After 30 years of presenting Saturday afternoon Scottish football coverage on BBC radio, Richard Gordon is moving on to a new role as head of media and communications at Cove Rangers FC. Richard will continue to present on Sundays but for a lot of people's Saturday afternoons it is the end of an era.
I had the good fortune to photograph Richard a few years back in the hallowed grounds of Aberdeen FC’s Pittodrie Stadium. Here’s how the shoot went down…
At the time, I was shooting a personal project on well known Aberdonians and I was introduced to Richard by a mutual friend. With Richard being so well networked within the Scottish football community, we were allowed access to the stadium for an hour or so to shoot.
We started with some simple, tight, head and shoulder portraits in stadium seats. With Richard’s position as an observer and reporter of Scottish football, this seemed more appropriate than shooting with the pitch in the background. I had an assistant holding an Elinchrom Quadra in a large, octagonal soft box to supplement the natural light and I placed a simple Nikon Speedlight higher up in the stand to act as a kicker / rim light to create the highlight on the right side and separate Richard from the background.
Richard was incredibly facilitating and easy to talk to and, naturally, the conversation turned to football and The Dons in particular.
Any Aberdeen fan knows what you mean when you mention 1983 and Richard told me he had been at the famous European Cup Winners Cup final in Gothenburg all those years ago for Aberdeen’s greatest triumph. The memory was tempered as Richard reflected on a friend who tragically died during the match. I was able to quickly capture Richard’s pained expression. I don’t take this kind of emotion for granted and I feel privileged to have shared this moment of vulnerability with Richard.
Bouncing back from that poignant moment, I finished with some wider shots using a 24-70mm lens before we quickly popped inside the stand for a couple of portraits to round out the session.
Overall, this was one of the most memorable shoot’s I’ve had, party due to the location but m mostly because Richard and I created some fantastic portraits. Congratulations, Richard, on your 30 years at BBC and wishing you the best of success at Cove (my local team!).
Graham.
Replies
These are fab Graham!
Hi Graham, great shots..
Paul..
Ace photos!
Thank you!
Brilliant pictures Graham. Well done
Thanks, Andrew!
Some great photos of him there Graham. And a lovely story.
Love the black and white!
Thanks, Jessie!