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.
Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles & the leading multi-national publisher of trading cards, stickers, comics & children’s magazines.
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.
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
Art direction by Tre Hattier. Assisting and behind-the-scenes photos by Kyle M. Thompson