Tag Archives: rafael nadal

La Decima

By the end of the French Open I had completed all of the videos assigned by the FFT (French Federation of Tennis). For the Men’s and Women’s Finals I shot closeups from the pit very similarly to my role at the US Open. After the match I provided a rush of edited clips to my employers. The above video is a mix of cameras edited by the FFT after the tournament. But it is nice to see that my footage makes up the first 20 seconds, much of the middle and the championship point/trophy raise are all my camera. These clips were shot in 4K and scaled down to 1920X1080p for the highest picture fidelity at standard HD. Color grading was done by the FFT in post.

The title of this entry is La Decima because it was the tenth time Nadal had won Roland Garros. It was very exciting to be present for history being made.

Grip It and Rip It

Rafael Nadal the golfer? With our PR director I took a small crew to the famed Indian Wells Golf Resort. The tournament had negotiated for a gaggle of photographers to tag along with Rafa while he played nine holes. Rafa was a good sport to let it happen. GoPros in holes, a GoPro mounted to the golf cart. It’s nice to get an opportunity to use the action cams. We shot in slow motion, used a 400mm lens, plus a 16-35mm on a MOVI M5 with an Easy Rig. The drone was out too. It was quite an operation scrambling from hole to hole and setting up gear while monitoring audio on Rafa the entire time. It stands out as probably the hardest shoot in 2016. Minimal time to plan and no PAs running around to carry gear. With that said I like the deliverable a lot. Matthew Hill did a great job second shooting with his Panasonic Varicam. Nadal shared it from his personal Facebook account too.