia to get into his windup as though he were serving into the camera lens.

Cheyenne native Lloyd Garcia poses for a photo at the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle on Thursday, June 30, 2011. Garcia recently won the men's singles Golden Master division (ages 50-55) at the 61st annual U.S. Handball Association's Four-Wall Championships, which was held June 21-26 in Fridley, Minn.

Wagon doctor Tom Watson

June 19, 2011

Tom Watson, the head wagon doctor, shares a laugh as he leans on one of several antique wagons in the shop on Friday, June 17, 2011, at Frontier Park. Watson has been a wagon doctor for 23 years. The wagon doctors restore and maintain antique wagons that are used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade each year.

Tom Watson, the head wagon doctor, stands in the middle of several antique wagons in the shop on Friday, June 17, 2011, at Frontier Park. Watson has been a wagon doctor for 23 years. The wagon doctors restore and maintain antique wagons that are used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade each year.

Cheyenne history buff Rolf Skoetsch

June 5, 2011

On Thursday I was assigned to photograph a portrait of Rolf Skoetsch, a local history buff who volunteers at the Wyoming National Guard Museum. Rolf is a really nice guy. After I took his portrait, I ended up having a conversation ranging from antique tractors to Germany with him in his driveway for another hour. This might not be the world’s greatest portrait, but it was a nice assignment for me because I got to get out of the office and have a conversation with someone. Connecting with people is a part of photography that is absolutely essential for good community photojournalism. You have to be able to get to know folks and have a conversation with them. As I was told once: always look for the lowest common denominator when working with folks you don’t know.

Rolf Skoetsch poses with a 1930s era John Deere row crop cultivator that adorns the yard at his Rucker Road home on Thursday, June 2, 2011. Skoetsch, who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a teenager after World War II, has a collection of antique farm equipment.

Cheyenne Central keeper Kelley Fisher

April 27, 2011

As I sometimes do before a portrait shoot, I turned to Google’s image search for some ideas. My assignment was to photograph a local high school keeper. Initially I wanted to do a low-angle shot of her diving for a ball, but as I looked through the results of my “soccer keeper portrait” search, I noticed that there were no overhead angles. All of the portraits I could find were either low angle or eye level. I love a good overhead shot so I thought I’d try something a little different. I borrowed a six-foot step ladder from the photo editor and shot an action portrait wide from above. It’s definitely not an angle you see often in soccer photography. At this particular high school, it’s extremely hard to get a clean background because of stadium lights, bleachers, a small building, fencing and – believe it or not – a windmill behind one goal. Shooting from a high angle down gave me a clear background that doesn’t take away from the subject.

I talked to the subject on the phone around 6 p.m., drove out to the school at 6:30 p.m. and started the shoot around 7 p.m. Unlike magazines and larger newspapers, we don’t enjoy the luxury of time when it comes to a lot of our shoots. In this particular case, I found out who I would be photographing at noon on Monday and had the entire shoot done by 8 p.m. The lighting setup was extremely simple. I used one Canon 550EX speedlight shot through an umbrella at 1/8 power above the subject on camera right. That light was held by one friend from work while a second friend lobbed the soccer balls to her.