Hi Gang! I was just informed that the TOP TWO stories at www.wtatennis.com, the Official Website of the Women’s Tennis Association, feature photos I shot at the Family Circle Cup! I’m STOKED!!!
The top story right now is on Sabine Lisicki…former Champion of the tournament…one of my personal favorite players…and a winner in three sets today. The second story is about the Player Party at NV Lounge, a private VIP event for all the players, which I photographed on Sunday. Check it out when you get a chance! 🙂
Here’s a fun little time-lapse video showing my setup, the progression, and the resulting images from my photo shoot at the Box Seat VIP Reception for the Family Circle Cup. You’ll see Melanie Oudin, Sabine Lisicki, Samantha Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic, and Murphy Jensen. Enjoy!
Super Lawyers Magazine is a nationwide publication catering to the world of law. As their photographer for South Carolina, I enjoy photographing a number of interesting shoots each year. The other day I had the honor of photographing Gedney Howe. As lawyers go, Mr. Howe certainly needs no introduction…his reputation in the industry speaks for itself. A native of Charleston, Mr. Howe began practicing with his father in 1973 and has been focusing on representing plaintiffs in personal injury litigation as well as criminal defense litigation ever since.
My good friend and fellow photographer, David Strauss, assisted me on this shoot. All images were shot with the Nikon D3 and either the 14-24mm f2.8 or 24-70mm f2.8 lens. Lighting was provided by either 1 or 2 Nikon SB-800 strobes, on Bogen stands, with Westcott umbrellas, controlled by an on-camera SB-900 in commander mode, and triggered by my trusty Radio Poppers.
For fast, flexible, and portable lighting, I love reaching for my Nikon CLS kit. Last night I got to use it again at the Box Holder VIP Reception at the Daniel Island Club.
I set up two Bogen/Manfrotto light stands. Each was mounted with one of my custom 3-way umbrella brackets, with a Westcott 43″ collapsible shoot-through umbrella, and secured with a Boa Bag. I chose to use 2 SB-800 flashes on each this time. The main flash was plugged into the SD-8a battery pack, which I keep bolted to the lightstands. I also put a second flash on each. The reason for this was to increase my recycling time. I knew this was going to be a FAST PACED event. By using two flashes per stand, I was able to set the main one at 1/8th power and and the second one at 1/16th. If I’d only used one each, they would have been set around 1/4 power each. By doing it with a total of 4 flashes, I was getting recycling times of less than a second. Each remote flash was controlled by an SB-900, powered by an SD-9, shooting in Commander Mode on my D3. All the flashes were triggered by my trusty RadioPopper Px system.
Melanie Oudin, Samantha Stosur, Sabine Lisicki, Caroline Wozniacki, and Jelena Jankovic were some of the stars that made appearances and graciously posed for photos with guests. Murphy Jensen was in rare form as well, making everyone laugh with his great sense of humor. As I was shooting, a runner would periodically take my CF cards to the back where my good friend and fellow photographer, Doug Cunningham, was printing images and putting them on folders for guests to take home that evening. While I was photographing the setup shots, my good friend and fellow FCC photographer, Alice Keeney, was shooting candids. As always, we all had a GREAT time!
During the All Access Hour at the Family Circle Cup, I get to photograph the top seeds holding the tournaments official ball with our logo on it. The players arrived at 1pm…harsh, bright light outside…ew! So I positioned each player in the corner of the big white tent to give them some shade and to give me a nice low white surface to bounce a little fill off of. I over exposed the background a touch for a more natural, high-key look. Here’s Marion Bartoli with, and without. A touch of fill is a great solution for quick and dirty lighting!
This morning is pretty “yucky” out. Play is suspended. But yesterday was full of fun in the sun at the Family Circle Cup! Here are a few shots from the day. Enjoy!
(Murphy Jensen)
(Vania King)
(Family Circle Sponsor Tent)
(Vera Dushevina)
(Jelena Jankovic)
(Nadia Petrova)
(Caroline Wozniacki being interviewed during the All Access Media Hour)
(Signatures of the top eight seeds)
(Local favorite, Shelby Rodgers, lost a tough match to fellow American Jill Craybas)
(Sania Mirza)
(Alison Riske)
(Chanelle Scheepers)
(Chanelle Scheepers has a “moment”)
(Patty Schnyder)
(Chanelle Scheepers)
(Bethany Mattek-Sands is always a colorful character)
(Dr. J’s daughter, Alexandra Stevenson)
(Bethany Matteck-Sands plays with an explosive energy that I love)
Here are some candids from the party after everyone arrived. This was the first year at NV’s Lounge, which was REALLY cool! See how many players you can pick out and leave me a comment! 🙂 I’ll try to find time to caption the players you don’t find later if I get a chance. Enjoy!
After shooting the action all day, I headed down to NV’s Lounge where this year’s Family Circle Cup Player Party was held. Here’s how I normally set up to photograph the arrival of players and VIPs.
I set up two Bogen/Manfrotto lightstands with Boa Bagsto secure them. They each had one of my customized 3-way umbrella adapters, so I can easily attach 1,2, or 3 flashes, depending on power desired. Tonight I just needed one Nikon SB-800 per side. Each stand is also customized with an SD-8a bolted to it, which I plugged into each flash for faster recycling. I shot with one of the Nikon D3s using the Nikkor 24-70 f2.8 and an SB-900. All the flashes were triggered by my trusty RadioPoppers using the Nikon CLS system to make adjustments from the camera on the fly.
The qualifying rounds of the Family Circle Cup were full of great photo ops! Bookmark www.familycirclecup.com, www.wtatennis.com, and www.chrisandcami.com/blog. Check in often all week to see more stories, more drama, and of course…more of my photos…from the Best Tennis Town in America! 🙂
In spite of getting rained on half-way through the event, Mission Fest was a HUGE SUCCESS! And Pastor Randy’s Dunking Booth was a hit!
Thank you to everyone who came out to support this awesome cause. If you want to learn more about our C3 Mission Trip to Tanzania, watch a little video about the project, or give a donation…head over to http://www.c3charleston.com/mission-fest
Remember how UGLY Monday was?!? I had the pleasure of going out in that cold, drizzly, gray day to photograph the fabulous Komerska Family! And you know what? It was easily my favorite family session this year. I mean I had a BLAST with these folks! What a great family!!!
The Komerskas were down visiting Kiawah Island from Chicago. So they were used to this weather! They’ve been coming down on vacation for 10 years together. When I called to see if they still wanted to do the shoot, they said ABSOLUTELY! The funny thing is, I love the high-key look of the foggy background. It really makes the family stand out! So I’m taking away a lesson from all this…ugly days make for GREAT portraits!!!
While I was at the Family Circle Cup tennis center yesterday, I enjoyed walking around and seeing some of my photos on display. Obviously these aren’t all mine. Since I’ve only been one of the official photographer for the past 7 or 8 years, I wasn’t shooting when Chris Evert won it, for example. But most of the more recent ones are shots I made. Anyway, it’s quite an honor, and a very humbling experience, to realize I’ve been a part of preserving the rich history of women’s professional tennis. How blessed am I to be a small part of this great tournament?!?
