FOTOBALL: Fishin' For Answers

The 2009 Georgia football preview hit the stands today. In a week from yesterday I will be in Oklahoma shooting the #13 Bulldogs in a tough season opener against the #9 Oklahoma State Cowboys. More of that later. Today it's all about the preview. Originally when I was presented with the "fishing" theme I felt frustrated because I wasn't included in the idea process. Sometimes the rest of the paper tends to forget that the photography department are the most visually creative people in the newsroom.
When my boss and the sports editor asked me to shoot the cover I decided to make it my own despite my lack of involvement in the planning stages. Luckily my co-worker and bud Tricia Spaulding was on board with helping me out. Georgia defensive players Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins were the models of choice. We met at the dock of a friend of the sports editor's after of course Tricia and I lost 30 minutes of our planned hour prep time with bad directions. It turned out to get what I wanted required getting a little messy. I always manage to find a way into a muddy lake. Everything went super smoothly as I decided to go super simple with only one speedlight for a more natural lighting look. The biggest challenge was wrangling the guys because Jeff, a fishing enthusiast, was way more interested in casting a few lines than being photographed.


Georgia's Jeff Owens, left, and Geno Atkins


Check out all the exciting contents of the Preview HERE!