BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Championship 2015

Ray and I both went to Indian Wells as we had various client shoots to do as well as to capture the action at the first ATP 1000 of the year and an important WTA Premier event. We ended up sharing a room at the Holiday Inn Express which was fun (a whole lot more fun after I had bought some ear plugs to protect me from Ray’s snoring!) and we set about shooting what turned out to be a cracking event. The light in Indian Wells is extremely harsh as it is in the desert and so the whole day apart from the magic hour before the sun goes down, provides huge photographic challenges, especially as an increasing number of players wear hats and peaks. We were very pleased with the results overall though and our clients seemed very pleased with the off-court shoots we did as well. The highlight for me was playing with a fisheye as the sun went down, hanging off the back off court 3 about 60 feet off the ground. It was a great place to capture the desert sun as it dropped but with the centre court arena bathed in a yellowy glow. It is amazing that a fantastic tennis centre has been built in the desert and it always amuses me that if you look over the car park wall away from the beautifully manicured lawns, there is nothing but sand that stretches all the way to the mountain range that tower over the horizon in all directions. It really is a beautiful setting for a major tennis tournament and everybody is super friendly and helpful. Ray and I had a really good tournament and had a great time hanging out together. He had to leave for Miami just before the finals as he had a client shoot to do in Florida, so I stayed for the men’s and women’s finals and watched Novak Djokovic win the men’s and Simona Halep win the women’s. It was great to see Simona so pumped up and I was really pleased with the shots of her when she took control of the match and the emotion was flowing. Novak was slightly more subdued, but he always gives a good photo and didn’t disappoint.

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