Arizona Diamondbacks President - Derrick Hall
In the beginning of September I met up with two editors from C-Level Magazine at Chase Field in Phoenix. As the cover story in the November issue of C-Level, I was scheduled to have exactly one hour with Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall to shoot at least 4 different looks throughout the ballpark.
Walking through Chase Field's subterranean hallways and vast empty stands is always a little surreal when there are no crowds present. The stadium feels almost apocalyptic when empty.
I set up for the first set of shots on the dugout roof, down by the playing field. I planned on having Derrick standing on the roof with the easily recognizable Chase Field logo and score board behind him for context. I originally wanted to use a couple of rim lights, or at least a hair light on this first setup, unfortunately the top of the dugout just wouldn't allow for it, I was left with just a single main light.
Knowing I'd have just one hour for four looks, including the time I'd spend setting up and tearing down equipment, and moving between locations, meant I needed to be ready to go as soon as Derrick arrived for the first shot so we could hit the ground running. I'd left myself plenty of time to prepare the dugout location, and I already mapped out my second shot nearby and planned on shooting that one with just natural light, so I was definitely ready to go at our 11am start time. Right about 11 was when we received word that Derrick would be tied up in a meeting a little longer, so it would be more like 11:15 before we'd shoot. My hour was tight enough, but having that cut to 45 minutes made me just a little nervous.
11:15 comes and goes...
11:20 comes and goes...
Finally around 11:25, Derrick Hall and his head of marketing come out of the tunnel onto the field and meet us. I was down to just 35 minutes of shooting time.
My one saving grace was that Derrick is no stranger to posing for a camera and worked through poses like a professional model would have. We knocked out the dugout set in just a few minutes.
Moving onto my next set was easy. I wanted Derrick sitting in an empty section of the stands, about 15 rows above me, to show some depth. This was my natural light shot, so all that was involved with this one was me turning the other way and framing my shots. We blew through that set in about 5 minutes.
I gathered up my gear as quickly as I could and we went upstairs to the administrative offices for the Diamondbacks. I hadn't been able to scout this location, so I just had to come up with shots and two different looks on the spot since we'd have about 10 minutes here before our clock runs out. Luckily, in the same room, there were three very different looks available without me even needing to change my lighting. The first was Derrick in the Culture & Innovation Center, I went wide to show all the details of that space. Immediately to the right of that corner was a brick wall full of the team's World Series and Championship wins, so that was a whole separate look just by turning right. Lastly, between the awards on the wall and the bank of windows beside it was just enough blank space to shoot a few tight headshots of Derrick on a clean background for a fifth look.
I think I took my last frame at exactly 12pm, the editors and I thanked Derrick and his staff for their time, and he was off to resume his extremely busy schedule.
It was a whirlwind of a shoot, but it was a blast. Derrick was a true professional throughout, as well as humble and gracious. Chase Field is always one of my favorite places to shoot editorial pieces because of the sheer size and limitless options you have when photographing people there.
Walking through Chase Field's subterranean hallways and vast empty stands is always a little surreal when there are no crowds present. The stadium feels almost apocalyptic when empty.
I set up for the first set of shots on the dugout roof, down by the playing field. I planned on having Derrick standing on the roof with the easily recognizable Chase Field logo and score board behind him for context. I originally wanted to use a couple of rim lights, or at least a hair light on this first setup, unfortunately the top of the dugout just wouldn't allow for it, I was left with just a single main light.
Knowing I'd have just one hour for four looks, including the time I'd spend setting up and tearing down equipment, and moving between locations, meant I needed to be ready to go as soon as Derrick arrived for the first shot so we could hit the ground running. I'd left myself plenty of time to prepare the dugout location, and I already mapped out my second shot nearby and planned on shooting that one with just natural light, so I was definitely ready to go at our 11am start time. Right about 11 was when we received word that Derrick would be tied up in a meeting a little longer, so it would be more like 11:15 before we'd shoot. My hour was tight enough, but having that cut to 45 minutes made me just a little nervous.
11:15 comes and goes...
11:20 comes and goes...
Finally around 11:25, Derrick Hall and his head of marketing come out of the tunnel onto the field and meet us. I was down to just 35 minutes of shooting time.
My one saving grace was that Derrick is no stranger to posing for a camera and worked through poses like a professional model would have. We knocked out the dugout set in just a few minutes.
Moving onto my next set was easy. I wanted Derrick sitting in an empty section of the stands, about 15 rows above me, to show some depth. This was my natural light shot, so all that was involved with this one was me turning the other way and framing my shots. We blew through that set in about 5 minutes.
I gathered up my gear as quickly as I could and we went upstairs to the administrative offices for the Diamondbacks. I hadn't been able to scout this location, so I just had to come up with shots and two different looks on the spot since we'd have about 10 minutes here before our clock runs out. Luckily, in the same room, there were three very different looks available without me even needing to change my lighting. The first was Derrick in the Culture & Innovation Center, I went wide to show all the details of that space. Immediately to the right of that corner was a brick wall full of the team's World Series and Championship wins, so that was a whole separate look just by turning right. Lastly, between the awards on the wall and the bank of windows beside it was just enough blank space to shoot a few tight headshots of Derrick on a clean background for a fifth look.
I think I took my last frame at exactly 12pm, the editors and I thanked Derrick and his staff for their time, and he was off to resume his extremely busy schedule.
It was a whirlwind of a shoot, but it was a blast. Derrick was a true professional throughout, as well as humble and gracious. Chase Field is always one of my favorite places to shoot editorial pieces because of the sheer size and limitless options you have when photographing people there.
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