Leading up to the 2004 Olympics, before Michael Phelps was quite as big a deal as he turned out to be, photographer Greg Heisler had the opportunity to shoot him for the cover of Time magazine. He initially planned to photograph Phelps at the Stanford pool where he was training, only to find out that it was too close to the Olympics and that wasn’t an option.

Still, Heisler refused to let go of his vision of capturing Phelps awash in that blue “pool glow.” Enter some serious ingenuity, a lot of testing, a few home-made strip lights, some blue gels, Strobist yelling the F-word in a supermarket line out of jealousy, and a behind the scenes video to explain it all. Read more…

Every year, ESPN releases a special Body Issue in which athletes pose nude — an edgy, artful response to Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue that focuses instead on the power and form of athletes’ bodies. Last summer, a sports writer stripped down for an interview with two NHL players, a turning of the tables on sometimes awkward locker room interviews. This year, ESPN columnist and senior writer Jim Caple stripped down for his own body images by sports photographer Rod Mar. Caple poses as nude Lance Armstrong, a doughnut and press pass version of Michael Phelps, plus some other memorable sports photographs.
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