Photo by Dylan Coulter
A seasoned and sought-after pro based in Brooklyn, NY, Dylan Coulter(Instagram: @dylancoulter)shoots a mix of editorial and commercial work, often for “household name” clients such as Gatorade. He’s been shooting professionally for 12 years, and one of his specialties is capturing controlled action images of athletes in pre-determined locations to visualize his clients’ concepts in a dynamic and compelling way. He never shoots actual games or matches but strives to convey an authentic action feel.
“As a teenager, I took photos with mixed results,” he recalls, “ but I grew up playing sports and I always enjoyed basketball and soccer. My interest in photography came later, but my sports background gave me an innate feel for the action and timing needed to get a convincing shot of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican superstar sprinter, who is one of the greatest athletes of all time.”
“The striking image in this Gatorade ad shows Bolt coming out of the starting blocks into a full stride as he would in competition, but he wasn’t running at 100% because it wasn’t necessary. It looks straightforward, but to achieve it we had to block the ambient light by building an outdoor studio on his home track in Kingston, Jamaica, complete with an elaborate six-dual-bank lighting setup to get the precise effect we were going for…and it took a crew of 15-20 people! Our aim was to create a convincing image that captured the feel of a night track meet in order to showcase his awesome power, determination, and concentration.
“Usain Bolt is actually a very friendly, forthcoming, low-key person, very thoughtful and professional, but we wanted to emphasize his intensity. The client’s underlying and explicit message for the action shot was the idea that elite athletes sweat a lot, and therefore need to be rehydrated with Gatorade—so our theme was to convey the visceral concept of sweat as an integral part of intense athletic competition. In short, our challenge was create the mood and intensity of an actual competition. That’s what determined our shot list—it was a very precisely defined assignment.”
“Our technique was to show a lot of detail in his upper arm, body, and face to convey the exertion and energy of a competitive event,” Coulter continues. “And since there’s not a lot of high-end photo equipment available on the island we had to bring all our equipment, air freighted from Miami, stabilize it on the track surface, and then build the outdoor studio. We used strobes to freeze the motion at a flash-determined speed of 1/3500 or 1/4000 sec and that’s why we needed lots of power. We used Broncolor units because they provided the best flash control, and flash duration along and the output we needed. I used a Hasselblad H4 camera with a Phase 250 IQ back of around 50MP resolution. It has the newer Sony CMOS sensor so you can shoot at ISO 200 and 400 with extremely low noise. We shot him in profile as he moved across the frame just as he was leaving the blocks. Short distance runners start their race by pushing their feet against the blocks the instant the starting gun is fired to get the fastest possible start. I’ve shot sprinters before, but it was still an amazing experience to shoot one of the best athletes of all time, a man that has dominated his sport. He was wonderful—he wanted to meet us the night before the shoot to get a sense of what the shot was all about and what we needed from him. He was very cordial, acknowledged our crew, and clearly was focused on understanding the process of creating a first class image.”
“Our actual shooting window was only about 1 hour,” recalls Coulter, and the actual shoot took much less time. It was a very technical shoot and we were constantly evaluating the images we captured on the fly, but about ¾ of the way through we knew we had a number of good options. We shot some pictures in full stride and others in mid-stride, but the one just coming out of the blocks gave the most powerful look, and we know we really only needed one shot for the ad. I did a portrait set after the action. I wanted to convey some if his laid-back aspect, but also his athletic “killer instinct” that comes out during competition. His sheer physicality is overwhelming, but the intensity is fleeting.
“Essentially what we were doing was combining the precision of a studio shot with the energy of an actual track event. All our energy was focused on the graphic elements, and that‘s why we placed lights high above and behind Bolt to create edge lighting and a highlight on the top of his arm, giving the look and feel of a night competition under stadium lights. It’s a stylized look aimed at evoking a night stadium feel. Our intention was to capture a transcendent moment in the athlete’s stride, and a powerful evocation of his unique style and form. The droplets of sweat on his body are real but the droplets that look like they’re coming off the back of his head were created in post-production by adding a water droplet pattern. We shot plates of various “sweat” patterns on a separate studio day in New York, using a variety of different rigging provided by our special effects stylist. We were aiming for “authenticity in the realm of the possible” and I think we achieved it. As for the portrait, I think it conveys an intensity similar tothe competition pose, but since he’s a pretty laid-back guy we had to get him to that place of intensity of expression while still showcasing the uniqueness and beauty of his magnificent physical form.”
“Overall I’m very happy with the images we got, “ concludes Dylan Coulter, “and Gatorade and the agency are very pleased as well. We were in Kingston for more than an assignment; it was a great life experience that was fulfilling on many levels, both personally and professionally.”
See more of Dylan Coulter’s work:
Instagram: @dylancoulter
