Just to prove the weathermen wrong I had glorious weather for a recent shoot with England cricket saviour, Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff. The location was Old Trafford, Lancashire Cricket Club, and I was on a commission from Spin magazine to shoot some portraits of Freddie while he was working his way back to fitness from a recent injury.
Time was of the essence. Freddie was doing my shoot as part of a media day so he was wanted by everyone. We all had strict time slots to adhere to. The location was going to be out on the pitch so I positioned the Old Trafford clubhouse behind him, turned the lighting up to 11 and began.
Props were a bit thin on the ground but Freddie did have his bat! In time-sensitive situations there is a balancing act to be had between getting a variety of shots and making them look different enough.
For an interview spread I’m looking to get at least 4 and hopefully more different poses plus one for the cover. I had the cover last month with a shot of Stuart Broad so we were on for the double here if I could get something that worked well.
Freddie was great to work with and very interested in what we were doing. It takes two to tango and two to make a good image - if it’s all photographer and no input from the subject the shots will rarely work.
The time flew by as we tried different ideas and I knew I had some really nice images in the bag. My own favourite image from the shoot was this one:
You can see a larger version in the “people” gallery on my website portfolio.
Spin chose the shot above where Freddie has the bat across his shoulders. It works really well on the cover.
..and a variant for an inside dps….
Until later…
J
