FOTOBALL: In the Shadow of Pirates

When I started at the ABH I came in basically on the heels of talented photojournalist Diane Cebula. We only worked together about 2 months before she left for the Newport News Daily Press in Virginia. When she left I took over her shift and became the dominant sports shooter. It felt like for a long time a legend had left the building. She and assistant sports editor Nick Matthews (who is also now at the Daily Press) were a dynamic duo creating amazing pages for the sports section.
When Jennifer Iannone (former preps editor who also had just started at the paper) and I set out to work on the 2007 High School football preview the then sports editor told us the theme was James Bond 007 and that was that. James Bond is known for having 3 things: sexy women, alcohol, and guns. None of these things can be shown with a high school football player. What the hell were we supposed to do for cover art?? It took several nights of brainstorming, including hilarious tests shots staring Jennifer with a stuffed Bambi posing as a football, for us to make this thing work. One thing we couldn't forget was that the Pirates of the Caribbean themed 2006 preview, which had been worked on by Diane and Nick, had won "Best Special Section" that year in at least one contest. The pressure was on. This is what we came up with:

On the cover is Clarke Central's
Darrieon Robinson (his older brother is Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson)
Design layout by Erin Hughes