Home > Culture > Mentor Showcase > The 2007 Best-of Series: Bruce Kluckhohn
The 2007 'Best Of' Series
We have now produced an annual Best Of issue of the ASMP Bulletin for the third year in a row. As before, we selected twenty projects for our issue — but this year, we had nearly 200 excellent submissions! It was a tough decision, and we thank all those who submitted their work. We hope you will enjoy reading about these projects.
Bruce Kluckhohn, Minneapolis, MN
Web site: www.brucekphoto.com
Project: Sports documentation as team photographer of the Minnesota Wild Hockey Club
Action shots are the name of the game for sports specialist Bruce Kluckhohn. In addition to documenting the Minnesota Wild for the past seven seasons, Kluckhohn has recently added the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Swarm lacrosse club to his roster. Always in search of unique perspectives, Kluckhohn utilizes digital capture, which provides greater flexibility when he works with multiple remotely triggered cameras. Custom color balances and Photoshop actions are additional methods he uses to speed the process from camera to client.
All images in this article © Bruce Kluckhohn
ASMP: How long have you been in business?
Twenty years.
ASMP: How long have you been an ASMP member?
Since 1993, and worked for an ASMP member before that.
ASMP: What are your photographic specialties?
Sports, editorial portraits.
ASMP: Please describe the processes and techniques central to the making of this work.
I typically work with a hand-held camera and set up a remote camera or two additionally. To get a variety of images, as well as to accommodate the other photographers who shoot at the arena, I usually move around between periods. I prefer to shoot on the ice level, as the action feels more immediate. I will shoot with a 35-350mm much of the time, either from a position between the benches at center ice, or in the corners, through holes in the glass. I have 8 Speedotrons in the ceiling, so I get nice light evenly across the rink, but I cannot shoot continuously, and time my shots on what I think might happen. The remote cameras are usually in places where I expect action, offer a different perspective, and usually cover an area I have less ability to shoot due to my position. They include above the goal, in the goal, and in the dasher board.
ASMP: What do you consider your most valuable piece of equipment?
Probably it is the 235-350mm lens, as it allows me to cover such a range of action at a good full frame level.
ASMP: What is unique about your style/approach or what sets you and your work apart from other photographers?
I like to think I have the ability both to create strong images as well as respond to what happens in front of me-often critical in shooting sports. I like to create beautiful photographs, even when I have little control over what happens in front of me.
ASMP: Do you play hockey, currently or in the past? How does that personal knowledge of the game impact your shooting?
I try to play as much as I can; in winter it’s about 3 times a week. It may help in ways, but more likely shooting hockey helps me play better, and not as much the other way. As you photograph a game and learn its rules, patterns and nuances, you tend to have a good understanding of what might work. Any given night, though, who knows what will happen.
ASMP: How do you balance your work as team photographer with the other aspects of your business? Has this job resulted in you concentrating your focus on sports or restricting the amount of time you spend pursuing other subjects or photo markets?
The sports work became the dominant part of my business when I added the baseball team, the MN Twins, to my regular work. Previously, it was significant, but now there is no off season, as the 2 seasons overlap. Much of the work is at night and on the weekends, though, so I am often able to still handle other jobs as they come up. Many times, I have to simply say I am not available, or like when I was volunteering as a Director for ASMP, I had to occasionally hire someone to work for me to cover the games. The biggest challenge is balancing the needs of my family, with a new daughter this last winter.
ASMP: Do you shoot other sports subjects besides hockey?
I am also the team photographer for the Minnesota Twins, a baseball team, and an indoor lacrosse team, the Swarm. I also shoot a fair amount of football, and a smattering of other sports as the jobs come my way.
ASMP: How do you determine the best position for the dasher camera? Do you work with more than one? Please describe the thought process behind setting this up and triggering the shots.
The position itself is fairly limited thanks to the ads on the dasher boards. I wanted a spot at the end since that is where a lot of the battles for the puck occur, as well as the race to eliminate an icing call. The boards’ construction also influenced where we thought of putting them. The work to replace the panel with Lexan was much simpler on a smaller panel, and we only had a couple of those. After that, one with a space from advertising left us the spot we had. It was on the other side last year with different ads then. After the spot was chosen, I plan to either shoot the goal area, which is 15 feet away, or right in front of the hole, focusing about 3 feet away. The nearer sport has fewer hits and more misses, but it has a greater impact when it works, like with the image here.
