I am presenting a series of photos that I took with the double below the knees runner- Blake Leeper. He is now a Nike Athlete. He is also an Eight-Time Medalist and he broke 2-time world records. He also represented Team USA in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Blake is black, his hair is always nicely groomed. He has a full beard and sharp eyes. His entire body is fit and well-trained.
We are on the tacks at the UCLA Drake Stadium, we shot this picture on January 6, 2020 at 2 pm.
A 2 pm sunlight direction in California is still relatively high. Blake is standing in the center of the image facing the camera and being backlit from the sun. He stands between Lane 8 & 9 which are the tracks closer to the audience. Blake just finished his warm-up and now he is glancing toward his right shoulder with a calm look. His arms are naturally relaxed on both sides of his body. He wears a Nike jacket with a shinny strip designed from shoulder to wrist on both of his arms. And he wears a pair of black Nike shorts.
Next, I will explain the best part of this image which is what photography is all about: light and shadow.
There is a glow or rim light that surrounds Blake from head to toe. This glow makes him stand out from the bleacher in his back which is in the shadow. Blake also stands out because of the shallow depth of field created from the lens & camera, which makes the bleacher background blurry but Blake is sharp. Now you are going to picture him wearing both of his blades in this full-body shot. So not only you see his physical shape, but also you see the strong shadow of his prosthetics legs, his blades, and his standing posture shadow in the foreground.
Since the light comes from behind, so almost half of the image which is also the foreground is being lit with the sun. But Blake’s shadow strongly cut through this highlight. I remember right after I took this picture I told Blake: Hey Blake you have the coolest shadow!