BEST of On The Road
"Training for the Mr USA Title"

October, 2006

Hi and welcome to this edition of On The Road. I had the opportunity to revisit Mr. Colorado, Andy Haman ( August 2006 Workshop at the Ranch. ) Like all high caliber athletes Andy puts himself through intense workouts. This assignment lasted less than 90 minutes and documents the intense training regime of Mr. Colorado 2006 during his final training session before the Mr. USA competition. The entire shoot was done with one camera, a Nikon D200,ISO250, Aperture Priority EV -1, WB 3600K, a Nikon 10.5mm and Nikon 12-24mm. I also used two Nikon SB800 Speedlights in Tandem with Warming Gels as Remotes set on i-TTL and a power output of +1.0 ( NOTE: see 2006 September Workshop at the Ranch for Tandem SB800 details. ) I also used an SU800 Commander. The SU800 Commander has great range of distance to the sensor capability. I also use a Nikon SC-28 Cord in order to use the SU800 Commander off the hot shoe and be able to aim it at the Remote SB800s. This is very helpful when the remote SB800s are located off to the side or behind your shooting position. This kind of work was quick and on the fly shooting because Andy changed stations every few minutes. The gym, as you can imagine, was poorly lit and inconsistent in the intensity and color of light from station to station. The Aperture Priority setting works well in adjusting exposures on the fly as do the SB800s in i-TTL mode. I used an assistant to hand hold the Tandem SB800s.

Image #1 Mr. Colorado ..... Andy and I got reacquainted and decided a portrait was a good beginning to the photo shoot and his final training session before the Mr. USA competition. This pose was short lived as Andy had to get to work. The tandem SB800 Speedlights are about 4 feet away from Andy and are held just lower than the brim of his visor. One picture and then it's time to get to get down to business ................
Image #2 Lots of Reps ..... Andy hits several stations during the concentrated training session. Small weights and lots of repetitions are his recipe for success. I usually want the light from my SB800s to come from a direction "off the camera." Angling the light on my subject helps define his physic.
Image #3 Father and Son ..... Andy's son joined him on this training session and really pushed him to "max out." To spread the light and illuminate both subjects I swiveled the tandem S800s to be slightly askew from each other, thus illuminating each of them with one hand held tandem SB800 set up.
Image #4 Progress ..... At the 30 minute mark it was time for a progress pose. Great double biceps and a fun moment.
Image #5 Back to Work ..... Gee, I thought his arms looked pretty good but Andy thought different. Mr. Colorado hit several of the training stations more than once which allowed me to try something different with my Speedlights on the second or third time. This was my favorite shot at the biceps station. The Nikon 10.5mm Fisheye Lens was a great choice for this angle. I can see the environment of the gym and get very close to Andy's arm which let's the fisheye extenuate his pumped biceps.
Image #6 More Reps ..... The mirrors in the gym made for some photographic challenges. Lighting up Andy and keeping myself, my assistant and the Speedlights out of the picture took some maneuvering. I positioned my remote Tandem SB800s in a place well off camera yet I could easily trigger them with my SU800 Commander aimed at the sensors using the Nikon SC-28 Cord.
Image #7 GO! GO! GO! ..... Almost done and Andy is really going strong. He had been to this station earlier but returned for an extra set of reps. This time I found a different angle to shoot from and better location for the tandem Speedlights. I also increased my aperture which really slowed the shutter speed down and illustrated the swinging arm movement of the exercise.
Image #8 Ready to Compete ..... Andy is finished and ready to compete for the Mr. USA title, but before he heads out for a final raw tuna dinner, one last pose .....

By using Aperture Priority and the Nikon SB800 Speedlights I was able to move quickly, compose the image, direct the Speedlights and keep up with Andy. This is a very documentary style of shooting and is a lot of fun. The simplicity of the Nikon Speedlights and D200 set on Aperture Priority made it easy to be with Andy every step of the way yet not be a distraction.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this training session with Andy Haman, Mr. Colorado 2006.

Until next time On The Road ............... Adios, Dave