Sounders FC Goalkeeper Kasey Keller
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial
It’s almost time for my two favorite professional sports. Lawn darts, and baseball. Just kidding! Soccer and baseball. Although we may be watching lawn darts if MLS and the union don’t come to an agreement soon. Aside from that, it is pretty exciting to be a soccer fan in the Pacific Northwest right now with how the Sounders have taken the country by storm. The first game of the 2010 season will be played here against Philadelphia, the newest expansion team to MLS. And don’t even get me started about next year when the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers will join MLS. Those rivalries will be amazing!
This is a picture I recently took of Kasey Keller. Kasey is the goalkeeper and captain of the Seattle Sounders FC. From my time with him, he seems like a laid back fun loving guy who doesn’t take life too seriously. While we were talking on set, he said “I get to play a game and catch a ball for a living.” It was fun to see that side of him, but going into the shoot, I wanted to capture some of his competitive spirit. One of the Sounders games I was at last season I spent some time on the grass right behind the goal. Qwest Field is known for being a loud stadium and the fans can carry on with the best of them. But as loud as it was in the stadium, I could hear Kasey screaming instructions to his teammates over the crowd. With that in mind, I asked Kasey if he would yell at me for a few pictures. I half expected to be rejected, but he said sure and started yelling. I won’t repeat what he yelled, but it was pretty funny.
Go Sounders!
(Here) is a post with video and pictures from the Sounders billboard I shot last season.
Tags: athlete portrait, Celebrity, celebrity headshot, Celebrity Portrait, Kasey Keller, Kasey Keller portrait, Kasey Keller screaming, MLS, Portrait, portrait photographer, screaming athlete, Seattle photographer, Seattle Sounders, Seattle Sounders FC, Soccer, soccer player, soccer portrait, Sounders, Sounders goalkeeper
Josh Smith
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Editorial
That’s me on the right side, down in the corner… I’m sure Josh was standing on his tip toes. What a kidder. I am kind of a sports nut if you didn’t know, so I really enjoy working with athletes. Actually, I really enjoy working with just about everyone, but a small part of me still thinks I might have a shot at the bigs. I guess the reality of it for me is photographing professional athletes is as close as I’m going to get. Now that I think about it, I seem to get hired quite a bit to photograph the big guys. It’s probably because people know if an athlete goes crazy during a shoot or becomes too high maintenance, I can use my size to intimidate them and get the shots I need. Like when I had to smack around Craig and Paul Pumphrey on the Human Wreckingballs shoot I did last year. Just kidding Craig! I would never think about crossing you. I could probably take Paul though.
Josh Smith is a high school senior at Kentwood High in Washington State. He stands at 6′ 9” and weighs in at 270 pounds. Not bad, not bad. As far as I can tell he is currently ranked as a top 5 college recruit in the country, but I think that changes frequently.
The day before the shoot (which was for SLAM), Josh was in New York playing in the high school basketball All Star game. I am sure he is excited about what is going on in his life right now, but he seemed so calm and in control. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in high school and get this kind of national attention. Not only that, but how crazy is it to know that there is a very good chance that you will be pro in just a few years while you are still living a somewhat normal lifestyle. It sounds to me like he is actually a little tired of all the attention, which is understandable. Anytime something big happens in a persons life, such as graduation, marriage, having a baby, etc., that event becomes an easy topic for discussion for everyone around you. It’s the big easy question that allows people to engage you in conversation without having to think about what they are saying.
In addition to basketball, Josh is playing football this year. Some might think he is insane given his potential in basketball, but he is doing what makes him happy. Can’t argue with that. You have to enjoy life, and live it to the fullest. Best of luck to Josh in his final year of high school. I am excited to see what the future holds for him, and selfishly, I would be excited if UW was in his future. Forget UCLA, Josh! :)
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Tags: athlete, athlete portrait, basketball, basketball pictures, Celebrity Portrait, Josh Smith, Josh Smith picture, Kentwood Basketball, portrait photographer, Seattle photographer, SLAM Magazine, sports pictures
