Queen Underwood, now at the 2012 Olypics

Cover photo for Seattle Woman Magazine of two-time lightweight US champion Quanitta "Queen" Underwood. I did this for the June 2011 edition. Queen, a Seattle native, is now in London and will be competing in the Olympics. Good luck, Queen!

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Cover Shot: Ashley Lodree

This is Ashley Lodree, an amazing athlete. I photographed her for the cover of Seattle Woman Magazine in July. Not sure why the faint lines are there; they appeared when I downloaded the online version. I wanted to show the cover as it was laid out. This July edition is no longer available, but the latest one can be downloaded and is usually displayed in the upper left corner at Seattle Woman Magazine's site . I did the cover for the August issue as well.

[ETA: at least for now, the July issue can still be downloaded directly from this link . <-Fixed this link and some other things on 8/30/07]

I have to say that I am not really a sports photographer, and I don't know a lot about sports or the well known outstanding sports VIPs, but there was something special about her that touched me very much. When I worked on the photo I did of her in post production on the computer, where she is on the starting track looking into the camera with her hands on the ground, I could not stop looking. I think it was the combination of the softness in her eyes and the strength that showed in her arms that moved me so much. I think for the first time, consciously, I saw the commitment to reach a goal in her body. I had a glimpse at it, what it can mean for somebody to make a decision and then to follow up on it and not to give up.

You can see her beautiful soft eyes also in the close up:



This shot, made just a moment after starting, shows what a good athlete she is:



In the moment where she collects all her strength to push forward and get out of the blocks, it looks nearly as if she is flying forward without investing her own energy: yet her face is totally relaxed, nearly as if she is surrendering to another force which would carry her.

[ETA: Some of the photos here are not always showing up, perhaps from being viewed too many times on Flickr. Will see what we can do to resolve this. 8/30/07]

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