Random Excellence: Jaren Wilkey

Jimmer Fredette by Jaren Wilkey. Great shot, considering.

Good readin': TOP reader Jaren Wilkey, the Manager of Brigham Young University Photography and a member of UPAA (the University Photographers Association of America), gives a particularly lucid account, at the UPAA blog, of what it's like to shoot a sports celebrity portrait—in this case, BYU star Jimmer Fredette.

(At about 1:10 in the video, I chuckled at "I'm going to be lying right here in this nice little mud pile, 'cause that's...that's what a photographer does." Bro. Glad it's you and not me.)

As I often say, many "how-to" accounts of professional photography tell you all the details of typical shoots but leave out one crucial, critical element: time constraints. Jaren's text gives a vivid idea not only of what it's like to prep a shoot, but what it's like when the schedule is changed on you at the last minute and you only have 13 minutes with the subject—and it's threatening to rain.

(And by the way, if you really want to learn how to be an assignment pro, nothing beats assisting a guy like Jaren for a while on jobs like this.)

Mike

Send this post to a friend

Please help support TOP by patronizing our sponsors B&H Photo and Amazon

Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. More...
Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[KeithB]

In the recent FlashBus seminar, the length of time you get with the subject was brought up several times. One solution is to use a handy body as a stand-in to prepare for the 30 seconds you get with the celebrity.

[erlik]

One reason to buy a camera with a swiveling LCD - not to lie in the mud.

[Michael Farrell]

I always bring Sir Walter Raleigh with me.

[swr]

I see the influence of William Eggleston's famous photo of the tricycle in this portrait.