Ben Hicks Boca Raton Photography + Design + Marketing

2012-01-11T17:08:00.004-05:00

Update Jan 2012.....

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How I got the shot: Double Page spread in Sports Illustrated Dec 2011 Noah Flegal 900 spin

2011-12-01T22:47:00.001-05:00

This past summer, I had just heard that Noah Flegal had just landed his first ever 900 and then did it in competition, making him the youngest ever to do so on a wakeboard at 13. With that feat, I knew this kid needed some exposure as no one down here was covering him. I scheduled a shoot with his awesome mom and we shot away. The best part was going to pick him and his posse up at their house early....7 am. Yeah, they werent real awake yet. " Ben, here's $20, can you stop by McDonalds and pick them up some breakfast, his mom said." And so the day began! My main goal was to somehow cover the 900 along with his impressive aerial arsenal. Shooting from the tube first with a Canon 1d mark 3, Tokina 10-17 fisheye at 12mm about 5 feet infront of him got a few shots in the bag to start the day. We then shot the rest from the boat when I was too beat to get pounded on the tube anymore. Thats when I told the driver.... 14 year old Merrette Fay, who is Noah's awesome filmer... to keeping doing double ups at the far end, where the sun would be hitting Noah in a front lit array. I positioned myself to the center of the boat with my Canon Mark 3 with a Canon 70-200 L 2.8 IS set on Manual focus at the center of the end of the rope when he crossed the middle. I also set it at 5.6. This way when I shot the sequence the focus would not change trying to track him and I would also be able to keep him in focus on the far left and right of the frames. I aimed so that I had the far left of the landing covered and the far right of the take off. As soon as he hit the takeoff I held the shutter button down and let the motor drive fire away! After what I remember the third try, he nailed it and we got the shot. I then took the 15+ shots and layered them in photoshop on top of one another on a 12 x 18 inch 300 dpi blank doc and started the process of erasing what was needed and what wasnt, through transparency, and masking techniques. His mom, with all her awesome support really pushed all the sponsors on all the shots especially this one in many markets. This led to his nomination of the SI Kids Sportskid of the year and eventually his win and amazing accomplishment. Sports Illustrated contacted me about wanting to use the photo in their opening spread on him and the rest was history.

A little pulse and a little barrel in Palm Beach....

2011-11-15T10:42:00.001-05:00

Last week the South Florida surfing community got another suggestion that the start of this winter is gonna be another good one as we got a little pulse. Here is a shot ran on Surfline.com of Local ripper Tanner Strohmenger getting some tube time in. Check it out here:

A few shots from the the Superhero Scramble.....

2011-11-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

A local sprint adventure race held at Quiet Waters Park, provided an excellent opportunity to get some nutty people putting themselves into painful situations.

Cast Iron Cross Fit Marketing images for there Ad Agency

2011-11-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of the many shots we got for Cast Iron Cross Fit out of West Palm Beach, FL for there winter marking Campaign. We shot during an actual workout with raw lighting and the grunge/garage look.

Logo Design for Just for Stocks.com

2011-11-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a logo we created as part of the branding campaign for Just for Stocks.com.

Recent samples from some Nature shoots

2011-11-04T09:46:00.000-04:00

Shot in various locations in South Florida you just might recognize. For purchasing information and a selection of my fine art prints got to www.benjhicks.com

Bike America / Florida Panthers ad

2011-10-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

Here is one of the many pieces of ad work we do for Bike America throughout the year. This was a simple ad in the Florida Panthers Growl Magazine as part of Bike America's support of the Florida Panthers team and organization.

Tri-Fold Brochure for Island Water Sports

2011-10-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

Recently we created a Tri-Fold Brochure for Island Water Sports representing their entire audience to kick off the winter 2011-12 season. These are flattened versions.

Recent Wedding shot in Boynton Beach, FL

2011-10-20T09:58:00.000-04:00

Recently I shot a wedding in Windy blustery south florida.

No name storm images on Surfline.com and ESM

2011-10-14T09:42:00.000-04:00

No name storm images on Surfline.com as Matt Oberman and I score a session to ourselves...

A weird system formed near Florida and threw some waves our way along with a bunch of confused surfers on where to surf. Oberman and I found the spot while everyone else drove right past it..... A couple shots published on Surfline.com, check it here and Easternsurf.com, check it here.

Vote for Noah Flegel for Sports Illustrated Kid of The Year

2011-10-04T14:29:00.002-04:00

Check out local superkid Noah Flegel, whom I shoot and VOTE for him! He is up for Sports Illustrated Kid of the Year!

Hi,

Noah Flegel has been selected as one of the 10 semi-finalists from a nationwide search for the Sports Illustrated Kid of the Year. We need your votes and everyone you know to vote for Noah on SIkids.com/skoty from October 7 to the 17th. You can vote as many times as you want, so please do so as much as humanly possible!

