Knowing this before hand, ESPN The Magazine Sr. Deputy Photo Editor Nancy Weisman and I talked about what we wanted out of the shoot and I came back with these very crudely drawn “mock ups.”

Obviously the finished product is slightly different, but there is something very gratifying about bringing a doodle that I outlined in photoshop to life.

We arrived at the Indiana Pacers practice facility and started to go over the shot lists. On top of the cover photo we knew we needed at least 2 more photos for the inside feature spread and one more in the TOC (table of contents).

The problem was we had barely 30 minutes to pull this off. Now, 30 minutes might seem like all the time in the world but if something goes wrong and you cannot fix it immediately this eats away at your time pretty quickly. So preparation is key!

To be prepared, I had 3 assistants to help me position lights and equipment around in addition to this we had backups ready to go incase something happened to one of the other lights or cameras during the shoot.

I also didn’t make this easy on myself, I chose to shoot with a 1 frame per second Phase One IQ140 medium format instead of my quick focusing and firing Nikon D800E. I did this because I love the way the images look straight out of the camera and I feel I have to do a lot less color fixes, especially on skin tones with these images.

The lighting for the cover shot was 1 medium octobank set very high and overhead to provide light for his face.

Then I used a large umbrella facing straight at his chest for fill on camera left and a medium soft box under the backboard and a little off camera right for fill on the right.

I then placed 5 lights with reflectors around the outer edge of the court to give light to the floor and add the “hotspots” at the top of the court.

The light on the left side of his face and body was provided by the reflector on the outside corner being brighter than the other 4 court lights.

Photo by Jess Clark

We took about 20 minutes of our time perfecting the cover shot. This involved me framing and pre focusing while standing on the back of the backboard and and directing Paul and my assistance for light changes. The hardest part about being up on the edge of the backboard wasn’t that a 6ft 10inch 220LB professional athlete jumping at you, it was not being able to see the screen after so I had to rely a lot on my digital tech to let me know if things where tack sharp.

Photo by Jess Clark

After we wrapped up the cover, we immediately moved over to the middle of the court for a few variations for the opener and then moved again to the gyms matted wall for a quick personality portrait.

I love shoots like these. They make me have to think on my feet very quickly to come up with interesting photos and to fix possible problems with lighting, framing, or anything else that may go wrong. You don’t have time to overthink anything and I feels great to come back with some nice images after.

ESPN Dustin from Alex Glass on Vimeo.

(Dustin Snipes)

(Dustin Snipes)

But there was only one problem: the date of the shoot was right around the same time that my wife and I were expecting our first child.

So fast forward to two days before the shoot and our son Calvin decides he’s ready to be born, so I had to call Muscle & Fitness photo editor Tony Nolan and tell him I might not be able to make it to the shoot. He, being the very understanding person that he is, kept me on as the photographer, and we waited it out for a few hours until we knew more.

Luckily Calvin was born just in time on July 29th, close to midnight.

[FUN FACT: Just one more hour and Calvin would have shared a birthday with Arnold. Weird.]

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger being photographed by portrait photographer Dustin Snipes

I gave Muscle & Fitness the good news in the morning and the shoot was still on. I showed up to Iron Fitness in Santa Monica July 31st a little tired from not sleeping much the nights before but also very excited to be photographing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the gym for the first time in decades! The pressure was definitely on, but I had some great assistants and great direction from the editors.

When Arnold walked into the room for the first time it felt like everyone else started to move in slow motion. I heard weights crash to the ground and then heads all around the gym quickly started turning and muttering. (I’m guessing this isn’t where he usually works out.)

Shawn picked me out of the crowd and quickly introduced me to Arnold before he was taken into his speedy five minutes of hair and make-up.

My first reaction as I walked up to Arnold was, this man is the Terminator…also he’s very large.

