When professional baseball player Ichiro Suzuki was approaching a huge career milestone of 3000 hits in Major League Baseball (MLB), his sponsor Mizuno reached out to Atlanta-based photographer Ryan Gibson. They wanted to create a tribute that would show off this incredible achievement.
Ichiro has been with Mizuno since he started his professional career in Japanese professional baseball. They have continued to sponsor him throughout his career in the MLB. Ryan is a huge fan of baseball. Therefore, he was excited to be a part of this project highlighting a great athlete.
The shoot posed challenges in planning due to the limited days off in baseball. Ichiro’s involvement was further complicated as he was in the midst of the season. Luckily, around the time the shoot needed to get done, Ichiro’s team, the Marlins, were scheduled to play in Atlanta. This coincidence worked well as Atlanta is where Mizuno’s headquarters are located.
Ryan worked with Mizuno’s creative director, John Petri throughout the project. John was able to secure permission to use Turner Field before one of the games. Together, they came up with a shot list and planned to do the shoot a few hours before one of the games.
On the day of the shoot, they arrived early, securing access to an unused locker room for setting up. This provided an opportunity to capture a few images of Ichiro’s jersey before the shoot commenced. They waited in the dugout for Ichiro to arrive, intending to capture the rest of the shots they needed.
We then headed to the dugout to wait for Ichiro. It was the middle of summer in Georgia so it was about 8000 degrees!
Working around professional athletes’ schedules poses its own difficulties. Adding the unpredictable variable of weather makes for an even more challenging day. When Ichiro finally arrived, it was right as he needed to start warming up.
We had to scrap our initial shot list and work on the fly getting as many shots as we could without being able to direct Ichiro. I had my two assistants cross light and move with me as I captured as many different looks as I could while he warmed up. It wasn’t at all what we had planned for but we were able to get some great shots.
In the end, the images turned out great, with Mizuno using several of them on their social media and website in the buildup to Ichiro’s 3000-hit milestone.
I’m a lifelong HUGE baseball fan. The whole experience was my favorite part of the project. I can’t think of a better way to spend a summer day than at a ballpark. Add in a little photo shoot with one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game and it was a pretty good day.
See more of Ryan’s photography on his website.
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