Patrik Giardino Spills the Secrets of Sports Photography
Above: The Paralympics by Patrik
Director and photographer Patrik Giardino, NM Production’s recent signing, has always had a passion for sports, movement and action. While he was concentrated mostly on hockey throughout his life, he bounced around in his youth and tried his hand at every sport that caught his eye - those experiences are the ones that shape his filmmaking and photography style today.
During his stints with various martial arts, as well as hockey and basketball, he figured out that he loved being behind the camera as well, which led him to study at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Patrik’s affinity for sports, combined with his love of action and cinematic composition, inevitably led him to his current career.
He has repeatedly worked with Nike, adidas, Universal, New Balance, the US Army, NFL, Amazon and plenty more world-renowned brands. He has also photographed some of the world’s biggest athletes including LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Andy Murray, Christiano Ronaldo and a plethora of celebrities during his work shooting portraits in LA.
During the time Patrik started shooting for sports, the industry looked very different - equipment and technology were nowhere near where they are today, and most content was shot on film, which restricted the way sports looked for audiences. But he was always an innovator. Patrik has managed to combine his old-school persistence with a novel, open-minded view on sports in commercials and photography, to ultimately create his instantly recognisable, cinematic style, putting the athlete front and centre.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to him to find out the secrets of sports photography, what makes him click, and how he infuses sports with his own vision of beauty and strength.
Above: Patrik
LBB> Tell me about your childhood and how it shaped your interest in creativity and sports. Did you always know this is what you'd be doing?
Patrik> Growing up, I was into all sorts of sports, I ran around trying out as many of them as I could. I loved watching all the sporting events such as the Olympics - these competitions always interested me but then, as I got a bit older, I became exposed to creativity. I started watching movies like Star Wars. I then wanted to pursue a career in movies but people kept telling me there were other, more secure ways to make money, so I got a degree in electrical engineering. However, throughout all of this, I never really stopped connecting with my creative side. I was photographing things by myself, learning how to shoot black and white, taking a couple of courses and overall just gaining lots of knowledge.
LBB> Do you believe that your own involvement in sports throughout your life informs your filmmaking style and why?
Patrik> Yeah, definitely. First of all, sport taught me not to be strict, but to be very focused. I have definitely brought that focus, and determination to succeed in the filmmaking world. My style has been influenced by sport as I love the intensity and the action. Even when I shoot portraits, I always want to try to highlight the athlete, find that edge to them. Whatever photograph or image I’m working on, from a megastar to just the regular dude on the street, I want to make them look incredible.
LBB> When did you discover your love for the camera?
Patrik> As I started to watch films, I was like, ‘oh, I want to do that too’. Then I got interested in fashion because I had been around a lot of it when I was a little kid living in Italy - my dad is Italian. I started seeing all this photography, and I wanted to create beautiful images.
That was the beginning of my photography for me - shooting fashion. There was no talk of sport, but what I noticed when I was doing fashion was how cool it was, the way the models moved through the shot. It's not about just standing still and striking a pose. I was interested in their movement. I liked to shoot them in action, rather than just having them standing still. This then led me to capture dance. I love it to this day. It’s just beautiful to see the dancers move through the frame.
LBB> You went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena - how did that change the trajectory of your career?
Patrik> When I went to the Art Centre I had already been working in Europe - I worked in Sweden. I decided to go back to school, which was a little bit of a culture shock. What I noticed, by going back to study, was that I gained so much more in-depth knowledge about all the disciplines. I learned how to develop film, how to shoot properly, and [about] composition. These are things that I didn’t know or hadn’t learned about before going to the Art Center.
I was still doing sports, but at that time I had stopped doing it on a grand scale because, after 10 years playing for the national [ice hockey] team, it had taken its toll on my body. So I just played for fun. To this day, I have suffered a lot of injuries, which still pop up from time to time, so I had to switch to golf - it's way easier.