I was pretty starstruck but somehow I managed to get out of my mouth, “It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Schwarzenegger,” and if he hadn’t replied in the same way immediately following my introduction, the next words out of my mouth would have probably been “Get to the CHOPPA!” But luckily I was able to refrain.

Arnold came back quickly, ready to go after changing into a plain black shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots for the shoot and lined up on his mark for our first shot.

From the moment he started to pose and flex, everyone around seemed to be in awe that this guy just turned 66 the day before. His chest and arms were much bigger and more defined than photos of him from the past few years. As the cover of MF says, he was definitely “back.”

We started shooting away, not wasting any time except to stop after a few shots or so to evaluate how things were looking and to adjust light modifiers when needed. We changed up the poses slightly, focusing primarily on his arms so we could show the world that this guy’s still got it.

After a good 15 or so minutes of shooting on the 9-foot white background we had set up in the middle of the gym, we took a final look at the computer, and Arnold gave his seal of approval and we moved on.

We didn’t have much time total with him, so three assistants and I moved quickly to set up the next shot at the arm curl station near a large, open roll-up door with light streaming in. We initially started setting up four lights around the gym to light different aspects of him and the weights, but Arnold reminded Shawn and me of some of his favorite photos from his competition days; they were shot with all natural light. Unfortunately in this gym we needed a little more than natural light because even with the large, open door it was just too dark for what we needed. I added a fill light on very low power and a light aimed at the ceiling to give a natural ambient light look to the lighting.

After the last workout shot, Shawn and I wanted to do one more before Arnold had to go. I remembered there was a yoga/dance studio with a great brick wall we could use as a background. We got in the room and opened up a door in the corner just as Arnold came in. He immediately leaned into a pose against the brick wall and within a few minutes of snapping photos the shoot was over as Arnold exclaimed, “We did it again!”

It was a fantastic experience to photograph one of my cinema heroes, and the fact that he was also one of the nicest guys and even went so far as to give me advice on being a father was more than enough to put him on the top of my list of favorite people I have ever photographed.

Also, the whole time I kept thinking to myself, “Do I, or do I not want him to call me a girly man?”

Behind-the-scenes photos by Jess Clark

Now on to the geeky stuff!

LIGHTING:

Camera for Cover:

• Phase One IQ140
• 80mm 2.8 Leaf Shutter lens
• Custom SLR M-Plate
• Broncolor Remote

Cover Light Set up:

• 1 Broncolor Para 88 – main light (camera right)
• 1 Broncolor 75 Octabank – fill light (camera left)
• 2 MobiLED light heads with 1 Broncolor Move 1200 L pack
• 1 Paul C Buff 86” PLM Umbrella – Overall fill (directly behind the camera)
• einstein 640
• 2 Large strip boxes with grids (over his right and left shoulders)
• einstein 640
• 4 Silver Umbrellas (lighting the white background)
• 4 einstein 640

Camera for other shots:

• Nikon D800E
• Custom SLR C-Loop with Glide Strap
• Nikon 24-70 2.8
• Nikon 85 1.4
• Pocket Wizard

Tether Station

• 15 inch Macbook Pro Retina
• Aero Tether Table
• Firewire 800

Here is a 15 second teaser video Alex Glass made of a photoshoot with Olympic Hurdler David Oliver.

Photo caption: Olympic hurdler David Oliver looks at a shot from the photoshoot as Chris Garrison (left), photographer Dustin Snipes (the small guy in the middle) and assistant Patrick Cain (the only guy willing to wear flannel in FL) huddle around for a closer look.

The full video will be coming soon!

Photo by Alex Glass 

Behind the scenes camera work by @p_c_designs

Steve Smith Workout

Over a year ago I was working with a great high school athlete and his trainer. The trainer mentioned to me that he and Steve Smith (NY Giants) do a beach workout from time to time. This sounded cool. Unfortunately it’s tough for photographers to directly pitch editorial departments on story ideas. Fortunately my friend writes for ESPN The Magazine. I mention it to him, he mentions it to his editor and presto, another shoot. Takeaway lesson: always keep ears open for other jobs.

