Michael Jordan had 101 or 2 temperature the night he scored 60 points in a playoff win. Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 points on less than 3 hours sleep. Jack Youngblood had one of his most dominating games on a broken leg playing for the Rams. Sometimes when our bodies aren't 100% we focus so intently on just the basic needs of accomplishing our goal that we are so tuned in that it almost seems like were in another world and what we accomplish is unexpected and seemingly from a higher source. When I was first making this poster I was feeling pretty ill and the decisions I was making were admittedly with the idea that I needed to get this done. I posted the image below as a finished piece even though I knew(and even wrote about) that it wasn't as good as it could be. So I didn't reach that same height as the athletes I mentioned above. Over the next few days of still not feeling 100% I tweaked and tweaked and have arrived at the above image. I posted this back on the 11th to keep these together. As a teacher of image making as well as an image maker myself I find these comparisons useful. I explain often to my students that possibility doesn't end with framing a work of art--that an idea can always be taken further if you have the time. Who knows--this might go somewhere else before I'm done.
I've been designing these 'posters', large prints made with some identifying words and colors to represent the sports team the person in the photo belongs. I've come up with about 5 or 6 different designs and every time I plan on using one of these designs and simply changing out the picture or colors, I end up designing a whole new poster. It seems each image demands its own set-up. Last night as I was sipping my cold season tea and waiting for the Nyquil to kick in, yes sick again, I designed this poster for Erik Eisenhooth's mom Laurie. Erik is a lineman. Its hard to get good action photos of Lineman, especially when you only spend a few moments at a game. So we did a studio portrait and I had it set in my mind that this was going to be a tight shot on his face and helmet. Here is what I came up with. I think I'll try the border in Black though---i think it will make his expression stand out stronger. SayerMotter sports poster by Richard Sayer
Wow...I love the lighting in #2. The skin tone and the light flash at the top of the face mask....here's another thing I like....I like that the one piece of his facemask lines up with that indentation between his nose and lip. That sounds nuts, but I'm not sure I would like it as much if it wasn't centered. I notice stuff like that.