AFL Team Photos - Michael Willson

Having so many set-ups requires A LOT of gear. We carry 6 x Elinchrom ELC Pro HD flash units, accompanying stands and soft-boxes, snoots and umbrellas. Coupled with 4 x Canon 1DXMKII bodies and associated lenses, you’re looking at nearly 80kg of photo gear. This can be a challenge when travelling for interstate team photos, but our friends at Virgin Australia make the process as smooth as possible.
 
We are generally given an hour with the players to get everything we need. It is up to the clubs as to how the day is structured but usually, we shoot all the head and full-length shots and creative portraits first, and then shoot the team photo at the end. 
 

As you can imagine, trying to keep the attention of 45 players for more than an hour can be a challenge at times. This is where organisation and preparation is key. Little things like having allocated positions for players in the team photo can make the process that much smoother.
 

The creative station is my favourite to shoot. Generally, we are given creative freedom with these pictures, so the possibilities are endless. But as always we are also limited with time. We may have 1-2 minutes with each player so you need to work quickly.

Coming up with ideas for portraits can sometimes be a challenge as well. You want each teams to look different and also different to the year before. And when you have team photo shoots day after day or even sometimes two in one day, it can really test your creative energy. It's also important to communicate to the players what you're trying to achieve with the portrait.

The headshot/full-length station kind of works like a conveyor belt! The player stands there and alternates 6 different positions before exiting and the next player poses.

The photos we take on team photo days have a multitude of applications. They are used on AFL.com.au and club websites, social channels and mobile apps, as well as the AFL Record and newspapers. TV stations use all of our head shots for their broadcasts, and AFL corporate partners also utilise a number of pictures taken on team photo days.

Team photo days are intense and exhausting, they take a lot of preparation and are physically taxing, but they can also be great fun. And it is worth all the effort when you get the results you after and begin seeing the finished products out there being used.