So the premise is simple: Steve Smith, a wide receiver for the New York Giants and USC alumni, returns home in the off season and works out every-so-often on the beach. The workout activates and strengthens muscles that I presume I don’t have.

We (me, my assistant, the reporter and the video crew) show up early for the morning shoot. Not too long after his trainer shows up. By this point there were some thick, ominous clouds, which would definitely help with lighting. However, this is a typical Southern Californian morning so they will quickly cook off leaving me with just a blue sky and a harsh direct sunlight. I was praying we’d get this in before the clouds leave.

Once Smith arrives we all get formally introduced. The athletes then disrobe to their spandex-like padded underwear and jump in the water. Here’s where life gets tricky.

I needed to set up lights. I also heard somewhere by some wise person that water and electricity don’t mix well, leaving the powering of aforementioned lights to be, umm, challenging. With an extension cord that traced back to my battery packs I had my assistant stand in shin-high in the ocean holding the extension cord over his head, as to give the greatest distance away from the water. Like I said, this is where it gets tricky.

The shot I settle on is Smith doing lunges with a barbell over his shoulders in water that is, maybe, knee high. At this point I’ve given up on any dreams of staying dry. I’m shooting in a crouched position protecting my camera and lens as best I can from the waves. And I did a good job, or so I thought. Apparently I was wrong and some sand got in the lens, forcing me to have to get it repaired. The repair cost a couple hundred bucks. Ugh.

Here are some other photos from the shoot.

Here is the Lighting set up:

Pretty straight forward. Two lights, one either acting as a fill light or a rim light depending on the photo and 1  large octobox for the main light.

I was very happy with how the shots turned out on this shoot. Robert was a real class act to work with and even told me about Sand Dune Park! Where he works out…along with a bunch of other athletes including Kobe Bryant. You might remember that guy from the NBA Championship he just won. Alas, I did not take a portraits (or even see him) on this shoot.

The first photo was at Sand Dune Park in Manhattan Beach CA. When you first step up to it, it looks simple but I was surely winded after just walking (at a fast pace) up the hill to a little over the half way point and I was training for a marathon!

I used one light with an octabank (held by my assistant Jake) with a battery pack. It was on full power to over power the ambient and make the clouds look dark and stormy.

My assistant Kicked sand in the front and I throw it to the back. We only did a few before it turned out like this. He is actually standing still and posing.

Model: NIKON D700
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Lens (mm): 15
ISO: 200
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter: 1/250

This is what the hill looked like. Had tons of people on it and It was VERY sandy as you would expect. My assistant Jake looks very displeased with the amount of sand in his shoes.

I also dump out enough sand to fill a childs sandbox after getting done with the shoot.

This shot was naturally lit! GASP! I used the light coming through the upper windows and set my white balance to 10k.

Model: NIKON D700
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Lens (mm): 48
ISO: 250
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/640

Two side lights with strip boxes and large octobank in the front.

Model: NIKON D700
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 125
Aperture: 11
Shutter: 1/200

Two lights with strip boxes pointed in towards him for each side. I shot this on a dark grey background with no light hitting it. So it turned black.

Model: NIKON D700
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 125
Aperture: 9
Shutter: 1/250

A set up shot. Dark Grey back ground.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here are some photos.

Model: NIKON D3
Serial #:
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Frame #:
Lens (mm): 56
ISO: 250
Aperture: 10
Shutter: 1/250
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Manual

Lighting: Two hard side lights, one front light with a 20 degree grid slightly under so his glove casts a shadow on his face.

Model: NIKON D3
Serial #:
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
Frame #:
Lens (mm): 34
ISO: 250
Aperture: 8
Shutter: 1/160

Lighting
One light, with only a reflector hand held by my assistant straight in front of him.

