Behind the scenes with the Hillsborough crew

Gaither running back Jarvis Giles always knows which way to turn when he’s on the football field. But on the day of his photo shoot for our Hillsborough County prep football preview, the standout running back got lost.

And he wasn’t alone that week.

Most of our subjects were asked to meet at the Times’ downtown Tampa office. The problem, as we learned, is that our building can be a tricky one to locate. Merging lanes and one-way streets makes things confusing for first-timers. Some of the players were coming from the north. Some from the east. Some from South Tampa. And almost all of them needed directions.

One player took a wrong turn and ended up near the University of Tampa. One of them did two circles around our building before finally figuring out where he needed to park. Another thought he supposed to go the St. Pete Times Forum, so that’s where he went.

Finding us might have been difficult, but give the players credit. Nearly all of them left from home early, giving themselves plenty of leeway to get here, something many adults often fail to do (who says this generation is lost?). When all was said and done, only a few were late. Other than that, things went off without a hitch.

Because our county is loaded with a ridiculous amount of talent, the theme for this year’s section – “Star Power” -- seemed like a natural choice. Going along with this, we asked each of our subjects to look sharp for his shoot. Pretend, we told them, that you’re attending the ESPY Awards.

On our end, the objective was to make every photograph look different than the others, to give each its own unique feel. Without exception, Times photographers Brian Cassella and Melissa Lyttle didn’t disappoint. The players, looking GQish all the way, were photographed at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa Theatre, Columbia Restaurant and inside a limousine that was graciously donated to us for two days by Allure Limousine Service.

Just as his particular shoot was to begin, Giles pulled into our parking lot.

Moments later, he was in front of the camera.

And as he does Friday nights on the field, Giles made all the right moves.

You can find all the previews HERE (and in Friday's paper). And please, check out our Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas sections, too -- not to mention our complete selection of preview videos, which were well-crafted by John C. Cotey and Joey Knight.

-KEITH NIEBUHR & EDUARDO A. ENCINA

Comments

[BigCountyPreps]

can't wait Keith. Im sure you guys did a great job. You always do. Looks creative. Did you get a chance to grab the tribunes preview thursday? Did you see the title on the front page? tell me if this looks familiar http://bigcountypreps.com/wordpress/?p=50