Didi Gregorius is a man of many talents. As the starting shortstop for the first-place New York Yankees, his reputation as a world-class athlete is well known. However, what you might not realize is that Gregorius’s gifts don’t start and stop at the baseball diamond. Take one look at his Instagram account and you’ll see that not only is Gregorius an incredible athlete, he’s also an accomplished photographer. We featured Gregorius in an exclusive B&H video that highlights his role as both athlete and artist, how he came to photography, and what drives his passion.
Before the Shoot
The whole thing started with a rumor. Somebody in some meeting said, “You guys know Gregorius? Heard he takes photos.” Flash forward a couple of months and now he’s in our studio, telling us all about how he got started with photography and the cameras he likes to use (Sony, btw). What happened in between? Well, some of it was the boring, behind-the-scenes business stuff that comes up when you want to make an exclusive video with a baseball superstar. We called his camp, they called us back, yada yada. But the exciting stuff was all the planning in between. Our production team came up with a great concept to make a video that highlighted Gregorius’s unique ability to occupy two very different roles extremely well—that of artist and athlete. Everyone signed off on the idea, including Gregorius, who, as it turns out, is a frequent B&H customer (obvious flex, but c’mon, it’s Gregorius).
Making the Video
What really intrigued us about Gregorius is that he’s not just one thing. Yes, he’s an incredible baseball player, but that’s not all there is to him. That’s not even his only skill. He’s also a talented artist. We loved that duality and really wanted to highlight it in the video. To accomplish this, our team came up with the idea to shoot Gregorious in alternating settings, with alternating gear. First on the diamond, then in the studio. In one shot, he’s holding a baseball, in the next, his camera. Back and forth, back and forth, signifying his ability to be either athlete or artist. We used The Studio @ B&H for our studio shots, Dewitt Clinton Park for the baseball background, and the Sony Kiosk at the B&H SuperStore for shots of him testing gear. Along with those shots, we included some of the conversation Gregorius had with our director, Maria Perez, which covered, among other things, his background and how he got into photography. The final product is an accurate portrayal of this extraordinary, multifaceted person, who is passionate about many things, and also happens to excel at them.
Questions or comments about the video? Let us know in the Comments section, below!
2 Comments
Two of my favorite subjects, baseball and photography. Though not a Yankee fan, I now see Didi in a different light. Howie Kendrick of the Washington Nationals is also an avid photographer and of course we know about Randy Johnson, seems like a great hobby for retirees, especially professional athletes who retire so young.
nice didi .. hall of famer randy johnson is also a photographer now full time after his baseball career