The Art of Creating a Photography Book: Documenting the Blessings Collegiate Invitational Golf Tournament
During the fall of 2020, I was asked to photograph teams competing in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational Golf Tournament in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The inaugural year began with SEC teams because they were all within driving distance and faced fewer travel restraints since COVID-19 was in full swing. The tournament is different from others in that it hosts both the men’s and women’s teams at the same time. Because the two teams travel together, the initial photography request was for a photo of each school’s combined teams – and the thought was to have a nice print made to hand out at the end of the tournament. The week before it began, the print request morphed into a book with an action photo of each player. Five players on each men’s team and five players on each women’s team, times 14 teams, ended up being 140 athletes. Sprinkle in a few coaches, and that’s a lot of people to capture over the course of four days.
A lot of time and attention to detail goes into the creation of a book, so it’s important to have a game plan in place. Over the years, I’ve refined my timeline. From the conversations that have to happen before the start of the tournament to a checklist of what needs to be photographed and information that needs to be gathered after the tournament ends, it’s a big process.
My checklist includes…
- A cover shot
- Scenic shots of the course alone – these are usually taken at dawn
- A variety of individual action shots of each player
- The crowds and spectators
- Action shots of coaches
- Photos of the trophies on the course
- Behind-the-scenes shots of the officials, volunteers and grounds crew
- Shots of the winners
- Shots unique to the year
When getting all of the individual photos of the players, I work to get pretty shots rather than just getting a photo to mark them off my list. I make sure that the lighting and background are picturesque so that the photo they leave with is one they love.
While it might seem extensive, everything has to be captured during the four days of the tournament because I don’t have the chance to go back and reshoot. The book is meant to encapsulate the entire experience for the players to look back on and remember the moments that made the tournament special. For example, in 2023, there was a rain delay, and all the teams took over the clubhouse and indoor practice facilities. Rather than wait out the rain, I used it as an opportunity to capture teams playing cards and making the most out of a weather delay. It was something that I was able to photograph for the book, which made it more year-specific.
After early mornings and long days of shooting, the book-building process finally begins. The layout of every page is carefully designed, making sure to include team photos and a featured photo of each golfer. Sprinkled throughout all of the team photos are large scenic shots of the course and other images that help capture the ambiance of the tournament. At the back of the book are the final round placements, score sheets of the team overall, and individual scores that are carefully hand-typed to ensure accuracy. The book is sent to the press for proofing, and within a couple of weeks, I receive a copy to double-check the layout, photo choice, crop, etc., which then leads to re-editing some images for better color accuracy to ensure they pop off the page. Once final adjustments are made, I send the book off for the final run of 325-350 copies.
Producing a book like this from beginning to end, generating all of the content and design, is no simple task. It takes lots of patience, meticulous work, and planning, all of which pay off in the end. It is definitely one of my more stressful jobs each year, but it is also my favorite. The people have become dear friends, the scenery is amazing and I have something tangible for my bookshelf each year. This beats digital images sitting on a harddrive just collecting dust.
Maybe your business doesn’t have a golf tournament to document, but please let me know if you have any questions regarding the book-making process. Better yet, contact me if you want to look into having a book of your own created! It’s a great way to have a display of your archive, give as a gift to a board of directors or just a way to document something in your life.