Edgar Artiga Shoots Aspiring Olympian Kayla DiCello for Bethesda Magazine

In November 2019, Washington D.C.-based photographer Edgar Artiga shot aspiring Olympic gymnast Kayla DiCello for Bethesda Magazine’s Jan/Feb 2020 issue. The popular local magazine chose Edgar for the shoot based on their ongoing relationship and Edgar’s expertise as a sports photographer, but this was Edgar’s first time photographing a gymnast.

With all sports photography, capturing the perfect moment is always a challenge. With gymnasts the movements are so technical, difficult, and, in my mind, dangerous. You really feel the pressure to get the shot sooner than with other sports.

The first challenge that Edgar ran into with this shoot was finding a time that worked for both him and the gymnast. Kayla DiCello is a full-time high school student, who trains gymnastics for 32 hours per week. Luckily, Edgar was able to set up a time between school and Kayla’s daily gymnastics practice to shoot at Hill’s Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The challenges didn’t stop once Edgar and his assistant Denny Henry got to the gym. Bethesda Magazine had requested portraits and action shots of Kayla on the four-foot-high balance beam. That meant Edgar had to set up his lights four feet higher than normal.

The four lights, three of which were flying at 14 feet on a soft squishy gym mat, would sway every time you walked near. It was not an ideal situation, but we made it work! Thankfully, I brought plenty of sandbags to make sure the stands were secure.

In the two hours they had to set up, Edgar’s assistant walked the balance beam while Edgar focused the camera. The photographer shot tethered, so he was able to see the results of the shot immediately on his laptop. Every time the lighting wasn’t quite right, Denny would readjust the lights and get back on the balance beam.

My assistant (who is not a gymnast) would have to jump up onto the beam, not fall off, and walk to different spots for our light tests. Then, once we started shooting, we would have to make lighting readjustments for each movement.

During the shoot, Edgar knew he wanted to capture Kayla’s back handspring on the beam. Since the move happens so fast, the photographer had to pre-focus the camera where he thought her face would be in the middle of the back handspring and hope that he had chosen the right spot.

There is a split second when I could capture her face in focus mid flip. She flips so fast and finding the pre-focus spot where her head would be mid backflip was challenging. But after probably too many flips, we nailed it!

Bethesda Magazine ran the images as part of the 2020 Best of Bethesda, with Kayla as their Editor’s Pick for Best Hope for a Hometown Olympic Gymnast.

Credits:

Denny Henry

Check out more of Edgar’s work at artigaphoto.com.

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