A gymnastics instructor of mine, once said that doing gymnastics was the most wonderful way to fly. That’s an additional reason/perk, shooting these photos was so engrossing and challenging for me. This month’s “Behind the Camera” depicts only a small amount of the huge gymnastics (The Flyers) campaign, shot for Patrick Smith, Sr. Art Director for Travatan, from the Corbett Accel agency. Combined, there were over three long and “fast moving” days of shooting, and over two weeks of pre-pro and planning. Nearly every line item on our studio’s estimate form had a cost entry... except for food stylist. The events shot were: High Bar, P-Bars (parallel), Rings, Balance Beam, Uneven Parallel Bars, and Pommel Horse. Certain events needed to be shot three different times, with different gymnasts, and detail shots of each.

We chose to shoot nearly 100% on location. To rent, deliver, set up, and return all of the apparatus would have been too costly and time prohibitive. While the locations were being scouted (six of them), the search for our gymnasts was being conducted nationwide. My own experience in doing gymnastics helped me talk the talk. The vast resources our studio has, proved invaluable for all that was needed, especially with what little time we had for error. We needed custom wardrobe designed, air travel, hotels, ground transport, hair/make-up, prop stylists, photo assistants, sets built in studio, props, insurance riders, breakfasts, lunches, and of course negotiations at every point along the way. I also may have accidently omitted a few. Did I say no sleep?

The main gymnasts we used were Jair Lynch (The Phoenix), a U.S.A. Olympic silver medalist on the “P-Bars”, as well as Peter Landry and Lindsey Vagades (Landry), both who are NCAA champions. I would also like to thank all of the fantastic talent provided by our location, “Midwest Academy of Gymnastics”.

Since all the gym equipment was permanent, my crew and I went station to station within “Midwest Academy” recreating the same lighting from shot to shot. The background paper, main, fill and edge lights, and bounce cards had to move with us. I wanted to combine a look of beauty/fashion light with “event” lighting. The edge light created an ease of operation for Patrick to bring the wonderful backgrounds into play. Our lights needed a fast flash duration to freeze the gymnast’s movement...above 1/500th of a second, because we didn’t want shots of gymnasts with blurred motion.

At the end of our shoot, all the successes planned for, had occurred, and we made some lasting friendships. All our “Flyers” were made happy. After such a large project going so successfully, it felt again like a Superbowl win and then Disneyland. Thanks Patrick for the trust, and everyone for the high level of devotion displayed, so Don Levey could make everyone happy, once more.