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 few shots from the the Superhero Scramble.....

A local sprint adventure race held at Quiet Waters Park, provided an excellent opportunity to get some nutty people putting themselves into painful situations.

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

Bill Bone Classic Criterium Road Race

 Current World Masters Time Trial Champ Grant Potter

In the blazing sun at the hottest point of the day I waited for the Pro 1 2 race to start in downtown Ft. Lauderdale.  Although I have raced mtn bikes since I was 14, I have never raced road.  Its one of the most dangerous disciplines in the sport of cycling.  Most of my training is on the road and wanted to attend this race to support some of my friends I ride and train with along with getting some stock imagery that have been asked of me in years past.  Here are a couple...

Surf Camp Advertising: 2011

We are proud to be asked to design and provide photos for both Island Water Sports Summer Surf Camps and Quicksilver/Roxy surf camps by Living Water Surf School.  We designed their Posters, postcards and ads.  Here are a couple....

This weeks published shots

A shots published in the last week..... For the University of Michigan, Long Island University, and Eastern Surfing Magazine..

Absolut Vodka Wild Tea Launch Party

I was recently contacted to help promote the South FL launch of the new flavor of Absolut Vodka called Wild Tea.  Here are a few of the images from the launch party at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.

How I got this shot.... Hurricane Earl Palm Beach 2010 Eastern Surfing Magazine Dec 2010

Hurricane Earl was a day late for many in South FL.  We all were driving up and down the coast the day before wasting time, money and confidence in all the reports.  Well the next day luckily Cheyne Cottrell and I got up really early and drove straight to Palm Beach, without checking it anywhere.  Rolled up on an indicator spot and Saw this....

From that point on we both knew it would probably be one of it not the best hurricane swells this season to hit South Florida.  It was a solid 6ft with over head sets.  Because of the current and lack of consistent barrels we figured the best thing to do was to shoot from land.  There was also only Cheyne to shoot.  With only one (pro) surfer in the water its tuff to "lineup" as we would call it.  While Chyene paddled out I set off on a hike to find a good spot to shoot.  I was carrying with me:
Canon 1D Mark 3
Canon 5d Mark 2
Canon 500 L IS lens
70-200 2.8L IS
Tokina 10-17 fisheye
Canon 16-35
Canon 1.4 and 2.0 converters  all in my Lowepro pack.

It was a hot day with hardly any wind so the first thing I did was find a semi shaddy spot with some ability to compose other buildings, trees and or people/objects in the foreground. Hiking down the beach trying to find a shady spot and a place to get a little higher was not easy.  Eventually I met a security guard willing to let me post up on the wall of a mansion.  From there I was able to get all the angles I would like, fill up my water bottle with water from there hose and answer phone call after phone call while I snapped away.  Eventually the swell started to die and after a few hours we decided to leave.  The photo ran in ESM of Andrew Fletcher was shot just as I was about to leave stepping off the wall still with the camera in hand.  Shot with my 500mm lens with 1.4x converter on my Mark 3.  While we hiked back to our parking spot we had already planned our next spot to shoot thanks to all the luxuries of modern technology.  The day continued with me swimming two more times throughout palm beach county and scoring a barrel session to ourselves at one of the best spots in S. Fl.  A good day! 

Pro Mod Dragsters

Last week I went along with my buddy and his 5 second 2000 horsepower rocket they call a Shelby and shot him and his friends cars.  They prep the cars for hours and run it down the track like 3 times all day into the night.  Cost thousands and usually something breaks.  I also posted a shaky video shot handheld with my 500 mounted to my 5d to give you an idea of being there.  I think I will stick to pedal power.