I had a great opportunity to work for award winning producer Dan Klores shooting the Media & PR photos for his latest documentary Winning Time. Two years ago I had a blast working on another project by Dan called Black Magic, he was kind enough to call me back for this project as well. Winning Time is all about Reggie Miller and how he and the Indiana Pacers denied the New York Knicks any shot at a NBA title during the Patrick Ewing John Starks era. Check it out on ESPN.com.
My assignment was to photograph Reggie Miller…Such an iconic figure and future hall of famer in the sport! I am a big fan was totally psyched about the assignment! The concept was really simple...Reggie with props that referenced one of his most memorable games; the 1995 Eastern Conference Playoffs where he scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds to lead the Pacers to a road win over the Knicks. One of the greatest individual performances in NBA history!!!
ESPN had an idea that Reggie would sit on a huge shot clock, or hold a small shot clock in his hands.. so I went with it. But I also came up with the idea to mock up a newspaper. NYC newspapers are known for it’s bold dramatic headlines and front covers. Reggie’s performance was certainly front page news back in the day. For the mock up I actually found a company online let me make a newspaper cover. I could customize the text and ad my own photo… all for $9.99. I then got usage rights for a photo from the actual 8.9 seconds from the Associated Press and made that the cover photo. It was a nice addition to the shoot and Reggie really loved it!
The shoot was out in LA… I used 5th and Sunset, a great full service studio that is used to having celebrity/high profile shoots. I also had two great assistants and a digital tech from Assistthis.net
We had about 2 hours with Reggie and I have to say, it was one of the smoothest shoots I’ve ever been on! HE was fantastic! He brought a lot of personality to the shoot and really had fun with it. Not to mention, he had flawless skin and look amazing! I enjoyed it tremendously and look forward to seeing Reggie down the road!
