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Posts Tagged ‘player’

Photography, Portrait, Sports | 0 comment

Mike Curtis

Mike Curtis ©TimeLine Media

Football Player / Ballroom Dancer

Last month, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Mike Curtis. Before I knew of his history on the football field, I knew him as a ballroom dance student! We were studio mates at the Arthur Murray in Tysons, Virginia. Not until I stumbled on a film recalling Superbowl III did I know of his previous profession.

Copyright TimeLine Media, LLC

Mike was a linebacker for the Baltimore Colts. During his successful career, he played in two Superbowls Championship games. However, he only won one of them. Undeniably, the loss to the Jets was a compelling story for NFL history. Because it was before my time, I only knew the story of the winners. Hearing Mike tell the side from the Colts was really interesting.

For this shoot, the managers of the Arthur Murray studios asked if I could make some photos of Mike. At that time, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ was a popular TV series with football players as regular contestants. Moreover, Mike was campaigning to be entered into the football hall of fame. So this shoot was a good collaboration for everyone. He was without a doubt, the most famous person I had photographed in my fledgling photography career.

Copyright TimeLine Media, LLC

Mike’s instructors were very happy to join him in the photos. While it may be true he was a beast on the field, he was gentle around the dance floor. We would seem him week after week, and sometimes at the big events. It was quite the contrast to see a football player that enjoyed dancing so much. Thank you for the photos, Mike, and condolences to your family.

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Event, Photography, Sports | 0 comment

Denard Span visits Tysons Corner Center | Virginia Photographer

The Bullpen Tysons

A few weekends ago Denard Span of the Washington Nationals took some time out of his busy weekend to meet and greet with fans and a little league team at the Tysons Bullpen. The visit came in the middle of the season during a home stretch for the Nationals. If you have not followed the story of the team for this year, they are playing very well! In fact, they were in the middle for a long winning streak at the time of the photos, and Denard’s play was a big reason for their success.

Denard-Span-and-Grant-Paulsen-©TimeLine-Media
Denard-Span-and-Grant-Paulsen-©TimeLine-Media

For the time he was at the mall, he talked about his upbringing, his background in sports and the role it played in his development. He gave all of us an insight into what it is like to be a big league player. There are many perks, but it is a big responsibility. One of the best things I heard him say was that he still felt lucky and blessed to be doing what he is doing. To be a major league baseball player, and to have the support of his teammates and fans alike pushes him to keep working as hard as he can. He sets big goals for himself, and he is still working towards others.

Greeting Baseball Fans

Denard-Span-on-Tysons-Plaza-©TimeLine-Media
Denard-Span-on-Tysons-Plaza-©TimeLine-Media

Grant Paulsen from 106.7 The Fan radio station was there to get the discussion going. Hearing that baseball players play 162 games over 182 days really impressed how much of a grind it can be. There are not too many days off during the season. With all the games, travel, and playoffs if the team does well, I can see how it can be difficult. This was really eye opening for me, and seeing the difference between that and the little leaguers in the audience, you could tell that they appreciated the effort that he puts in to be where is today. It was inspiring to listen, and pushes me to do more with my own efforts.

Denard-Span-in-Tysons-Bullpen-©TimeLine-Media
Denard-Span-in-Tysons-Bullpen-©TimeLine-Media

He definitely made me a fan, and I’ll be looking to see how the Nationals do this fall as the playoffs loom. He was very nice to the little ball players, and the fans, and I can see why they root for him and the Nationals. Maybe they will be playing baseball in October in DC!

Selfie-with-Denard-©TimeLine-Media
Selfie-with-Denard-©TimeLine-Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Photography, Portrait, Sports | 0 comment

Youth Football Portraits

©TimeLIne Media - football player portrait

Recently, I had someone that was on my email list request that I make some portraits for her brother that plays youth football. It would be perfect for my project for making more sports portraits. I have plenty of action shots from players during games, or dancers during competition, but I want to expand my portfolio of setup portraits where I control more of the lighting, posing, and composition. It is no surprise that trying to get a clean image while the game is going on is difficult.

Football Field Set

Most sports photographers resort to heavy cropping to eliminate distracting backgrounds or other elements that take away from their main subject. When I photograph ballroom dancers, I use additional flashes in order to make the colors better, and to make the settings on my camera little less extreme, but the lighting has to cover a large area. It is not setup specifically for one spot, or subject, so it is much more flat overall. With “D”, the football player, we had an open, empty football field to use. It was a very bright, sunny afternoon, so I had to use an ND filter to knock down some of the light going into the camera to keep a shallower depth of field. Adding some flash to fill in helped to bring him out from the darker background making him stand out.

©TimeLIne Media - football player portrait
©TimeLIne Media – football player portrait

With all the light out there, it would seem to be easy to make this portrait, but bright sun makes for dark shadows. In order to bring some detail back into his face from under his helmet, I needed a flash to fill that in. A flash in a medium-size softbox placed just off camera left brought in enough light to fill in his face, and highlight more of the top of his uniform.

Background Setting

©TimeLIne Media - football player portrait
©TimeLIne Media – football player portrait

We did a few other poses, but this was another keeper for me. The afternoon sun was to camera left, so I used the flash through a softbox on the right to fill in his left side which was much darker. Had the aperture stopped down more than usual for a portrait since I wanted to keep their home field sign in focus. I am always looking for more portrait subjects, and like having the element of sports for props and settings so contact me if you would like to have some made!

©TimeLIne Media - football player portrait
©TimeLIne Media – football player portrait

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208