Winning a combined total of 19 Olympic and World Championship medals, and setting a new American record for the most gold medals in women’s gymnastics at a single Games, Simone Biles is considered the most decorated American gymnast in history. Fighting her way in and out of foster care as a child, Simone’s incredible journey to success makes her not only a champion, but a true American hero.
In January of this year, Houston photographer Nathan Lindstrom had the opportunity and pleasure to photograph Simone for Spieth America, one of the largest manufacturers of gymnastics equipment in the world. She had just won the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics trials to lead the women’s team to the Rio Olympics. Spieth America had just signed Simone to endorse their product and asked her father to recommended a local photographer. Nathan had recently photographed Simone and her family for an editorial shoot, and based on that experience, Simone’s dad was happy to pass his name on for the job. The shoot’s concept fit nicely with Nathan’s work as a portrait and lifestyle photographer.
Spieth America’s goal for the campaign was to capture portraits and action shots of Simone using the gym equipment. After Nathan’s original phone call with the client, he began planning the three shots of Simone that Spieth America wanted for their product catalog, and possibly an additional three depending on a product line endorsement agreement that was pending with her.
Planning the production and logistics of the shoot was Nathan’s favorite part of the project and was an integral part of the success of the shoot. During preproduction, Nathan created a mood board for the creative direction of the project and prioritized the shot list. The tight budget for the shoot prevented hiring a producer or digital tech, but Nathan had previous tech experience and was able to cover everything on his own. With a short shoot day—just one and a half hours—and the client handling wardrobe and props, Nathan was left with a manageable workload and was able to get everything together on schedule.
With such a tight timeline on production, having clear priorities was extremely important. And challenges did pop up for Nathan and his crew. Just a few days before the shoot, the product line deal that was in the works with Simone came through. Nathan’s shot list now doubled with the new deal, but he had the same hour and a half to shoot. This came out to an average of 15 minutes per shot. Nathan worked out before going into the shoot which shots could be cut as they became crunched on time, in order to accommodate for the tight schedule.
With her training schedule and numerous other commitments, Simone couldn’t afford to spend any extra time on the shoot. No problem, that’s the way our industry works and I’m used to solving problems to make everything work, no matter what is thrown our way.
The evening before the shoot, Nathan, the client, and Nathan’s assistant, Michael Klein, did a walk through of Simone’s gym. This gave them time to work out any kinks and miscommunications before the shoot. They were also able to rearrange gym equipment so they could easily move their gear in for the shoot.
Even with all the prep from the night before, the day of the shoot was one of those fast paced, barely-any-time-to-think kind of days I thrive on.
Come shoot time, Nathan planned each shot location and lighting setup so that he could easily move his lights from one set to the next. In most cases this simply entailed rotating the beam, his main prop, or the lights. By keeping his movements to a minimum he was able to quickly reset for the next shot while Simone had her makeup touched up.
Simone was a total pro through all of it. I know she had a crazy schedule leading up to the US Olympic team’s media cut off for Rio, and given all of her endorsement deals and training schedule I’m not sure how she managed everything. Even so, she was one of the sweetest individuals with whom I have had the pleasure of photographing.
Even with the challenges, the team was very happy with how the project turned out. Nathan says his crew was outstanding and working with Simone is always a joy for him. It was an exhausting day but the results were well worth it. Thanks to Nathan’s planning and expertise, the team was even able to fit in an extra shot while staying within the hour-and-a-half shoot time.
By the end of the shoot, we were exhausted. I’m not sure I had taken time to eat or even drink anything for 4-5 hours. Like I said, we moved fast.
Spieth America was extremely happy with the shoot and the images they produced; many have been used in their marketing materials. Nathan and Spieth America are all looking forward to working together again soon.
To see more photography from Nathan Lindstrom visit, nathanlindstrom.com.