STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: AUDRA ODEN

Having a champion mindset, I am extremely competitive, so even though this genre of photography is male dominated, I have never really looked at it as man vs. woman. I feel that as a female athlete myself, I can definitely bring a different perspective to my photography because I know what it feels like to grow up playing sports and not getting the full recognition that is deserved for women’s sports. I want viewers to see the passion and dedication of the athlete, (man or woman), as well as my passion for that athlete.

For this shot I wanted an overall cool tone to match the feeling of the warehouse. The main light I used was an Einstein™ Flash Unit with an 86” Soft Silver PLM™ Umbrella and the white front diffusion fabric. I taped a teal gel on a 7” Standard Reflector inside the umbrella so that the light coming from it would have a teal glow. For edge lights, I used two more Einstein™ flash units with 7” Standard Reflector with blue gels. This created a three light set up, which is usually my go-to, or base set up.

The background felt too dark, so I decided to add in one more Einstein™ with a 7” reflector, and another teal gel, to hit the back wall. I then positioned myself on the ground, and had my assistant hold the ropes, and told Trenton to go to town! The ropes hit the water splashing it everywhere and created an extra element to the entire shot. With the Einstein™ strobes, I was able to freeze the water droplets in mid air, but still have a slight blur to suggest movement.

GO BEHIND THE SCENES