Chicago Sports Photographer John Gress was hired by Panini America to take portraits of the Top NFL rookies in Los Angeles for their trading cards.

Over the course of one day Chicago Sports Photographer John Gress created portraits of 40 NFL football players.

When Gress was a teenager he and his best friend started collecting sports cards and then they started trying to get autographs from NBA basketball players after their games in his native Portland, Oregon. That eventually led to him wanting to take photos of them in order to get them autographed. So its kind of ironic that some 25-years later he would be taking photos of the athletes for their trading cards. While the teenager would have died from the excitement, the adult didn’t even know who any of the players were until they stepped onto the set.

Chicago Sports Photographer Behind the Scenes

Speaking of the set, Chicago Sports Photographer John Gress had two portrait lighting setup on the same set and a total of 9 Profoto lights. 6 of them were for a soft light setup and three of them were used for a harder light look and involved a Broncolor Para 88 and two strip soft boxes.

After a long day on set Chicago sports photographer John Gress was still going, but others were in need of a nap.

The post Sports Portraits in Los Angeles of the top NFL rookies for Panini America by Chicago Sports Photographer John Gress appeared first on Chicago Photographer & Director of Photography.

A little more than 20 years later I found myself creating portraits of the top NFL draft pics for their rookie football cards.

Over the course of 8 hours I shot 41 different players back to back in a the tunnel at the Los Angeles Colosseum. It was a great experience and I hope my client, Panini America, invites me back for years to come.

Editorial Portrait Photography Behind The Scenes:

The post Editorial Portrait Photography: NFL Rookie Premiere for Panini America appeared first on Chicago Photographer & Director of Photography.

CREDITS: Edited and produced by John Gress and Adam McMath. Music by Marshall Titus and David Taylor.

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