We are so excited to promote wakeboarding and surfing with a super successful local Florida athlete! Please help support him via all media. TV, Newspaper, Radio, Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, Online, and word of mouth.

(Ben Hicks Photography 561-558-7895)

If Noah wins he will be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Kids, as well as media coverage including national TV interviews.

Listed below are some of the highlights of Noah's last year of competition.

2 Wakeboarding World Championships won this summer.The IWWF World Champion in Milan Italy in the 14 and under division
The WWA World Champion in the 14-18 Jr. Men Division

The WWA Wakeboard National Champion for the Jr. Men Division 14-18 years old.

3rd Place in Pro Men Division at World Wakesurf Championships
1st Place Trophy at the NSSA Surf Contest in Melbourne, FL 1st Place at ESA Surf contest in Lake Worth, FL

Fundraising for Orphanage of El Tunco, El SalvadorFeeding over 70 homeless people at a shelterMaintained a 3.5 GPA at the North Broward Preparatory School

Hurricane Katia: How I got the shot. Brian Noel, Sebastian Inlet, FL run on ESM.com

2011-09-20T14:56:00.001-04:00

Photo: by Shane Leon

The shot above really shows how a fisheye lens can really distort wave size and make things look a lot different than shooting other angles. The top photo was ran in ESM as a feature on Hurricane Katia along with the ones below. Brian Noel, Tanner Strohmenger, Matt Oberman, Cheyne Cottrell and I traveled up to Sebastian Inlet very early in anticipation of the rising swell of Hurricane Katia. Upon arriving at the beach we were pretty disappointed with the dismal conditions and nearly drove back home. Instead we made the most of it and I went out for a swim with the crew. Only to find out that the moon jellies infestation was in full effect and all of us were itching within minutes. I had to get creative and told Tanner and Brian to pull in on the inside bowls. My friend Shane Leon, caught a shot at the same time of the shot published above, so you can really see how it went down and how tiny the waves were. Shot with a Canon Mark 3, Tokina 10-17 mm lens inside an Aquatech DV4 housing and LP1 port, 1/1000 sec f10 manual focus, ISO400. Good work Brian!

Cover shot - The Home Mag

2011-09-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

Another cover photo for Coastal Screen and Rail.

Stock Publisher brand logo

2011-09-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

We recently finished the face of Stock Publisher.

Interior Architecture for Castle Tile and Marble

2011-09-07T10:23:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of the many shots we have done for Castle Tile and Marble.

Product shots: Butterflies from around the world

2011-09-05T07:20:00.000-04:00

I was recently asked to shoot an entire product line for a small company that imports butterflies from around the world. Encased by a clear acrylic box and meticulously arranged and mounted to perfection, each box is an art piece in itself. Here are couple of the different butterflies that were shot from the 130 versions.

This weeks published images on Hurricane Irene...

2011-09-01T09:28:00.002-04:00

Here are some shots from Hurricane Irene that have been published so far. Cheyne Cottrell, Tanner Strohmenger and Matt Oberman. They can be found on ESPN.com, Surfline.com and Easternsurf.com

Fanatic 2012 Ad images

2011-08-28T16:52:00.002-04:00

Here are a bunch of images appearing throughout the Fantatic Stand Up Paddle Board line to advertise their new 2012 board line up. Appearing in catalogs and online..... You can view their site here... http://www.fanatic-sup.com/content/index_eng.html

Indonesia - A phototrip on the other side of the world

2011-08-25T16:29:00.000-04:00

The month of August in 2011 was filled with adventure, from scootering hundreds of miles to swimming many miles shooting in huge waves, my adrenaline rush was served up on a silver platter! Here are some shots from an amazing trip!

Engagment Photos... in Indonesia!

2011-08-17T10:57:00.002-04:00

My friends Matt and Jasmine recently got engaged and while I was traveling with them to shoot Matt surfing in Indonesia, Jasmine was keen to grab me on a day off to get some engagement shots. Here are a handful....

Photo shoot with the dominating Flegel Brothers. Noah - Current Junior World Wakeboarding Champ and Keenan - Current World Wakesurfing Champ

2011-08-12T18:06:00.000-04:00

Photo shoot with the dominating Flegel Brothers. Noah - Current Junior World Wakeboarding Champ and Keenan - Current World Wakesurfing Champ. Including Noah's 900, the youngest ever to complete the move.

The Resolvers!

2011-08-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

A few shots from a recent concert with the Resolvers in Delray Beach, FL

Eastern Surfing Magazine Contents page shot of Matt Oberman

2011-08-04T16:54:00.004-04:00

After a lot of hard work charging some big waves in Nicaragua, Matt and I link up to get one in ESM this month. Congrats Matt!

A couple shots published from Tropical Storm Brett

2011-08-01T16:43:00.001-04:00

A tropical storm Brett provided the surf starved community throughout the East coast, I headed up the coast a bit to shoot with Tanner Strohmenger and Ryan Heavyside. These two shots were ran recently on Easternsurf.com