Signatures and bad light

Usually I do not paste my name all over my photographs as I find it rather tacky. However there are instances where signatures or watermarks are necessary.

In this instance it would be to protect the integrity of the performer rather than claiming ownership of the photographs. If a publicist would like to make use of the image, permission would be granted dependant on authorisation given or denied by the performer (or management)  

The gymnast photographed is Federico Molinari, Argentinian 2012 Olympic finalist. I have had the pleasure of photographing various performers / celebrities, but if there is one tip I can give it would be the following as per experience. In the past I used to work with a fellow photographer who had the terrible habit of asking the celebrity if they could have a photograph taken with them. This seems fairly harmless, right? in reality it is extremely unprofessional (unless asked by the performer / celebrity them-self)

The above images were taken at a gymnastics gala in Federico Molinari's home town of San Jorge, the lighting was arranged more for effect rather than clarity of subject.

Now initially I would be pretty much taken back as the available light would not be sufficient  for perfect clear images. However, the strong contrasting light from the left and hard shadows from the right, turned out to be a killer combination for the post processing hard light effect I ended up with.

Meaning, don't stress too much when your environment does not cater for your image expectations, as it may just lend itself to an even better result than you initially expected.