It took a little while for me to find my focus - why and what I wanted to shoot. The Art Center was brand new in the US and I thought I was into fashion, however, I didn't do any fashion there. Fashion was not that great in LA at the time, there weren’t that many big brands and so this is when I started to photograph celebrities. I got hooked up with an agent who got me work shooting celebrity portraits.
Shooting for celebrities in the late ‘90s to early ‘00s started to feel a little bit boring. There were some interesting projects, but it was always the same - looking into the camera, beautiful lighting and so on; it didn’t feel new. There was a formula that most people used, there were some people who shot really beautiful portraits but they didn't have the lighting quite right. Whereas I was always thinking about novelty and different ways to use light, to create depth and atmosphere.
LBB> How did your style look at the time and what were your earlier inspirations? Have some of them remained the same?
Patrik> At the time I really liked Anton Kornberg, the way he was shooting black and white, love letter printing. Corbett and Peter Lindbergh were also two photographers who caught my eye. There were lots of people but for me, photography was not as much of an inspiration as film was. I love watching movies, and in the movies I saw moments that could work really, really well in photography. Then I started looking at filmmakers. They deal with life very differently to photographers. They create a cinematic move that moves through space, this is when I thought - I can do that in a similar way, but with photography.
LBB> What is your favourite sport to direct and why? And what is the most difficult?
Patrik> One of my favourite sports, obviously the one I've done a lot of, is ice hockey. I like martial arts too because of the action and speed. It doesn't matter what kind of martial art it is, I like it because of the mood it portrays. Back in the day, the cameras weren’t that easy to use. We had to shoot everything on film, and there were not enough fast lights available to shoot at high speed, so you had to try and shoot in a bright environment. We started with strobes back then and with Hasselblad cameras - it was a little harder.
For me, it’s all about timing - anticipating what is going to happen, I have to be a split second ahead of time. Therefore, when I’m capturing sports, my experience of having done the sport is very helpful. I know first-hand what that move entails. I can anticipate the movement of what that still image will be, or what the action will be if I’m going to capture the end-to-end process of somebody jumping through the air. This is an incredible feeling and skill to have.
Above: The Paralympics by Patrik
LBB> What are some basic differences between directing other categories and sports? What are some things people who want to go into the category should know?
Patrik> I would say that working with action is totally different to working with portraits and still images. It's much easier today, due to modern cameras that can rapid-fire. Once you start lighting and you want a certain look, it takes time. It's about intuition too, finding the right moment to take the pictures.
When shooting sports, I do a lot of very simple, small-scale tests. I guess that it’s due to my background and discipline in actually participating in sports where you always need to train before game day. You don't want to be in front of a client and go, ‘What do we do now?’. One big thing when you shoot sports celebrities is that if anything goes wrong with that person, you're liable for millions of dollars. So, you have to learn how to work fast, and know exactly what you need to get in a very, very short amount of time.
You have to be totally on it, and have alternative plans. What can often happen is that you may ask an athlete - such as Ronaldo - to run around the pitch and dribble with the ball, and they might decline, as their leg is bruised or whatever. So then you go to your plan B.
Most sportspeople don’t want to be photographed. However, if you get them to move and play the sport that they love, it doesn’t matter if they don’t like the branded clothes they’re being asked to wear, as it'll be fun and they will pop a smile. You're going to get expressions you didn't expect to get. When they’re doing what they love, they will relax.
The sad part nowadays is that you're lucky if you get an hour - it’s usually much less. The most important thing is that you need to know exactly what you want to shoot, because they will change it.
LBB> To you, what is the importance of composition in sports photography?
Patrik> I’ve always liked 3D environments. You can play with depth of field, you can play with what’s in front and what's behind the subject. It's a little bit harder in a studio with one person, than it is shooting on location. To me, form is what's in the background, what's in the foreground. I always think about what I can blur to make the eye focus on the subject first. There are so many different ways that you can do this - relighting, composition, depth of field.
LBB> What importance do light and sound play in sports content and why? How do you use them in your own work?
Patrik> Lighting is everything in still photography and sound design enhances the whole image that you have in front of you. When it comes to directing, it makes it much more interesting when you have amazing sound design. Lighting and sound design work together all the time, and you can play around with it depending on the subject and what you're trying to achieve.
