Heart of an Athlete

So this year I decided to change it up. What a year to pick to add something new to the mix, right? However, the decision to add my all guys rep team, The Dude Crew, was one of my best things I've done in 2020. I truly enjoyed working with each one of the young men on the team this year. Let me introduce you to one of those amazing young men, Gabe, a class of 2021 senior from Mineral Point High School. This was my first senior from Mineral Point, so that was awesome, and Gabe is hands down one of my most enthusiastic football players I've ever photographed. 
To say football is this guy's passion would be a total understatement. So, it's really of no surprise that in all of his sessions with me we made sure to incorporate football in some way shape or form. All of my reps start with a headshot session. This is a great way for them to meet the other team members and for me to get to know them as well. It's a great ice breaker and I learn A LOT from seeing how they are in front of the camera for the first time. I chose to do some dramatic black and whites for all my Dude Crew Members and quickly realized that Gabe, even though slightly unsure at first, was a natural in front of the camera. In fact, one of my very favorites of the year is one of his black and whites... I'll let you guess which one. 
From this point we planned for his Xtreme sports portraits. This is new this year. I had dabbled in green screen last year but really wanted to experiment with all the possibilities this year. Not only did we capture some ridiculously COOL football portraits but at least 1 of his portraits is already guaranteed to be published in an upcoming magazine. How awesome is that!?
Last but not least, I spent time with Gabe in his home town for his personal session. I loved the architecture and just wondering around the downtown district to find some cool (new to me) places for portraits. We had a small storm blow through but it just made for a more dramatic backdrop for MORE football portraits, but this time, ON HIS FIELD. He rocked this session. You can truly see someone for who they are when they're in their element. That football field is for sure Gabe's element. We ended out evening with a killer sunset. 
With Covid and 2020 our time together was shorter than a typical rep team year but I am so happy to have gotten the opportunity to meet and work with this young man. I know you will go far and do amazing things. Stay in touch and I hope you enjoyed your senior portrait experience.