On Top of the World with Messi.
Thanks for finding me yet again after another, and hopefully final move of my blog and website. Special thanks to my amazing wife Kari for the redesign, and for my friends Grover and Allen over at Photoshelter for the integration of my archives.
Trust me when I say that I haven’t been slacking over the past month, despite the absence of posts.
There is so much for me to catch you up on. (And yes, that’s me, the former English major ending with a proposition, but really, these days a sentence reading “There is so much upon which to catch” is even more awkward, isn’t it?)
Is there a rule against starting three straight sentences with the letter “t”?
Many of you pointed out to me how cool my job can be after witnessing the midair refueling of a jet fighter over the Pacific Ocean. If you’re a soccer fan at all, the photo shoot I’m going to share with you might even be cooler.
The shoot came about in a cryptic phone call from Suzanne Lavender, the awesome director of corporate communication for the Sounders and Seahawks. Would I be available for a quick shoot at the Space Needle? Had to be low-key, because it would attract attention from the media and the public, and while that was the goal, all parties involved wanted the shoot to be quiet until the photos were taken.
Sounds good to me. FC Barcelona was in town to face the Seattle Sounders FC in an international friendly, so I assumed it had to do with Barcelona. Then I found it not only involved Barcelona, it involved Lionel Messi. Not only did involve Lionel Messi, it involved Messi on TOP of the Space Needle.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Messi, he’s currently regarded as the best player in the world right now. Need proof? Check out this video. Need more? Search “Messi” on YouTube.
Met Suzanne and my now-good-friend Gabe Gabor at the base of the Needle at the appointed time. Gabe is this awesome PR man from Miami, who is multilingual and is a “get things done” kind of guy. He’s working with FC Barcelona on their international tour, so he’s also a little freaked out. To put it in perspective, to the rest of the world, FC Barcelona’s soccer team as popular as the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era, the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys. They do EVERYTHING big. And they want to do it perfect. Gabe is feeling the pressure.
So the first thing Gabe says to me as he hops out of a still moving car, is, “We are NOT going to f*ck this up, right?”
Uh, no?
Looks at me. “You up for this? We gotta be PERFECT!”.
Okay, I get it. Best soccer player in the world. Top of the Space Needle. Let’s go.
Messi and his handlers aren’t due for 45 minutes. Gabe wants to make sure everything is in order. Security, path, sightlines, photo angles. There will also be a helicopter circling shooting as well.
We start to discuss the shoot when it becomes clear to me — Gabe thinks we are only going to the Observation Deck of the Needle. I am under the impression we are going to the TOP of the Needle — somewhere people rarely get to venture.
I tell him, hey, aren’t we taking Messi to the top? Yeah, he replies. To the Observation Deck. That aint’ the top, I tell him. I think we’re going to the roof.
Dave Mandapat, marketing director for the Space Needle arrives and says, yes, we’re going to the top. Gabe is more than a little freaked out. Needs to scout it.
Up the elevator we go to the Observation Deck. Through a back door and up a steep metal ladder. Tight turn, then another ladder. Gabe is behind me, muttering, “No way, man. No way. Do you who this guy IS?”
Through a trap door and we are on the square roof of the Space Needle, right below the spire. The city spreads out before us. There is an inner railing around the trap door, then another outer railing. I skip through the inner railing to check out the photo possiblities. Gabe is clinging to the inner railing.
It will be perfect for Messi, I tell him. The light is a little hazy, but it will work. They’d planned to have him juggle a soccer ball, but it is a bit gusty, and no one wants a ball falling from the top of the Needle onto the ground below. Even if it was last touched by the best soccer player on earth.
So it’s a go. Gabe warns, “now if Messi says no, it’s a no!”
Dude. It’s Lionel Messi. He’s 5′6″ of badass who battles through huge defenders for a living. He won’t be scared.
Messi shows up, and we head up the elevator.
FC Barcelona has brought their photographer, and we have a video guy as well. Messi doesn’t blink an eye headed up the ladders. I go first, so that when we emerge from the trapdoor, I can go to the outer railing and he will follow.
He’s not nervous at all. Leans on the outer railing and starts taking pictures with his cell phone. Total badass. Everyone else but me and him are near the inner rail.