Above: The Paralympics by Patrik
LBB> What do you prefer - directing moving or still image when it comes to sports?
Patrik> I love to get that single image that looks amazing. When the athlete is in action, or the way they look at you while they are doing their sport. You get that moment when you just connect with the athlete, this is really interesting in the photography world. When it comes to motion, I like to get the vibe of the whole set up, everything that’s going on with and around the subject. With stills, you focus on the moment and with moving images, you focus on a sequence in a single moment.
They're two different formats. For example, imagine Ronaldo taking a shot; in a still he’d be mid-air, kicking the ball. LeBron would be hitting an amazing dunk. Whereas, in a video, I can edit him dribbling through a couple of players and the ball would be flying through the air, then I’d switch to a close up on his face as he flies through and kicks the ball. It makes it interesting in a different way, it’s hard to match the coolness that you get with stills.
LBB> If you had to describe your work in three words, what would they be and why?
Patrik> Moody - because I love playing with lights and I love to shape bodies with lights. That's what comes with 3D environment, 3D thinking. No matter what it is, I love the whole mood in the image, it is so important.
Strength - especially when it comes to sport, to show the body’s strength, how they move, how well trained the athletes are.
Beauty - as I always try to make it look beautiful. Everything's got to look gorgeous or fantastic or impactful.
LBB> Is there any particular camera equipment used for filming sports and what is important to be noted about the gear in the category?
Patrik> Obviously high speed shooting helps a lot. Nowadays, with drones and stabilisation systems, you can film the athletes as if you are right in there with them.
A light camera is always useful, because once you shoot action, you don't need the highest quality, you just need a really good camera that can follow the subject and it's light. This then allows you to be in the action with them.
I use a lot of RED and ARRI cameras. What I like is RED Komodo. It's awesome because it gives that vibe of being in with the athlete. And sometimes I even go small, like Sony FX3 cameras, they're super light and super easy. I haven’t used GoPros as much but sometimes I do. They have a specific place and are used more for adventure, high-action stuff. However, it's interesting to use GoPros because I can put them anywhere I want.
Above: Jason Momoa by Patrik
LBB> How has the category changed in the past ten years and what do you expect to see in the coming ten?
Patrik> There are two major things. One is obviously time. The biggest thing that has changed in the whole industry is time. There's no doubt about it, it makes things way more challenging. We often only get 30 minutes with an athlete, sometimes 20 minutes. It's hard when you want to do some really cool stuff, then we find out how much time we actually have! That's the biggest difference between now and 10 years ago. Another thing is equipment. It’s got a lot better, a lot lighter, and now it’s all digital. It's just freaking awesome!
And when it comes to the next 10 years - we recently did a shoot on an LED volume using virtual production - a lot of TV shows are going in this direction. In one day, we shot four different stadiums that we created digitally. We actually built the stadiums digitally, allowing us to shoot basketball, ice hockey, baseball and then gymnastics. Virtual reality will help a lot with allowing us to shoot athletes without us or them having to travel.
LBB> With more women in sports and in sports advertising, is there something to be said about filming women in sports - are there still prejudices that impact the way sports ads with women in them look, or are these being slowly pushed out?
Patrik> I definitely feel like it's being much more pushed out, especially lately. It all depends on the countries and their ideas and ideals about women. Different countries have different ideas about sports as well. For me, I’ve always shot women in the exact same way as I shoot men. You want to show the same strength and determination. It doesn’t matter who's in front of the camera, it's about how good they are at doing what they do, that's all that matters. I definitely feel like prejudice has been pushed aside much more, especially in the US and Europe.
LBB> What's the coolest thing on the horizon for you right now?
Patrik> My friend and I are in the process of making a short film written as a three-part movie series. We have lots of options for it. Hopefully we will get it going in the near future. This is what we've been looking to do, it's full-on action. It ties in with the sports world, but it’s more like ‘John Wick’ meets the samurais. I’m using all my skills and knowledge from sports and adapting it.
