Have you made your resolutions for the year? Are you sticking to them? Flighty visions can get to the best of us, but sometimes you find one that’s fueled with enough passion and guided with enough logic that the end goal is actually viable. Back in early fall, Ian MacLellan resolved to create a portfolio of running images. The goal? To reach a new set of clients in an area he cared about. Being a runner himself, and living in such a runner’s city as Boston, Ian knew that running photography was the direction he wanted to go in. He wanted to capture the feeling of why he and others love to run. Ian had to start from scratch to put the portfolio together, but he was determined to do so, and now, after laying out the ground work and executing his plan, he’s seeing the reward.
It’s the best when you work on projects that you are really passionate about, but nobody is going to hire you to do that unless you show them your love and that you have the skills to photograph it.
Ian partnered with his filmmaker friend, Dylan Ladds, to host a casting call for running models, and they were blown away with the number of responses they received in just a couple days. They had three models on each day’s shoot, and shared the time and expenses between the two of them so they could both pull off the projects they wanted. Ian hoped that his investment in these new running images would pay off within a year—needless to say he was delighted when just a few months later, he was approached by Runner’s World to shoot a Cape Cod runner for an article on Alzheimer’s Disease.
Within a few months, I had done this shoot for Runner’s World, received requests for quotes from a few different running companies, and had another photo published in Trail Runner magazine.
The subject of Ian’s shoot, Greg O’Brien, was a man with his own resolutions. In his article, “Outrunning the Demons,” Greg explains his constant battle to remember where he is and what he’s doing. He explains the fear and confusion that grip him when the sun goes down and the way that running helps keep those feelings tempered. So despite his age and his worsening condition, he chooses to keep running. Ian chose to shoot Greg at sunrise because he thought the beaches and the roads would be quieter and more beautiful then. He shot portraits, running shots, and then followed Greg home to capture natural working photos as Greg prepared for the lectures and speeches he continually does.
It’s much more rewarding to get hired to photograph people and things that you care deeply about and it feels so great when an editor really seems to get you.
The shoot for Runner’s World fit right into Ian’s style, as he loves photographing locals around New England. And, of course, he was happy to add some more running portraits to his repertoire. Ian says that in addition to people reaching out to share their appreciation of his story in Runner’s World, he’s been receiving responses from a number of bloggers as well as professional runners who want to work with him on future projects. Ian wants to continue the path he laid out for himself this autumn, teaming up once again with filmmaker friend Dylan, and carrying his running images through the seasons with snow running, mud running, and beach running.
To view more of Ian’s work, visit maclellanimages.com.