Taylor Chace for Boston Globe Magazine.
March 24th, 2010
Taylor Chace, for Boston Globe Magazine. This is the image that the editor picked to run in the magazine's "Boston Uncommon" article on March 7, 2010.
As I write this post, Taylor Chace is still in Vancouver, British Columbia. I would guess that he and his teammates are probably still riding the high of having won Olympic Gold. To me, that realization is both incredibly wonderful and surreal, and it makes me wish I had been there to see all that had transpired in the four weeks since I photographed him for Boston Globe Magazine.
Heather had taken a message for me one day when the main line rang at Myers Creative Imaging. The editor had called from Boston Globe Magazine to ask if I was available to photograph Taylor Chace, a defenseman and Alternate Captain for the US Men’s Sled Hockey Team. Taylor and his teammates were here in Rochester, NY for training prior to their trip to Vancouver for the 2010 Paralympics. The deadline on this project was super-tight, and once I understood the details, things were set in motion pretty quickly. We had an extremely short window of opportunity, and once I had talked to Taylor on the phone and learned what the team’s training schedule was like, I realized just how tiny that window really was!
Usually, I would prefer to do this type of photography on location. The team’s ice, for instance, a locker room, a training facility, a frozen pond. All these ideas were knocking around in my brain. When I thought of the time crunch, though, I decided that we could pull off an equally strong image within the confines of our Richmond Street studio, and maximize our time taking pictures rather than traveling to a location and lugging lighting gear.
I’d had a few different ideas about how to execute the photography in the studio, and by the time Taylor had showed up that morning, freelance assistant, Amy Millert and I had our lighting setup ready and all tested out. We went over wardrobe that Taylor had brought with him. All official USA Hockey Team gear, warm-ups, game jerseys, helmet, pads, sticks, gloves, the works! We made a plan to start with just the warm-up uniform and progress forward, giving the Boston Globe editor as many options as we could provide. In the end, I think the best images came from the early stages of the shoot, as well as the final stages. I went home that night, and spent a couple hours in Adobe Lightroom, editing the job down to my favorite 25 images. I separated those from the rest of the image files and processed all of the RAW files into JPEGS, all to be uploaded to an FTP site the following morning. The editor in Boston downloaded them and got back to me with a selection that afternoon. Then, I spent a little time retouching and color correcting the image, preparing it to go to press. Final file, FTP upload, deadline met!
Early in the shoot. Warm-ups. Relaxed expressions. Taylor, I'd like one of those sweaters, please, in XL.
Taylor Chace was a great person to hang out with. He was so easy-going, happy, funny, patient with all of our questions, and very helpful. Perhaps what struck me most about him, though was his modesty, and dedication to his teammates. I had, early in the day, voiced my expectations to Taylor regarding the shoot and had told him that we would probably be done after a couple of hours time. That seemed like a pretty long time to him! He really just wanted to get back to be with the rest of the team as soon as he could, and was really trying to downplay this whole photography thing. This was a super-important time in their training program, and while I assured him that I understood the importance, I distracted Taylor, and had Amy hide his truck keys and lock the studio door. We had a job to do, too! We were able to convince him later to sit and have a nice, relaxed lunch with us, though, before he headed out.
After the shoot, we walked out to Taylor’s truck with him, Amy lugging a huge hockey bag full of gear. Taylor was apologetic for the bag’s “locker room smell.” Part of the game, I guess. As I watched Taylor’s truck turn on to Main Street and drive away, I knew he was heading off to take part in some really big things. It would be a few more weeks, though, until I learned just how big those things would be.
Wanting to learn more about Sled Hockey, or Sledge Hockey, as it is called in most places outside the US, I went to Team USA’s Saturday morning practice on the ice at the ESL Center in Henrietta. I was blown away by what these athletes did, and how very good they were at it. I mean, heck, I’m watching Olympic athletes, here! I walked out of the arena after their practice that morning feeling incredibly inspired. When I finally got home that night, I hopped on my computer, and went to USA Hockey’s website to learn some more. I was excited to find that I could either watch live coverage of the Sled Hockey tournament at the 2010 Paralympics, or follow a “Live Game Blog” that gave by-the-minute updates during game play. I tuned in when I could, which was for most of the tournament, and this is a summary of how things went in Vancouver:
March 13: USA, 5 – South Korea, 0.
March 14: USA, 3 – Czech Republic, 0.
March 16: USA, 6 – Japan, 0.
March 18: USA, 3 – Norway, 0.
March 20: USA, 2 – Japan, 0.
Team USA claimed the Gold Medal in Men’s Sled Hockey on March 20, 2010. In the entire tournament, not a single puck crossed the line into the US net. The last time team USA had won Gold in this event was in the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Taylor, all of us at the studio are so proud of you guys! Congratulations on attaining such an incredible goal!
Taylor Chace. Photographed February 17, 2010 at Myers Creative Imaging in Rochester, NY.
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark 2.
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