A photographer has creatively used the Sun as a ball for an epic photo shoot with soccer star Trinity Rodman in front of the Washington Monument.
The clever and aesthetically pleasing shoot marks the third time that photographer Dustin Snipes has done a “Sun = Ball” project after previously capturing LA Lakers basketballer Anthony Davis and volleyball player Phil Dalhausser.
Snipes tells PetaPixel that the shoot required meticulous planning and a bit of help from Sony’s new global shutter.
“We looked all over D.C. and the surrounding areas to find the perfect soccer field with an open enough sky to ensure Trinity and the Sun didn’t compete with the background,” says Snipes.
Snipes settled on one of the most recognizable parks in the country: the lawn around the Washington Monument.
“We had the location and approval from the National Parks Department, so the next thing to do was find the perfect angle to shoot from,” he explains.
Snipes used Google Earth and Sun Seeker to figure out the correct time to shoot which had to be during the first or last two hours of the day.
But then the challenge was to make the Sun so it looks soccer ball-sized while keeping enough ambient light to get a silhouette of the Washington Monument.
Snipes had an intense lighting setup: a “light tree” with six heads consisting of four 800-watt lights and two 1200-watt lights all with long-throw hyper-focused reflectors so they act as one light source. He kept the rig as close to Rodman as possible without it appearing in the frame.
“Originally, I was going to use 12 heads,” adds Snipes who couldn’t get permission for two stands. “This limitation meant I could only shoot one frame per kick, jump, or header.”
But with this setup, sync speed and motion blur are critical because most cameras will only sync up to around 1/200 of a second. That’s where Snipes’ Sony A9 III came in useful. Its global shutter allowed Snipes to shoot at 1/1250 of a second so Rodman was frozen in the picture.
“I used ND filters to keep the aperture open to get a softer look to the sun instead of harder spiked flares,” adds Snipes.
Another issue was cloud cover.
“A storm was rolling in,” explains Snipes. “Both the test shoot day and the day of the shoot had clouds covering most of the sky with some small openings.”
However, at 6 p.m., the start time of the shoot, the clouds magically moved along for them.
“In some of the shots, you can see the Sun slightly deformed because a small cloud was blocking part of it,” he adds.
One of Rodman’s photo shoots has previously been featured on PetaPixel after she kicked a ball straight at another photographer’s lens.
Snipes says that Rodman, a Red Bull athlete who plays for NWSL side Washington Spirit and is the daughter of former NBA and Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman, was “amazing” to work with.
“She was fun, energetic, and ready to make the shot happen. Teamwork was the most important part of this shoot; we had to be on the same page, or each shot would take too long to nail,” says the photographer.
“With the Sun setting and clouds rolling in at any moment, we needed to hit the ground running. It’s a hard concept to grasp until you see the first images.
“Then we can start the real work and fine-tune the movements and positioning. We both needed the perfect spot every time because a small height adjustment by me or an over-rotation by her would throw everything off.
“We would take a few shots, then huddle up to review the images and see what was working and what we could explore further.”
Rodman will be going to Paris later this month where she will become an Olympian for the U.S. in the soccer tournament.
“If Trinity plays with the dedication she brought to this shoot, I have no doubt she and Team USA will win gold!” Adds Snipes.
Image credits: Photographs by Dustin Snipes / Red Bull Content Pool