A heavyweight Olympic-sized weightlifter is naturally pretty strong. Like, superhero-like. World-record-breaking strong. When I was assigned to photograph Olympian Shane Hamman for National Geographic, before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, I was a little stumped. How exactly to capture this man’s explosive power in a photo? He held every American weightlifting record in his weight class.
It all comes from his legs and glutes. When I researched, I found a note that he could jump three feet straight up. Just bounce in the air. He could also do a standing backflip. Maybe, while flying, this big man would make an unusual photo.
The backdrop at the weightlifting center was pretty dull, so I threw an American flag at it. It was backlit with four strobes bouncing off the back wall, trying to create as even a light as possible. The front light was simple—one big light source. Then came the question I always ask before asking an athlete to do something extraordinary and physical. “How many of these do you have?” His answer was somewhere between six and eight. Okay, cool. The top of the jump, the strobes! Don’t miss the top of the jump, where he’s almost motionless for a split second.
Next, try to figure out the speed required to move all that force.
Switch to black as the background. Frame him with red strobes, but leave the modeling lights on and make sure they don’t shine on his face at the end of the lift. They need to be on his body when he lifts the weight. Attach red bicycle lights to the weights. Position the hard lights so the camera is right in his face. Turn on the strobes as he moves the weight up in an explosive movement called a snatch. At the top of the lift, fire the strobes.
Two solutions, very different. Geographic chose the flag image. Which one would you publish?
Further….
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