I was commissioned by the Globe and Mail earlier this month to take a portrait of Patrick Kabongo, an offensive lineman with the Edmonton Eskimos’ CFL football team. The story was about how much he volunteers and gives back to his community. Patrick is a 6-foot-6, 315 pound small C celebrity here in our northern city. Fans love him because of how he plays on the field but he’s also known for his personality. Every time I’ve seen him he usually sports a huge smile or a great laugh. But, he seemed almost serene in every photo I took of him.

Patrick and his family fled the African city of Kinshasa in 1982 when the Zaire government was battling rebel forces in a bloody conflict. He came to Canada and grew up in Montreal and got started in football through an organization that runs sports programs for underserved children. He ended up playing at Vanier College and then to Nebraska University. Sometimes we forget that these athletes playing in our CFL are all top ranked football players coming from prestigious US football schools.

The Technical Stuff: This portrait involved three lighting scenarios. I used my Nikon D700 with a 50mm f/1.4 for the blue photo and a Nikon D300 and the 17-55mm lens for the other two. The first photo is obvious, with two Nikon speed lights with white shoot thru umbrellas on either side. I also use a Honl 1/8 grid on a Nikon SB900 for very focused lighting on his face (for both lit photos). In the third photo I put the speed lights behind him. BTW, that’s the roof he’s holding on to.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach stands by a window at this office at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo by Jimmy Jeong for the Globe and Mail.

I was commissioned last week by the Globe and Mail to take a portrait of the Albert premier. They had slotted a time for myself and the reporter from 3:30 to 4pm. So basically, a half-an-hour for the interview and the portrait. Which usually means 5 min or less for the portrait. That’s problem one.

 So, as I was doing my research on photos of past premiers and politicians one thing I didn’t want to do was the stand-by photo of the Premier behind his desk flanked by the Canadian flag and the Alberta flag. Boring and it usually doesn’t add anything to the story. I’m sure the story will mention that he is the premier of Alberta or else it will be obvious. So why take the obvious and redundant photo. Problem two – how not to take another redundant photo.

 The day before the interview and portrait was supposed to be done, I called the Premier’s press secretary, Tom Olsen, and explained what I wanted to do. Or more specifically, what I didn’t want to do. He said that he couldn’t promise anything but to call him the next morning. I did. And I showed up around 10am at the Legislature at Tom’s office.

 I was told that the Premier had a busy day, including Question Period. I replied that I was willing to wait for an opening. I waited. And waited. Then I got about six minutes with the Premier and his staff as they prepped for Question Period. Then I waited some more. And then I got about 3 minutes with the Premier and his chief of staff. Then I waited some more.

 3:30 came rolling around and I went in with the reporter. And I waited as she finished her time. Then it was my turn. It was past four and already getting dark so I asked if I could turn off all the lights in his office so that the tungsten lights wouldn’t mix with the window light. And in about 38 seconds total, I took this photo.

 Maybe I really didn’t need more than 5 minutes to take a portrait. Maybe I didn’t have to spend the day to take a 5-minute portrait. But, if I didn’t spend the time preparing I probably wouldn't be in a dark room with the Premier of Alberta.

The Technical Stuff: Keeping It Simple. I shot the whole day with a Nikon D700 and a 50 F1.4 lens.