PAVEL YTHJALL PHOTOGRAPHY

One day I stepped up my game and got a magliner, its like a huge shopping cart for photographers. What was supposed to be a smart solution for my cinema display when tethering soon became the creative hub and trash can of the shoot: personal computer for Facebook updates, behind the scenes video camera, food and drink platter, personal Iphone chargers, Starbucks coffee is a given (never mind the close approximety to the computers with all the files), Mophie extra Iphone battery, sunglasses, magazines, chewing gum, open Red Bull cans, bananas and more…

Magliner, front view.

Magliner, side view.

At this shoot we did a cover for Muscle & Fitness, the January 2010 issue. In regards to the magliner it became “a sport” to find, buy and install “attachments” and “add ons” to it – to the point where the shoots more or less had to take place where the mobile magliner was because of the risk of the entire “build” coming down if we where to move our “mobile magliner”.

And on the shelf.

Cover Shoot for Fighter Magazine

This has happened a couple of times. Neither of the times have I had the balls to say “it’s a wrap” but someday… It’s a cover shoot for a European Fighter Magazine. We have spent numerous hours setting up, pre lighting, testing, testing some more, had coffee and then tested everything again. The fighter, Marcus Kowal, walks in, I know him since a previous shoot so we get straight to it. I show him his mark (taped on the floor) and say “- light test”. Marcus, 1 day out from a fight just stands there, literally with “the eye of the tiger”, staring at me. I barely focus, I just wanna see how the lights hits him. Click. We watch it together on the monitor. It’s awesome! That’s the shot!

A more brave version of me would be uber cool and say “that’s a wrap”. That would have been the stuff off legends! But I didn’t, instead I insisted we shoot 50 more exposures that all faded in comparison. Finally, I resorted to taking a “fight pose”, I know this will always work and it did but guess what shot made the cover…

A couple of weeks ago this happened again and I had the chance to say “that’s a wrap” and I sort off did (silently) because with clients around it would have been a hard sell to shut down the shoot after 1 exposure. But one day, I also, will make the stuff of legends!

This is the “safe shot” I took after all the others that faded in comparison to the “light test”.