Superman on a bike Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Matt Jordan is the three-time defending champion of the Tour of Anchorage. The native of Damascus, Ore., has been one of the top cyclists in the Arctic Bicycle Club since moving to Alaska two years ago. He balances his time with Team Kaladi-Subway with full-time studies at Alaska Pacific University, a night job, his wife and one-year-old daughter.

This (left) is one of the less interesting portraits I made of Matt Jordan in a quick shoot last week. You can see the more interesting image in my recently updated portfolio.

I thought I was shooting the assignment for the Sandy Post, but I see it appeared on the Outlook's website today (they're owned by the same company). Maybe they'll run it in both papers.

I didn't have a lot of time to prepare—I got the call on a Saturday afternoon; Matt was visiting his parents in Damascus, but heading back to Alaska on Tuesday morning. So I made arrangements to do the shoot on a Monday right after I visited the Street of Dreams, because the two locations are only a few miles apart.

When I met him at his parents' place he was already dressed in his kit. There was a little grassy area with a backdrop of pine trees just down the road, so that's where we went.

I'm really happy with the shot that ran in the paper. It's probably been done before, but I couldn't find an example online. But writing the title to this post, I wish I'd had the idea/time/budget to do it again, with Matt in a Superman costume. Imagine, the same kinds of pictures, different outfit, a big fan off-camera blowing his cape ... that would have been a portrait!

And if you're wondering, Matt must be Superman—read Michael Cade's article and you'll understand what I mean.