Model: NIKON D3
Serial #:
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh
Frame #:
Lens (mm): 24
ISO: 100
Aperture: 10
Shutter: 1/320

I used hard side light by using two strip boxes but I took off the diffuser in the front for a higher output. Also, my assistant (Ric Tapia) is holding the light up towards him so its gets under his hat.

Thanks for looking! I will should have another one pretty soon. I promise.

These are not all of them, just some ones I had in front of me.

I always planned on sharing it with everyone but just haven’t had time to put anything together until now. Recently, I was asked to do a guest post for Scott Kelby’s blog and thought, “What better way to share this Photoshop tip with everyone than on Mr. Photoshop himself’s blog, Scott Kelby?” I was pretty giddy, to say the least.

It’s actually a pretty simple process that has a few steps to get this “look” (and its not LucasArts or HDR:)).

I wanted to make sure everyone who reads my blog also got to check it out as well.

Here goes:
There is one thing you must promise me–and yourself–before reading this post. Repeat (or read) after me:

“I, (state your name, or clever web user ID) will not overuse this technique on EVERY photo I take. I will only use it in moderation.”

Good, now that we got that out of the way, I just want to say that I don’t have an action made, nor do I think you should make one with this style of post processing. It all has to be about feel and knowing when you have gone too far or when to go further. It all varies depending on the scene and lighting. On this session of portraits, I went further than I normally would because that is what the client needed.

Step one: Lighting

To get a hard look, you have to have a hard light. I started with a three-light setup for most shots: Two back lights set at full power (Alien Bees Ab800) behind the subject, hitting the sides of their faces, and one in the front at a lower power with a small softbox. I added a fill light and background light when needed. See setups here.

This light set up changed slightly depending on the subject.

Step two: RAW Conversion

On this photo I started with a raw conversion and just slightly tweak levels to get the photo at a good color and contrast. The photo below is very close to raw, I cleaned a few dust spots that were on the photos from not cleaning my camera before…oops.

Step three: Dodge and Burn

The next step is a the one that really gives it that 3-D look. It’s were you take the subject’s highlights, shadows and features and “Carve” them out using dodging and burning.

Now there are a ton of ways to do this but this is how I do it. I first create a new layer by pressing (apple shift N) or by going to Layer/New on the top bar. I then change the blending mode to Softlight. Then change your brushes opacity to 5% and make sure it’s on 0% hardness. You can make two layers, one for highlights, one for shadows, but I usually just use one.

Next I go along and “paint” (with the brush) or enhance shadows and highlights that are already there. This really makes the photo pop out.

After this is done.

Step four: High Pass

I enhanced the contrast by duplicating the original image layer and de-saturating it by pressing (command (apple)-shift-“U”). This is important. If you don’t do this, your photo’s color will be really off once you select your blending mode. Then I select either soft light or hard light, depending on the amount of contrast I want to add.

The next thing I do is go to filter/other/high pass. This is what gives it the shinier look. This is also a key step because you must use judgement to determine how much of the effect you want. I usually go from somewhere between 100-200 depending on the amount of highlights I want to bring out. Again, you have to use your best judgement on this.

If the effect is still to much be sure to use your layers window and decrease the opacity on the high pass layer.

Step five: Color

The next thing I did was desaturate the reds in the photo. I used the hue/saturation window for this and changed the edit color from “master” to “red.”

Again, use your best judgment on this as well and take down as much or little as needed.

After I de-saturated the reds, I cropped and turned the image.

Step six: Final Touches

I’m almost done and I have the look I want, so I increase the contrast and brighten the photo.

Below is my final layers window.

As you can see, a lot of it is manual Photoshop, where you should tweak certain aspects and not rely on an action.

I hope that helps some of you in your Photoshop quests.

I would love to see finished products, so be sure to leave your comments here or on my blog with links to your finished work. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

If you would like to see more photos and set up shots from the shoot click on the photo below.

Thanks for reading!