All of the lights in here baby…
I first worked with sports technology brand, Pitchero, in 2022 after a random Linkedin post I shared with a few sports images I’d taken somehow found it’s way to their CEO. I’ve had some random connections and referrals in this job and this one further proved that you really do just never know when an on-a-whim-post or chance meeting will pay off further down the line. Stay consistent…says the man with two whole blog posts.
Shannon sitting down on the job and calling it ‘modelling’
The brief
The first shoot with Pitchero was a lot of fun, so I had high hopes for the second when they reached back out in January this year (2023) Having initially focused on creating club websites for grassroots sports teams, the company were branching out into the wearable tech market. They were after high-end commercial photography to showcase a range of new products that they planned to bring to market this year, including a GPS player vest and tracker.
Specifically, Pitchero wanted:
Posed portraits featuring professional models and grassroots players.
Portraits that conveyed an element of movement and speed
1000 models shot in 4 hours (this may be a slight exaggeration)
The plan
To make sure we could capture the range and number of images that Pitchero needed, we opted for a two-day photoshoot with multiple set-ups running in the same shoot space. On my half of the hotel conference room, I had two setups running, whilst Pitchero stole the models who had finished at my side for some video work. Finding a venue was a bit of a challenge as we needed lots of space and high ceilings to accommodate the lighting set ups - but we also needed somewhere that felt authentic to the brand. After various location scouting trips, we settled on a hotel on the outskirts of Leeds with a large conference room. A blank canvas that we could make our own. With some careful lighting and strategically placed AstroTurf, we had it looking like a sports pitch in no time. There was also a Starbucks on site so, naturally, I spent £600 on caffeine.
The shoot day(s)
Having worked through the schedule with the Pitchero team well in advance, I knew that it was going to be a packed couple of days – and it didn’t disappoint. Thankfully, I had a ‘willing’ assistant (my long-suffering wife, Janine) along to help and had plenty of support from the Pitchero team.
Each model started in hair and make-up then made their way over to me for their time in front of the camera. For the first set up, we had numerous poses, outfit changes, product and prop swaps to get through which Janine dutifully ticked off as we went. The second set-up was much more experimental and involved a fair bit of trial and error – but the results were well worth the effort.
The craziest part of the two days has got to be on the evening of the first day when around 20 teenagers from local sports clubs descended for their portrait session. Getting the boys and girls to pose together and look natural (while being heckled by their parents of all people) was quite the challenge but gave us all a laugh before retiring to bed
The result
This is the sort of shoot that would have given me nightmares in my early career, so I’m really pleased to be at a stage where I can enjoy them as much as I did this one whilst they happen. Pitchero took on editing duties for this one (thank god) and it’s great to see the images out in the wild on their website and social channels. The GPS player vest and Pitchero clothing line are now available on the dedicated PitcheroGPS website, with the tracker available to pre-order now for delivery in July 2023.
Here, are a few of my personal favourites from the shoot:
