How I got the shot: Double Page spread in Sports Illustrated Dec 2011 Noah Flegal 900 spin

This past summer, I had just heard that Noah Flegal  had just landed his first ever 900 and then did it in competition, making him the youngest ever to do so on a wakeboard at 13.  With that feat, I knew this kid needed some exposure as no one down here was covering him.  I scheduled a shoot with his awesome mom and we shot away.  The best part was going to pick him and his posse up at their house early....7 am.  Yeah, they werent real awake yet.  " Ben, here's $20, can you stop by McDonalds and pick them up some breakfast, his mom said."  And so the day began!  My main goal was to somehow cover the 900 along with his impressive aerial arsenal.  Shooting from the tube first with a Canon 1d mark 3, Tokina 10-17 fisheye at 12mm about 5 feet infront of him got a few shots in the bag to start the day.  We then shot the rest from the boat when I was too beat to get pounded on the tube anymore.  Thats when I told the driver.... 14 year old Merrette Fay, who is Noah's awesome filmer... to keeping doing double ups at the far end, where the sun would be hitting Noah in a front lit array.  I positioned myself to the center of the boat with my Canon Mark 3 with a Canon 70-200 L 2.8 IS set on Manual focus at the center of the end of the rope when he crossed  the middle.  I also set it at 5.6.  This way when I shot the sequence the focus would not change trying to track him and I would also be able to keep him in focus on the far left and right of the frames.  I aimed so that I had the far left of the landing covered and the far right of the take off.  As soon as he hit the takeoff I held the shutter button down and let the motor drive fire away!  After what I remember the third try, he nailed it and we got the shot.  I then took the 15+ shots and layered them in photoshop on top of one another on a 12 x 18 inch 300 dpi blank doc and started the process of erasing what was needed and what wasnt, through transparency, and masking techniques.  His mom, with all her awesome support really pushed all the sponsors on all the shots especially this one in many markets.  This led to his nomination of the SI Kids Sportskid of the year and eventually his win and amazing accomplishment.  Sports Illustrated contacted me about wanting to use the photo in their opening spread on him and the rest was history. 

A little pulse and a little barrel in Palm Beach....

Last week the South Florida surfing community got another suggestion that the start of this winter is gonna be another good one as we got a little pulse.  Here is a shot ran on Surfline.com of Local ripper Tanner Strohmenger getting some tube time in. Check it out here:

Cast Iron Cross Fit Marketing images for there Ad Agency

Here are a few of the many shots we got for Cast Iron Cross Fit out of West Palm Beach, FL for there winter marking Campaign.  We shot during an actual workout with raw lighting and the grunge/garage look.

Vote for Noah Flegel for Sports Illustrated Kid of The Year

Check out local superkid Noah Flegel, whom I shoot and VOTE for him!  He is up for Sports Illustrated Kid of the Year!

Hi,

    Noah Flegel has been selected as one of the 10 semi-finalists from a nationwide search for the Sports Illustrated Kid of the Year.  We need your votes and everyone you know to vote for Noah on SIkids.com/skoty from October 7 to the 17th.  You can vote as many times as you want, so please do so as much as humanly possible! 

We are so excited to promote wakeboarding and surfing with a super successful local Florida athlete!  Please help support him via all media.  TV, Newspaper, Radio, Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, Online, and word of mouth.

(Ben Hicks Photography  561-558-7895)

If Noah wins he will be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Kids, as well as media coverage including national TV interviews. 

        

Listed below are some of the highlights of Noah's last year of competition. 

2 Wakeboarding World Championships won this  summer.The IWWF World Champion in Milan Italy in the 14 and under  division
The WWA World Champion in the 14-18 Jr. Men Division

The WWA Wakeboard National Champion for the Jr. Men Division 14-18  years old.

3rd Place in Pro Men Division at World Wakesurf Championships
1st Place Trophy at the NSSA Surf Contest in Melbourne,  FL 1st Place at ESA Surf contest in Lake Worth,  FL

Fundraising for Orphanage of El Tunco, El  SalvadorFeeding over 70 homeless people at a shelterMaintained a 3.5 GPA at the North Broward Preparatory School

Cover shot - The Home Mag

Another cover photo for Coastal Screen and Rail.

Stock Publisher brand logo

We recently finished the face of Stock Publisher.

Interior Architecture for Castle Tile and Marble

Here are a few of the many shots we have done for Castle Tile and Marble.

Product shots: Butterflies from around the world

I was recently asked to shoot an entire product line for a small company that imports butterflies from around the world.  Encased by a clear acrylic box and meticulously arranged and mounted to perfection, each box is an art piece in itself.  Here are couple of the different butterflies that were shot from the 130 versions. 

This weeks published images on Hurricane Irene...

Here are some shots from Hurricane Irene that have been published so far.  Cheyne Cottrell, Tanner Strohmenger and Matt Oberman.  They can be found on ESPN.com, Surfline.com and Easternsurf.com

Fanatic 2012 Ad images

Here are a bunch of images appearing throughout the Fantatic Stand Up Paddle Board line to advertise their new 2012 board line up.  Appearing in catalogs and online.....  You can view their site here... http://www.fanatic-sup.com/content/index_eng.html

Indonesia - A phototrip on the other side of the world

The month of August in 2011 was filled with adventure, from scootering hundreds of miles to swimming many miles shooting in huge waves, my adrenaline rush was served up on a silver platter!  Here are some shots from an amazing trip!