We’re waiting for the helicopter to arrive from Boeing Field, but it’s delayed. Gabe is asking, “what could the hold up be?”. Oh, some small group of pilots named the BLUE ANGELS is waiting to take off first (they’d been in town for Seafair).
Meanwhile, Messi chills. He could be sitting anywhere — his living room at home, another hotel suite, the team room at Camp Nou. Only he’s on top of Seattle, most of this soccer-rabid city unaware he’s perched on the city’s most-recognizable landmark.
Helicopter shows up. Messi holds up commemorative scarf like we’ve shown him. He walks the outside of the roof, making a circle for the helicopter while we hide behind the base of the spire so as not to get in the shot.
It works out great. Easy pictures to shoot because, hey, it’s Messi, and you’re on top of the Space Needle.
We head down to the Observation Deck for some more photos. Dribbling, juggling, the works.
By now, the crowd knows someone important is around. How fast they figured it out was Messi is beyond me, but by the time we get down there (about 15 minutes, tops), there are hundreds of fans with jerseys, scarfs, posters and cameras waiting for a glimpse of him.
Back down the elevator and Messi hops into a waiting Suburban, back to their hotel. He’s been at the Space Needle less than 30 minutes.
Gabe is finally relaxing.
The photos get released to the media. My former colleagues at the Seattle Times initially don’t want the photos. “Who is this guy?” they ask.
Meanwhile, the photos are a hit worldwide. Clips start coming in from everywhere.
Best part? While we were up waiting for the helicopter, FC Barcelona’s photographer grabs a shot of me with Messi.
Two little guys on top of the world.
Sounders FC: Another colorful match.
Seattle soccer fans saw bright blue skies on Saturday, Sounders players only saw the black of Chicago keeper Jon Busch's jersey, and Freddie Ljungberg saw red, courtesy of referee Baldomero Toledo.
Sounders FC played to a 0-0 (that's "nil-nil" to those of you in the know) draw with the Chicago Fire at Qwest Field, despite having multiple chances to score.
Before the game, I saw some kids with great painted faces. They were in the shade of the tunnel where the players enter the field, and the open shade made for a soft light.
Check out this dude's ears — how about that contrast from the paint?
(Nikon D3, VR 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 180mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f2.8)
Love this guy's face — eyes, teeth, smile, paint.
(Nikon D3, VR 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 150mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f2.8)
One of my duties for the team is to document pregame. This procession of players in the starting lineup walking with local kids is always fun.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f4.0)
At midfield, captains C.J. Brown of Chicago and Kasey Keller of Seattle met for the coin flip with referee Baldomero Toledo.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/250th sec.,f4.0)
Seattle controlled much of the pace of play in the first half, and only great stops by Chicago keeper Jon Busch kept the Sounders from scoring.
Busch denied Fredy Montero along the right side of the net.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 290mm, ISO 500, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
On a corner kick, one of eight for Seattle, Busch came out and leapt among the big bodies of Chicago's C.J. Brown and Seattle's Nate Jaqua.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 310mm, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
Later in the first half, Jaqua fired point blank, only to have Busch make the stop on the left side.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 300mm, ISO 500, 1/250th sec.,f4.0)
Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco's free kick in the second half hit a wall of Sounders, denying the Fire a chance.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 300mm, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
Tempers flared through out the match because of rough play. With Chicago playing a man down due to a red card issued to John Thorrington, Seattle looked to have an advantage. However, that advantage was quickly negated when Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg was issued a yellow card for "simulation" (i.e. "flopping"), which was quickly followed by another yellow for "dissention" (i.e. "arguing"). Love how polite the language is, don't you?
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 290mm, ISO 500, 1/2000th sec.,f4.0)
Ljungberg's ejection left both teams with ten men, and he left to a mixture of cheers and jeers.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 35mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f4.0)
Seattle had more chances in the second half, but couldn't break through. Fredy Montero hit the corner of the post with a shot and Nate Jaqua had another great chance in the second half. After getting by Chicago's keeper Busch, Jaqua had the ball knocked away by another defender before Jaqua could put it home.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4 lens @ 220mm, ISO 200, 1/1600th sec.,f4.0)
A tough draw for Seattle, but they maintain second place in the west. Players and fans alike were frustrated by the draw — missed goal opportunities and the red card for Ljungberg dulled what otherwise was a beautiful afternoon at Qwest Field.
