John Elway and his final Super Bowl victory in Miami

I was there for Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999 - the last time the Denver Broncos were in the big game. I was a staff photographer for the Sun Sentinel and I was assigned to the west end zone. After the Broncos won, everyone of course rushed the field for the QB picture. I remember running towards the Broncos bench, but for some reason, was MOVING towards the middle of the field. The crush of media was so strong that I was lifted off of the ground and had no control of my direction. I remember running over and stepping on many smaller reporters and photographers. It is advantageous to be 6'1 and 210 pounds. When I finally got to John Elway, I was behind him. We were all getting CRUSHED. Elway screamed "GET BACK!!!" It was a loud, terrifying scream. Everyone backed up. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw his wife Janet approach and give him a kiss. This would be the last time John Elway played in an NFL game.

Throwing footballs with an NFL QB

I was on a corporate photo assignment when an elderly gentleman looked over the two cameras I had slung over my shoulders and asked me “What is your favorite photo that you have taken and can you tell me about it?”
I have been asked variations of that questions many, many times but I never really have a clear way of explaining that I do not have a favorite. The joy I receive from this profession is from the actual process, not the finished product. My next photo shoot was the perfect example of this...

I got a call from USA Today to photograph college football great and current Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow as he worked out near his Jacksonville home. The NFL owners locked out the players, so many of them are coordinating practices on their own. The access was worked out through his agent, not the team. 

In my almost 20 year career, I have shot over 350 NFL and NCAA "Division 1" football games and practices. I was interested to see what an NFL event with no PR handlers would be like. Of course, I had two factors in my favor. Tim is probably one of the nicest professional athletes that you could ever deal with and I have photographed him 5 times previously, putting him on four Sporting News covers. 

Tim Tebow stiff arms me after our first photo shoot

In each of those earlier photo shoots, it was vital to be as professional as possible. I would always arrive early with my assistant, set up the lights quickly, have an efficient plan and end early. When you schedule these high profile athletes, you will always have a set amount of time that the athlete will pose for you. It is a good goal to surprise them and finish before the subject wants to go. That will endear you in the eyes of the team and the player. I also made sure to bring 8x10 prints from each of the previous photo shoots so that he could give to friends and family.

When Tim pulled into the parking lot next to the grass field near his home, he quickly exited the car and gave me a warm welcome. Joining him were three Denver Bronco receivers who flew into town to run routes for him. Tim was first to have his shoes on and was ready to go as his receivers were still sitting on the ground, spike-less. 

I said “Tim, throw me the ball”. I backed up to about 20 yards and threw the football with him. Normally, I am not one to be starstruck, but throwing a football with an NFL QB is very cool - definitely a moment to remember. Now, judging by my friend's comments on my Facebook post regarding this, I will answer the most common questions:


1-Yes, Tim has fixed his throwing motion. There is no more hitch. 
2-Yes, he throws the ball very hard. (He is an NFL QB)
3-Yes, I threw tight spirals right back at him. 
4-Yes, it is weird catching a ball thrown by a lefty (it spins the wrong way)
5-No, it was not as cool as catching Roger Clemens but only because baseball was my favorite sport growing up.
6-Yes, I did manage to drop a few balls, but I refer you to #2.

Over the next hour or so, I shot Tim throwing curls, digs, slants and go patterns to his receivers. It was weird to be able to walk up next to them as they discussed the routes and then shoot the action with a 15mm lens. As someone who was annoyed with the media handling during games and practices, this was a once of a lifetime experience. I tried to deliver photos that were normally impossible to get. I doubt I will ever be able to feel the speed of the receivers running around or feel the quickness of the QB’s drop again. 

At the end of the day, you should always remember that shooting good photos is not all about photography skill. Much of the work is cultivating and developing a relationship with the photo subjects. You always strive to make a positive, lasting impression that you can build on for the next shoot. 
Preston Mack is a photographer based in Orlando, FL. He has shot photos from the Pace car at Daytona, caught Roger Clemens (while he was still juicing), played paintball with a Bee Gee, rode a roller coaster with Justin Bieber, hit fungo to Cal Ripken Jr, got punched by Sugar Ray Leonard and got a golf lesson from Tom Watson.  (I am currently looking for an NBA superstar to play me one on one....)

(This blog post originally appeared on the Sport Shooter website.
http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2535) 

Sports Illustrated - Portrait of the Jacksonville Jaguar receivers

The Jacksonville Jaguars Wide Receivers

When I was a staff photographer at the South Florida Sun Sentinel, I had the opportunity to shoot the portraits for the the annual football preview section. These section covers would feature an athlete from the Miami Dolphins, a Florida NCAA team (UM, FSU or UF) and the local high school powerhouse. Subjects over the years have included Jimmy Johnson, Jevon Kearse, Edgerrin James and Chris Weinke. Although I love to shoot individual portraits, I have always wanted to shoot a bunch of receivers - a group of players making a stylized catch in the frame. When I left the newspaper business in 2000, I just filed away that idea...

During the second week of August, I received a call from George Washington, the football photo editor for Sports Illustrated. He told me that they were working on a story about the “units” of a football team - and that he wanted me to shoot the wide receivers for the Jacksonville Jaguars. I knew exactly what I wanted to shoot. He gave me a list of different scenarios that he thought would work well, which included different groupings and angles. I wanted to make sure that I understood everything he was asking for, so I did a test shoot in my neighborhood with a local pop warner team.

I took all the footballs I owned, my lighting assistant and shot every possible grouping and angle I could think of. The last test I shot was my “group reception” shot. I thought that the energy was there in the frame, and if I had the chance, I could make the Jaguar receivers get into it.

When I got to Alltel Stadium on the day of the photo shoot, the Florida weather was doing its usual summertime dance. Intermittent cloudiness was being broken up by torrential rainstorms. Since we had been given a fairly small window of time (30 minutes, total) for the photo shoot, there was a chance for a rainout. I had 3 Profoto 7b’s, 4 heads and a complicated lighting scheme mapped out. The rain pretty much eliminated my grand light, and I had to settle for two heads running off of one 7B pack.

I got lucky and the rain did stop long enough for the Jaguar receivers to come out on the field. We quickly ran through all of the photos that George wanted me to get (You always need to make sure that you have the magazine covered, CYA!). The very last thing I asked for was the “group reception” photo. I showed the 6 receivers a print out of the kids, and they all really liked it. They all started to have fun, pose and jump around for me.

In the end, I shot seven different poses, high and low angles and the final picture in 15 minutes. That doesn’t sound like much time, but when you deal with professional athletes, you are always under the clock. But, compared to my recent 20 second portrait shoot of Tiger Woods, it was an eternity!

In closing, I need to thank the IOC for awarding the Olympics to China (I tend to get more assignments when the SI staffers are away), George Washington at Sports Illustrated for giving this assignment to me, the Jacksonville Jaguars PR staff, the Jaguar wide receivers (who’s energy makes the photo great) and the Avalon Wolves Pop Warner defense who came out to pose for me!

(A reprint from the sportsshooter.com website, originally published on 9-4-2008)