Shooting Buckets...

Since I was a kid I've big fan of the Harlem Globetrotters. Ever since they'd make their guest appearances on the Scooby Doo cartoons. So, it was kind of cool when I was told I'd be shooting a portrait of one of them who was coming in to do an interview. In total we only had about 45 minutes total to do two interviews and shoot the photo. So, after both interviews, I was left with about 5 minutes to shoot the photo. The idea was to say he was in Abilene, so a studio shot was out. I had gone and looked around before he had gotten here to get an idea of where to shoot it. Since time was short we walked to the end of the block on the corner. I had him stand under a tree to get him in the shadow, set up a quick strobe on a light stand and had him spin the basketball on his finger. I have to say it was really impressive. I was able to get off about 3-4 shots while the ball was spinning. Most of the time when I try to get someone to do this we get maybe one and they're flailing their hands all around trying to keep the ball balanced. I guess, that's what makes Buckets a pro... well, that and some great on the court skills.