On Assignment: Portait of Fred Beckey.
Here’s a recent assignment I shot for a newspaper client on the East Coast.
The subject was famed climber Fred Beckey, who turned 86 years old this past week.
Pretty straightforward assignment as these things go — meet the subject at his home and make a portrait.
From the email detailing the shoot from the photo editor:
“We’ll need a great environmental portrait. Something really strong…maybe a close up of his face (weathered?) or hands. This could be nice. Can you light it? “
Like I said, pretty straightforward.
Immediately I’m thinking about shooting him climbing at one of the local rocks around Seattle or at an indoor climbing gym.
As always seems to happen (and you editorial photographers out there have all experienced this), the subject has already gone to the climbing gym with the reporter, and they didn’t make the assignment until after the reporter was done.
Nice.
Mr. Beckey is busy preparing to go to Europe and he doesn’t have time to climb or go to the gym, so we’ll meet at his home.
He lives in a very standard split-level home in North Seattle. Small rooms, no real space to set up a good lit portrait. Some of his photos hang on the wall, but the rooms are crowded and tight.
I do the standard walk around his home, feeling that familiar sense of panic set in — there’s no good place to shoot, there’s no good backgrounds, I’m totally screwed…etc.
In my pre-assignment brainstorming (which we all do, some of us write things down, some of us just obsess over the possibilities), I did make a mental note of getting some of his climbing gear into a shot. Beckey has been climbing for the better part of six decades, so I figure if climbers are anything like photographers, he’s got to have a ton of gear lying around somewhere.
So I ask him about his gear. Tells me there’s much of it down in the garage, but that it’s a mess.
We walk down there, and it’s a treasure trove of climbing gear, just as I’d imagined.
Now, where to put him?
I spot some ropes and axes and other tools hanging on a wall. There’s even kind of a natural space for where his head could be if I shot it from the right angle.
I snap a quick shot of the wall and can see that it will work.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 66mm, ISO 2000, 1/100th sec.,f4.0)
What about the light? It’s flat.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 32mm, ISO 2000, 1/80th sec.,f2.8)
We open the garage door and voila, there’s the light. Streaming in from one side if I pose him correctly. It’s a large and soft light source, one that I could duplicate with strobes, but why?
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 70mm-200/f2.8 lens @ 102mm, ISO 2000, 1/100th sec.,f4.0)
Now that I’ve established the background, the light and the composition, it’s time to work on the most important part of the portrait — the position of the subject and what we can share about him in the final image.
I decide that I want him close to the wall of equipment — I want the viewer to know it’s climbing gear.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 32mm, ISO 2000, 1/125th sec.,f2.8)
With this image we have established the following about Fred Beckey — he’s well-lived, he’s an adventurer and we’ve done it in a distinguished manner. It’s a fairly strong portrait and it conveys the basics of what we know about him.
Moving on, I try to work in a piece of equipment as a prop. The ax I find beneath some bags of gear is fitting. It’s decades old, it’s rough and it’s sharp. Just like Mr. Beckey.
I shoot a couple of frames loose. I’ve brought him away from the background of gear now. Because he has the ax in his hands, we don’t need to see the detail of the gear behind him. It will distract. I shoot a little longer, at 70mm, and wide open at f2.8 so I can control the depth of field. I want the background to blur away.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 2000, 1/320th sec.,f2.8)
From here, I shoot tight details. The photo editor suggested maybe tight shots of the hands that have conquered so many peaks. I use the sharp features of the ax as a contrast to Beckey’s weathered, yet soft hands.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 2000, 1/100th sec.,f4.0)
We move from a tight shot of his hands to one that incorporates his face as well.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 2000, 1/100th sec.,f4.0)
To wrap up, I shoot a tight frame of his face.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 170mm, ISO 2000, 1/200th sec.,f4.0)
The soft light wraps around him and falls into every weathered crease in his face. Beckey manages a crooked smile for me but the thing I think the viewer notice first is the life in his eyes.
Portrait assignments can be challenging, especially for me. But I try to remember that each photo I take needs to tell a story. The light and the composition give the viewer a frame of reference to Fred Beckey, but his face and hands tell the story of a man who has “bagged” many many peaks all over the world. And at 86, he shows no signs of stopping.