ASMP: How has digital capture impacted sports photography in general?
As with other types of photography, it is easier to do more and do it more quickly. The turn-around is completely different. When I started 20 years ago, we would shoot the first period of a game, take the black-and-white film, and go to develop it offsite, print it, scan it, and send it, slowly. Now I transmit images during the first intermission and do not miss any of the game as I stay until the end. The quality at high speed is much better, too. While high-speed negative film was improving, the quality of images in the poor light we have at the domed stadium keeps getting better and better with digital. Clients no longer insist on outdoor games for images — they just prefer them.
ASMP: How has it impacted your style/approach to sports photography?
I get better pictures and more of them. I now set up more remote cameras than I did with film, and they can shoot more than 36 images — a limit with remote film cameras. I love the exposure latitude I get, and better colors. I used to either get definition in the ice or the puck, but not both, and a color cast seemed to be inherent to it. Now, my colors are much truer, the ice has definition, and the puck, too. The large prints we have done all over the arena look much, much better.
ASMP: How much, if any, Photoshop work do you typically do to your sports images? What influences this decision?
The main influence is how the images will be used. I shoot hundreds of images a night, and cannot enhance them all. I have a custom color balance for the images, and I shoot with strobes, so the images all have a strong starting point. When I do work on images, I typically work on fine tuning the color, darken the background and edges, give the ice definition, and lighten the face. It reminds me of working on black-and-white prints when I started out. For the web gallery at the end of the games, I created actions to automate the ways in which the images will be prepared to get them to the web quickly.
ASMP: How has working digitally impacted your fee structure? Please explain your strategy for this.
On one level, my fee structure has not changed with digital at all. My fees are based on how the work will be used, how many people will see it, its size, placement, and so on. But I do charge for “image processing.” When my team queried, “It’s free, right?” I quickly explained all that goes into the digital world — having much more expensive cameras, computers, computer accessories, software, and a lot more time working with the images to get them ready for the client. I based my image processing fee (IPF) on the film costs, looking at the whole year as a way to start recouping the costs of going digital. My plan was to do so within 2 years, since by then I’d need new gear. I think I hit it at 18 months. My main client was thrilled at the speed, ease, and quality they received, praised me for making the decision to go digital, and never questioned the IPF. To them, it was money well spent. It’s allowed me to upgrade, which never seems to end.
ASMP: What kind of expectations about your photography and game coverage do you get from the team or the publicity department? Are there any restrictions placed upon you?
In general, I have a lot of freedom. I shoot nearly every home game, so I have a lot of opportunities to get good images. Early in the season, there are always more needs, especially of anyone new. We often need photos of players before they have ever donned a jersey. My department contact will let me know what needs they have, and I make sure I work on it, but largely, I am left to my own direction. That said, the team has 23 players and needs shots of all of them — so I shoot a lot, I shoot anything that might look good.
ASMP: What are the licensing arrangements for your hockey coverage and how did you negotiate this? Has there been any changes made to this agreement in the time that you have had this job?
I license to the team a very broad rights package, and retain the rights to license the images to third parties, within the restrictions to comply with the team, league, and players’ licensing contracts. It has basically been the same in the 7 years I have worked with the team.
ASMP: How do relationships work between different media outlets during game coverage? Is your access any different than media personnel capturing video or film?
There are some differences. With TV, only the broadcast company can shoot. But they sometimes demand prime positions and get it, since they pay so much money to be there. I work with the team to figure out from where all the photographers will shoot; we have better positions and lesser positions, and it is a bit of a dance to try and make everyone happy as we rotate through the positions, especially on big nights like the playoffs.
ASMP: In your recent experience, have you perceived any tendencies towards the repurposing of video footage into still imagery? If so, what effect do you feel this has on your work?
I have not seen much of this as of yet, and typically when I have, it has been for TV. It has not affected me at this point.
ASMP: Can you envision yourself supplementing your work in stills with video capture or multimedia? What, if anything, are you doing to investigate or learn about these developments?
At this time, there has been no discussion for this. As technology develops, I will try to keep abreast of changes and be the one who serves the team with what they need.
