On a recent illustration shoot at Eagle Canyon raceway in Slidell, Texas a unique thing happened. The Wise County Messenger was honoring the Wise County athletes who had qualified d for state Track in Austin, Texas as we have done for several years to  show the athletes how much we respect their effort!

Spending an hour scoping out the best locations in setting up a double light set up, we were ready for action. The 1st portrait worked out better with a single light (a 5 foot umbrella shooting a thousand watts) as everything was staged in a portrait like setting.

And then there was Jordan Ward and  Alvord 4×400 relay team! My first thought was to have all four lie down on the track, just as kind of a starting point.  Then it occurred to me, Ward was also going in the 100 and 300 hurdles.

I casually mentioned how cool it would be for Jordan to jump over the other three relay runners, hence having all three shots in one. No more had it got out of my mouth and spontaneously she grabbed the flags and ran off to jump.  I pulled the camera just in time to catch the peak action! I had been set up for portraits,  so I was shooting at a relatively slow shutter speed of 100, which would explain the softness of the face. I attempted several more takes afterwards, but I knew this was the shot I wanted and I just never captured that spontaneity again.

Moral of the story, Be open and ready, spontaneity happens all the time even when you’re trying to control every aspect!

this image from sports favorites