Gretzky’s first skates for ESPN The Magazine
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It’s not often I get a chance to photograph a memorable piece of history. Sure, I’ve photographed in museums, historic grounds, and galleries, but I’ve never had a true one-on-one photo session with a significant piece of history. Well, I got my first opportunity last month, and I think most Canadians would agree, Wayne Gretzky’s first hockey skates are pretty much a cornerstone when it comes to Canadian history. The shoot was for ESPN The Magazine’s feature on “A History of Sports in 38 Objects”, in last month’s Photo Annual issue. The feature, shot primarily by Svend Lindbaek, is a fantastic, forensic look at the objects that accompanied some of the greatest sports heros of the last hundred years. We photographed the skates at the D.K. (Doc) Seaman Hockey Resource Centre, the new resource centre for the Hockey Hall of Fame here in Toronto. We were granted a big media room to shoot in, which featured a hockey goal, and a small Vancouver Olympic podium, just sitting in a corner with no fanfare.  "The Golden Goal" Goal Turns out that it’s the goal that Sidney Crosby scored on to win the gold medal in Men’s Hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in 2010, and the custom made podium for the on ice award ceremony. It had just arrived, and was on its way into the archive. Wow. So we got set-up, and when we were ready, the skates were delivered to us in an old Kodak film box. At six inches long, they were quite the sight to behold.  Wayne Gretzky's first skates. In a word, they were really cute. You can imagine that he must have only been about 4 when he wore them, in 1965, and just jitter bugging around his backyard rink in Brantford, as his father Walter looked on. You can see by this lighting set-up shot just how small the skates really are:
It’s always a thrill to visit the resource centre, and if you’re a real fan of the game, it’s worth a visit if you’ve got a day to spare. Here’s the final spread and shot of the skates that were used in the issue:
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I’m a huge hockey fan and amateur enthusiast photographer, so you can imagine how excited I was to see this post!
Wonderful job photographing the great one’s first skates!
Thanks Ivan!
Great post, Finn. I’m jealous that you got to shoot these. What an experience!
Great stuff. Thanks for the set-up shots!
Awesome shot. I appreciate your sharing the setup.
Great Shot Finn. I love the idea of getting the job done at the very moment and not leaving things to be “photoshoped” later on. If you can get a seamless white background when photographing, why leave it for later?
Thanks for sharing!
Great shot. I love the simple setup!
I’m a huge strobist fan, and I was impressed to see this setup. The lighting is inch perfect. I also had look through some of your previous work and all I can say is ‘WOW’.
Well done Finn.
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Great shot, thank you for including the setup information!
I love those little stripboxes.. mind if I ask what model they are? I have larger ones but these little babies would be a great addition to my kit..
You inspired me to try this shot with my own OLD skates!
Check it out! (Not as good as your shot, but ok)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puggle1/5871237085/in/photostream
Hi Nakleh,
Thanks for the kind words. The make of the little strip lights are by Chimera I believe. Profoto, Dynalite, Hensel and Photoflex all make great versions as well.
The setup photo made me laugh…..all that work, not to mention thousands of dollars worth of gear, for an old junky pair of skates some now-famous guy wore when he was a kid. I have much more regard for the lighting setup (and actually learned something of value), than I do for the subject. It’s a gig…..I get that, and I totally respect the result…..don’t get me wrong. I just can’t understand why people care so much about stuff like this. Look, whatever rocks you boat. Obviously I’m not a hockey fan, but if I were…..ah never mind. Great job on the light though….seriously.
So easy when you know how – better than so called “problem free cut-out tools” anyday!!!
This is a fantastic shot. The only thing I would have liked to see is something to establish the scale of the small skates.
Perhaps an old hockey puck or something?
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thanks for showing the setup. sometimes information is as good as inspiration. wonderful shots