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naperville magazine

The Pitcher's Wife

The Pitcher's Wife

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It’s no secret the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016. The city went crazy; anything and everything connected to the Cubs was suddenly gold. Everyone wanted to know about the team and the city was in a state of shock after a 108 year World Series drought.

One of my favorite clients over the last 12 years has been Naperville Magazine and in April 2017, we were able to do a story on Gina Grimm, wife of pitcher Justin, who grew up in Naperville. Unfortunately since the season was underway, Justin couldn’t make it but Gina was able to shoot at Wrigley Field on a clear Spring morning. I wanted a background that would be instantly recognizable to Cubs fans so I posed her on top of the dugout with the iconic ivy covered walls and scoreboard in the background. We weren’t allowed to shoot on the field (the mound would’ve been my first choice for a location), but I admit I partly wanted to shoot there just to know what it felt like to be on the ‘hallowed turf’…

We didn’t have a lot of time with Gina, but as a baseball fan, it was one of my more memorable shoots. After all, what other job will allow you to get into an empty Wrigley Field, take over part of the stadium for half an hour and and get paid to be there?

Gear | Canon 1DX Mark2, 24-105mm f/4L USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM



Professional Athlete, Casey Short

Professional Athlete, Casey Short

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One of my favorite clients is Naperville Magazine, who I’ve been shooting for since 2007. The magazine has a circulation of over 40,000, and is bundled with the Sunday Chicago Tribune. My assignments have included shooting CEOs of multinational corporations, interiors of beautifully renovated homes, working with dozens of models for fashion spreads, shooting in restaurants, colleges and on the streets of downtown Naperville and other Chicagoland locations. It’s been a lot of fun and the variety has been great.

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Not too long ago, I photographed one of my favorites shoots for the magazine which also came out as the cover story. In late November, we met up at Toyota Park to do the shooting with Casey Short, who plays defense for the Chicago Red Stars soccer team and has been invited to try out for the USA national team.

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Casey couldn’t have been more easy to work with. We had the stadium to ourselves to work in and around, so we shot the cover image in the tunnel leading down to the field. We also used the field as well as the Chicago Fire (men’s soccer team) locker room. Most of the shots were taken using basic lighting– a medium soft box, with natural light allowed to fill in the background– and a Canon 1DX Mark II camera. I used a 70-200 f/2.8 lens for all the pictures except the action shots, which were taken on a 300mm f/2.8 lens.

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