August 03, 2007 - UH Warrior quarterback Colt Brennan for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 50mm f1.4, Manual, 1/250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

University of Hawaii football starts play this weekend, and that means it’s time for another episode of the football preview magazine saga.

This is the third magazine the Star-Bulletin produced for which I was responsible for the photo shoots. I got involved a few years back with the QB and Warrior 3D magazines.

Previous magazines I’ve shot

This year I was again tapped to shoot the photos for the player profiles as well as something for the cover.

I met with the magazine’s designer Michael Rovner and photo editor George Lee back in July to find out what the game plan was.

The theme was going to be a pseudo-Consumer Reports type deal, and the pictures needed to be clean and relatively simple. After looking at some mock-ups of the magazine, I started thinking how I would approach shooting it. It looked like a simple white backdrop and a couple of lights is all I would really need.

I prefer the less-is-more approach, and decided I wouldn’t need anymore light than I normally use, or perhaps a few more strobes to get the background really white.

George secured a day for us to go to UH and shoot all the players in one fell swoop. It would be kind of an assembly line deal, since the players were coming in on their lunch break, and I didn’t think they’d be in the mood to sit through some photo shoot.

So Mike and I drove up to Hale Aloha cafeteria and set up about an hour before the players would arrive. I brought a roll of white paper and a bevy of 580 strobes just in case.

We had no idea where in the cafeteria we’d be, but were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a large room we could use. Lots of space, and the ambient light (basically dim fluorescent light) was easily controlled. I set up two umbrellas on stands equidistant from each other, and taped a couple of strips of white paper to the wall (which was an off-white color).

August 14, 2007 - Michael Rovner, assistant editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin stands where the football players would for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm (at 10mm), Manual, 1/250 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

I was worried that the background might not be lit enough and had brought a couple of extra strobes borrowed from Jamm Aquino, but it turned out there was enough spill from the umbrellas that they weren’t needed.

Mike knew essentially what kinds of poses and pictures he needed, so as the players came in, we put on their pads and uniform, and ran them through a series of poses, looking left, right, looking tough… whatever. They were all really nice guys and were great to work with.

August 03, 2007 - UH Warrior WR Davone Bess for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 50mm f1.4, Manual, 1/250 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

A few players couldn’t make it that first day, so we had to return a week later to get them. I drew a quick diagram of the set up, noting exposure, ISO and all that, so it would be easy to replicate what I had shot already for seamless continuity.

For the most part everything went smoothly, and we got the look we had wanted for the photos.

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