Basketball Portraits at Panini’s NBA Rookie Photoshoot

 

chicago bulls denzel valentine poses for a portrait by LA photographer John Gress
Chicago Bulls Denzel Valentine poses for a portrait by LA. by photographer John Gress

 

It was another star studded jam packed day photographing the top 40 NBA draft picks for Panini America at the New York Knicks training facility in Tarrytown, New York. And just like NFLPA Rookie Premier, I set up two lighting setups on the same set. so I could take more portraits in the same amount of time.

 

Basketball portraits behind the scenes with Ingram
Basketball portraits behind-the-scenes with Brandon Ingram. by photographer John Gress

 

Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles & the leading multi-national publisher of trading cards, stickers, comics & children’s magazines.

 

Finished image from my Photoshoot with sacramento kings Malachi Richardson at the panini america nba rookie photoshoot in Elmsford, New York.
Finished image from my Photoshoot with Sacramento Kings Malachi Richardson at the panini america nba rookie photoshoot in Tarrytown, New York. by Photographer John Gress

 

I decided to composite some of the NBA basketball portraits to great effect. But I also decided to do a very high contract black and white photography look as well.

 

black & white portrait of Boston Celtics Jaylen Brown by Chicago photographer John Gress
Black & white portrait of Boston Celtics Jaylen Brown by Chicago photographer John Gress

 

Nlack & White portrait of San Antonio Spurs Dejounte Murray by Chicago photographer John Gress
Black & White portrait of San Antonio Spurs Dejounte Murray by Chicago photographer John Gress

 

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram poses for a black and white portrait by Chicago Photographer John Gress
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram poses for a black and white portrait by Chicago Photographer John Gress

 

black and white portrait of Kris Dunn of the Minnesota Timberwolves poses for Chicago Portrait Photographer John Gress
Black and white portrait of Kris Dunn of the Minnesota Timberwolves poses for Chicago Portrait Photographer John Gress

 

NBA basketball portraits gallery

I also decided to try compositing some of the portraits with photos from the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

 

Some of the basketball portraits I created for Panini have been published on several lines of their basketball trading cards, with more to come.

 

NBA basketball portraits behind-the-scenes

Basketball portraits behind the scenes
I used two sets of lights on the same set. One of them with 4 hard lights and one of them with 6 soft lights.

 

Profot D1 Air 500 monolights
I used a total of 10 Profoto D1 Air 500 monolights to light the photos. One of the advantages to using the monolights over packs is that if one light dies, you only lose one light. But I may use 5 packs and 10 heads next time to speed up my recycle time.

 

Basketball portraits behind the scenes with Denzel Valentine
Basketball portraits behind-the-scenes with Denzel Valentine

 

Art direction by Tre Hattier. Assisting and behind-the-scenes photos by Kyle M. Thompson

 

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