We were lucky enough to get access to some of the best NBL basketball players for season 2008/09. We were commissioned to shoot 8 guys and the brief was totally up to us – something that rarely happens.

The team that was assembled was a hair and make-up artist, 1 lighting genius and who could have forgotten the fantastic assistants. The next was to start scouting out our locations around the city. This was central to all the players given that some of them were staying in the hotel around the corner.

I woke to a fairly mild Sunday morning in Melbourne. Over the last 2 weeks we had prepared our shoot schedule to coincide with players flights and other requirements. That included working with General Managers, Team Managers and the players themselves – not a small a job.

First two players up were a visiting team who had played the night before – I’m not going to mention any names here. However, they never showed up. We called just about everyone from the team, including other team members. We even called their rooms from the reception desk. But no-one had seen them that morning. One could only assume that they had been out the night before and had a good time. And as could imagine we weren’t very happy to say the least. Enough of the bad thoughts. We moved on and decided to get a quick bite to eat, considering it was still somewhat early and some of us had a hang-over from the night before.

Then, as you would expect for Melbourne, the rain came. I don’t recall the weather people saying it was going to rain. Nevertheless we moved on with the shoot. Next up were the players from the Melbourne Tigers, Rod Grizzard and David Barlow. Both of them were fantastic to work with. With a few instructions they both got into the swing of things. Rod even battled through the rain to ensure he still had a smile on his face – great job!

For those of you who keep asking about what we use to get these great pictures. Here is a list of the gear that was used;

• 2 x 400w Elinchrom Ranger with umbrellas
• 1 x 500w Elinchrom Ranger with a 80cm Rotalux softbox
• 3 x Elinchrom Ranger RX portable power packs

Cortez Groves of the South Dragons

Cortez Groves after a little photoshop

Joe Ingles and the crew @ blinq

We have been asked for some behind the scenes shots – here we go. You may see some things that you might not find on other sets, but who says we are anything normal (a bottle of something – it was after 12pm, I promise)?

Overall we had a very successful day with 6 of the very best NBL players this season.

Be on the lookout for this years NBL Media Awards. We have submitted some great work, so fingers crossed. And if you know Marc Howard, tell that I told you to mention our name – and that we produced the best shots this season.

And now, on with the finals series between the South Dragons and the Melbourne Tigers. This will be a huge cross town battle. Go Dragons!

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