I got the call last week to do a portrait of potential Texas Rangers Hall of Famers Adrian Beltre and Carlos Beltran before a game. Adrian has always been one of my favorite players to photograph in action, so I was excited to get the chance to make a portrait of him. I was told that I might have about 10 or 15 minutes with them and that I could possibly use the field. I got all excited as I charted where the sun and light would be as well as what Profoto lights and modifiers I would use to make a super cool shot with the stadium as a backdrop.
Well, once I got there, I soon found out that I couldn’t use the field as it was being tended to and that the only real chance of getting these guys together before a game would be in the press conference room right down the hallway from the locker room. Well, it definitely wasn’t the most ideal spot for a portrait, but I always try to MAcGyver my way out of trouble and make some lemonade out of lemons.
I found a logo on the wall and decided that I would spot light it with a 10 degree grid and a Profoto B1 strobe. Here is a behind the scenes look at how I lit the logo…
I had originally wanted to use a beauty dish to light both guys but realized in that small room, it would simply put out too much light and too big of a spread. So, I opted for a narrow silver reflector and pulled them as far away from the wall as possible. I wish I had more room as would have had them even further back, but you can see where I put an “X” on the ground with some gaffer tape for when they walked in. Here is a quick grab shot of me testing the light and a peek at all the chairs and commotion around me… 🙂
Adrian came in before Carlos and so it was great to speak with him and discuss the year, how he used to live in Southlake, why he moved away, horrible LA traffic, etc…while we waited. Carlos came in shortly after and I was able to direct them to do a couple of poses that I thought might work for the article. My main goal was to make sure the logo showed and that their poses complemented each other. I took about 10 total photos in 90 seconds and was very pleased with how they came out!(Well, considering it was in a press conference room and not the field.)
Here are a couple I liked as well as how the article ran today both in online and print versions…
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