North East Editorial Magazine Photographer: Middlesbrough Captain Jonathan Woodgate 'FourFourTwo' Press Interview

When leading football magazine FourFourTwo was looking for a freelance editorial photographer in the North East with the right background and experience to photograph Middlesbrough’s new signing Jonathan Woodgate, I was delighted to be given the brief.

The magazine’s October edition is running an interview with the Teesside-born sportsman who recently returned to captain his home town club, amid a blaze of publicity. 

With a career that spans Leeds United, Newcastle United, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Chelsea and Stoke City, he’s never been far from the news. I’ve photographed at sportsgrounds, hotels and venues all over the North East and Yorkshire, and I’m familiar with Middlesbrough’s training ground at Rockliffe Park in Hurworth, just south of Darlington, where the interview was taking place, so I had a handful of locations in mind before I got there.

Twenty seven years as a press, commercial and portrait photographer has taught me that photographing VIPs, celebrities and royalty can mean a lot of waiting around for the right moment, and then you might only have a few minutes to get the right shot so it’s essential to be prepared and to work fast.  And not to be over-awed by the subject in front of you.

I arrived early and set up while Jonathan was being interviewed, and although I’d taken lights and flash equipment with me I opted to use the available natural light, to get the feel that the magazine wanted.

Having studied the brief I knew we needed a very simple, thoughtful shot to bring out Jonathan’s personality and tie in with the theme of the interview.  But anyone who knows something about photography will tell you that what looks like a very simple shot can often be the hardest one to take.

That’s where being trained in editorial and press work is an advantage. Those of us with a newspaper background understand about different publication styles and know how to deliver what the picture editor or sub editor is looking for.  

A red door made an ideal backdrop for the shots, and with some editing later in the day back at my photography editing studio in Stockton I was able to match it to Middlesbrough FC’s colours, and to give the magazine a choice of light and dark backgrounds through a good range of close up shots. To go with its ‘One-on-one’ feature the magazine ran a full page shot that was one of two photos each using a slightly different depth of field, which I got by using first my trusty Canon L series lenses, first a 50mm lens F1.2, and then a 135mm F2 lens.

 

I firmly believe in minimum kit for maximum impact, and find that chosen carefully, one camera body and two lenses will be enough for most situations. Less equipment means less fuss, a more relaxed subject and a better set of pictures.

To read the full in-depth interview with Jonathan Woodgate, you can download the digital edition of FourFourTwo here http://fourfourtwo.com or buy it in all good newsagents.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography