32: ASSIGNMENT THIRTY TWO: INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GEAR

DUE MAY 7, 2019

Individual sports – as opposed to team sports.

Skiing, kayaking, running… all sports we can do as individuals. And the company wants a shot of their newest sport… thing. (of course, YOU provide the thing).

What they are interested in seeing is their new sports tool being used, or prepared to use, for a full-page trade ad in several magazines. They will have minimal copy, but they do have a paragraph or two.

Leave room at the bottom right corner for the copy… this can be dark and out of focus, light and out of focus, or some surface that would allow a couple of paragraphs to be readable at a rather small type.

The seven different trade magazines all have different sizes for their pages: from a small of 8×10.5 to a larger size of 9 by 13.75. Figure out what those dimensions do to your image area and make sure you have enough room to have the photograph work on both.

NOTE: We are not talking about the SIZE of the page as much as we are talking about the change in dimension. As you can see, the larger piece is quite a bit larger than the smaller one, however, when scaled for dimension, it is also a bit more narrow than the smaller piece. Please prepare an image that can be used in both. Remembering that one page may need a bit more foreground, and another will need a bit more on the sides.

This is a “hero” shot. It is expected to be used for 2 months leading up to the summer and you have a good-sized budget on it. Think lights and location, think about how the designer wanted that sports item to be seen. What are the most important parts of the gear?

The AD sent over some shots along the lines she was thinking about.

THEY LIKE THESE:

ASSIGNMENT INFO:

PEOPLE

Yes, they want a person in the shot. It can be a hand or a full-on person, but the talent cannot overshadow the gear.

Watch for gaudy clothes, overly done MU/hair, wardrobe out of place.

STYLE this shot as best you can.

STILL LIFE

If you are going to do this as a studio type shot, make sure you leave no aspect of the image to chance. Edges, texture, dimension and shape are all important. The image MUST show the piece of gear to its best advantage.

(If you decide to purchase something, just return it to the store unharmed for a refund. Make sure that is possible before you purchase anything you will never need.)

VIDEO CLIP (OPTIONAL)

This would be a lifestyle shoot. 15 seconds exactly in time, and most likely either a voice over with lots of B-roll to give us the action. And most likely it would be on location. If you have been thinking about video, this may be a good opportunity.

LIGHTING

You simply cannot let lighting be up to chance. Fill cards, scrims, lights, stands… take it all, you will most likely need it. If you are inside, use the sun coming through windows as atmospheric or ambient, but use lights to shape and define the product you are shooting.