Stem Cell Researcher playing tennis for Sabrina Cohen Foundation Calendar

Not the calendar shot

Last week I, Wick Beavers Editorial Portrait Photographer, drove up to Jupiter, the Florida home of the celebrated and world famous Scripps Institute, to shoot Dr Don Phinney, a PhD stem cell research scientist.

This portrait was to be thematic, in that it had to jive a lot more than I like with other Months' portraits and that die was already cast in 4 or 5 portraits- the photographers that had already shot their CELLebrity researchers had done nice, respectful, calm, attractive and generic (so sorry) snaps of their subjects and I was left trying to feel like your high school contract portraitist. Oweee.

Make the best of it and calm down...

I arrived about 20 minutes early and picked a spot that had potential. The theme was the favorite sport of the researcher and Don's was tennis, anyone, so we had agreed to meet at Egrets Landing Tennis Club.

Light flash -Test dial test dial and now we're ready- Don drives up and snap snap. These are the money shots for the calendar, nice straight, evenly lit, cool looking hero shots of our Doctor.

$ shot Yes the Calendar Shot

Alright! Now let's hit some forehands hard, backlit by the early rising sun and look at the lens not the ball and more ---snap snap. Trying to guess for the lag in both the camera and my brain to finger to coincide with Don's full forehand swing was a trick but I thought okay we are done now.

Oh no! My sensor!! The sun just cuts the pixels. Okay, swap a head- think it's too big? yes- and yes, next! Swing harder!! But keep your head in front of the soleil per favore.

Next, serve the ball with the sun in your face. Kitsch and cool and needs a little post on the junk in the background but hey- why don't you just keep your eye on the ball?

Thanks Don! And I hope the Sabrina Cohen Foundation Calendars make a large fortune for you guys and stem cell research!

And me, too...

See my site for some cool pictures and have a great week or three.