Creating a Cover Photo...and Opportunity

Creating a Cover Photo...and Opportunity



(Above: Photo selected for magazine cover.) For nearly two years - a few months short of a full two years - I have enjoyed seeing my name in print by way of the Winston Salem Monthly Magazine. Success, as measured differently by many different people, can be achieved in so many different ways. I cannot tell you what my measuring stick looks like or how I go about defining one achievement or another, or why some months make my smile wider than others when I see a finished product; however, in this short amount of time I have spent with the magazine I arrived at a crowning moment this past January when I was assigned to shoot the cover portrait of the Wake Forest University Men's Basketball Coach Dino Gaudio. These are my insights into creating a cover photo, and a lasting memory for many photo shoots to come.



(Above: Inside article photo) The enormity of this challenge - and possibly great opportunity - was one that made me scared and entirely optimistic all in one thought. Not a whole lot went through my mind when I was first offered this assignment - not until I did my homework. You see, Coach Gaudio was tasked with an enormous challenge: take the reigns of a basketball team formerly directed and inspired by the late Skip Prosser. Coach Gaudio's exploits, achievements, and personal insights into accepting this tasks are documented in the interview printed in the finished February 2008 issue, but how does one correlate and capture the intensity found in the words of the article? If you are a fan of college basketball, or even live near "Tobacco Road" where some of the greatest schools in baskball hail from, then add the pressure and expectations of sports readers whose hands might thumb through an issue of this local magazine.


My time with Coach was very brief - somewhere in the neighborhood of about 5 minutes of actual shooting time. Those were 5 minutes that I could not afford to miss the opportunity to get the right shot. As one can imagine, a collegiate level coach's time is very limited and I certainly did not want to waste any time fiddling with lighting or locations. In this particular instance, Wake Forest was to take on the Air Force in the minutes after my time with Coach. In that top photo there were previously about twice as many basketballs on the arena floor. One half went to players already warming up for the game. Thankfully I got to keep a few. For this particular shoot I did quite a bit of research ahead of time in terms of options and location poses. (Many thanks to Gary C. at "A Little News" for his insights on sports portraiture.) I pre-arranged two lighting setups to create two different posing options and environments. The first arrangement was an array of three remotely triggered Nikon speedlights mounted on small 6' stands out on the arena floor. In the locker room I had a studio flash shooting through a large softbox. For the locker room shot, I figured a single light would create a dramatic effect.


Sometime in the first week of February I finally received my copy of the finished product. I was smiling ear to ear for sure. Although I may never know what the images did for the readers the magazine serves, I received my finest complement a few weeks later when I was contacted by the Gaudio Family.

Although I still find difficulty defining for myself what success is, or what it should be, the lasting impression I get to take with me is the enormity of knowing that I not only achieved a difficult task, but in the process I made the mother of one of my photo subjects smile. I suppose in life this is all we can ask for: another's happiness at the hand of one's own talents. I look forward to my next cover photo, tackling that next great hurdle, and making someone smile - creating opportunity.

Until next time....