People in Motion

Elder Athletes – Wayne Rich – Soul Surfer

kevsteele — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:44:54 +0000

Happy Birthday Wayne-O! A true soul surfer and shaper – perhaps the nicest teddy bear of a guy you’ll ever meet – Wayne began surfing in the “golden era” of SoCal surfboard building. Mentored by Dan Bendiksen (head shaper of Bing Surfboards) at age 9, Wayne would later be influenced by the likes of Renny Yater and the late John Bradbury. A few years ago Wayne was able to pay tribute back to the master shapers as he won the “Sacred Craft” shape-off honoring Renny.

A painted Japanese Daruma is in the shaping room at the far left in the photo above. Hand-made by a monk and given as a gift, Wayne painted the the first eye while making a wish. Once the wish is fulfilled he’ll paint in the other eye and bring the daruma back to the monastery where it will be burned in a ceremony.

Just over 5 years ago, Wayne was riding Rincon in one of the biggest swells in recent history. Barreling down a double-overhead tube, the wave exploded over him, driving him down into the depths. His body went numb as he felt his neck crack. Temporarily paralyzed, he was at the mercy of the waves breaking over him. Dragged into the bay and onto shore, he didn’t realize the extent of the damage till much later…he continued surfing with a ticking time-bomb, not realizing the damage between his fifth and sixth vertebrae. He reflects back on those weeks that he was still surfing overhead waves, realizing now that one whiplash would have paralyzed him for good. Months later with the support of the surfing community and the late Kevin Brown, extraordinary physical therapist, Wayne underwent a gauntlet of surgeries and rehab. His doctor still shudders when Wayne tells him surf’s up at Rincon – and that’s where you’ll find him, a big grin on his face.

The Elder Athletes series is a personal project that began in January 2013 - A new series on athletes and those that have had a passion for their sport for scores of years…and still kick butt of those younger than them..click the “Elder Athletes” tag below to see more.

Latest Tearsheet: Rick Cavallaro – faster than the wind

kevsteele — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:19:14 +0000

Can a vehicle be built which can go directly downwind, faster than the wind, powered only by the wind? The obvious answer is no. Rick Cavallaro proved yes and created quite a ruckus almost three years ago with the Blackbird – a craft that looks like a modern windmill planted on a cardboard drag racer. As articles in Wired magazine have pointed out it’s a counterintuitive concept that “can cause world renowned physicists to throw their Nobel prizes in fits of rage”. After settling the matter for not only downwind but also upwind, that craft is now gathering dust in the backlot of Sportvision where Rick is Chief Scientist. Sportvision created the glowing on screen hockey puck for the NHL – and the yellow first down line shown on NFL broadcasts.

I photographed Rick for Georgia Tech’s Alumni Magazine at Sportvision’s headquarters in Mountain View, the heart of Silicon Valley. That link will take you to a great story, just four of the eight pages are shown below. Rick is a remarkable man: strawberry Pop-Tarts for breakfast every day and an appetite for even greater risks in the mountains and in the sky. As Rachael Maddux writes: “It’s the knowledge that taking risks – and getting a little roughed up in the process – is pretty much the only way to accomplish anything remarkable.”

Opera SB – Campaign for the upcoming season

kevsteele — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:02:50 +0000

Three operas are being produced for the upcoming 2013-2014 season which kicks off in the fall. Puccini’s Tosca, Menotti’s mid-century The Consul, and Verdi’s Fallstaff which features an aging knight, the portly, horny rascal of Windsor, shown in the final image for the campaign below.

As luck would have it a real knight was our model-for-a-day for the operatic knight : Sir Richard Aberle.

Elder Athletes – John Brennand – Record Marathoner

kevsteele — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:51:50 +0000

John Brennand is 77 years old. And running like a champion. He’s the USA Track and Field Cross Country National Champion in his Master’s age group in 2010-2012 and has won more than a dozen national championships in distances from 5k to 10k. An MIT educated engineer, John was the Technical Director of the Olympic Marathons in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1981 he set the record in the US Marathon time for his 45-49 age group – a record that stood for years. Back in 1964 John finished in the top 25 in the Boston Marathon and the following year was a founder of the Santa Barbara Marathon. Wholeheartedly involved in almost every major local race since then, John is affectionately known as The Godfather. The Elder Athletes series is a personal project that began in January 2013 - A new series on athletes and those that have had a passion for their sport for scores of years…and still kick butt of those younger than them..click the “Elder Athletes” tag below to see more.

Latest Cover and Tearsheet – Eckhart Tolle

kevsteele — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:09:09 +0000

This issue arrived last week: it was a wonderful experience photographing Eckhart. From the first contact with the editors and on through planning, shooting, and edit. I previously posted some behind the scenes shots and some notes while scouting and getting to know Eckhart. This cover was voted on by the Facebook community of Spirituality & Health magazine with three options to choose from. My favorite is the last shot of the afternoon which is the opening inside spread. In Eckhart’s words “Life is now…it’s through the the very challenges of daily life that you become more motivated to awaken…the answer lies within rather than obtaining more possessions, or achieving this or that, or changing the world out there…”

Winter Athletes in Steamboat Springs – Behind the Scenes

kevsteele — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:47:44 +0000

Thanks to Nelson Carmichael for capturing the shot of me a few nanoseconds after I took the picture below it (I was shooting with a 24mm wide angle lens). That’s Natalie Pearl, heading downhill really fast. Nelson won a bronze medal at the ’92 Winter Olympics in Freestyle and holds two World Cup Grand Prix Mogul Championships. Nelson also holds a camera really well. Here’s the recent post with more images from that shoot: Gearing up for the Winter Olympics.

Latest Tearsheet – Fitness Magazine

kevsteele — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:50:01 +0000

The May 2013 issue of Fitness Magazine is now on newsstands and tablets near you…

Behind the Scenes: shooting the 2013-14 Opera Campaign

kevsteele — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:43:35 +0000

The last few days have been spent at four great locations with an awesome crew and talented talent as we created scenes for advertising the 2013-14 season of Opera Santa Barbara. We also shot PR stills for the production of Don Pasquale at a 1920s mansion on the Riviera – that opera opens up in just a few weeks so we could use the actual cast, the rest were shot with gracious models at Municipal Winery, Carr Winery and St Anthony’s Seminary. This is always a very fun series to photograph.

Gearing up for the 2014 Winter Olympics

kevsteele — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:02:15 +0000

To Russia with love. The XXII Winter Olympics begin in Sochi in February 2014. Stalin’s favorite dacha (summer house) was built in this city on the Black Sea just north of Georgia. As is typically the case for the host country there is a LOT of work yet to be done. The big concern is warm weather – Russia is stockpiling snow just in case.

I was in Steamboat Springs a few weeks ago working on the slopes with Freestyle skiers, Snowboarders and Slopestyle athletes, Nordic Ski jumpers and Alpine Slalom skiers. The coaches allowed very close access so that I was often working with a wide lens and my studio strobes within feet of the athletes. Here are a few early test shots:

Waking up in Steamboat Springs

kevsteele — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:21:12 +0000

An iPhone snapshot this morning looking out the window as fresh snow falls. I’m here this week staying with Olympians Nelson Carmichael and Caroline LaLive – creating action portraits with winter athletes.