ABOUT ME
Please don’t ask Kent Kallberg what kind of photography he does.
West Coast-based Kallberg has followed more international leaders than TIME, and covered more sports teams than a score of protective cups.
He has shot underwear and underwater. Chrétien and croutons. Best Buy and bratwurst. Whistler and hummingbirds.
He has shot pickles, buckles, tackles, freckles and heckles.
He has shot test tubes, boob tubes, rest stops, jackpots and crackpots.
He has shot… Don Cherry.
None of which is the least bit impressive, of course, unless the results are great. And as a quick tour of this site reveals, there’s more than a few keepers in the bunch.
What you won’t see is the swift efficiency with which these images were cast in silicon. A huddle of greying head-office types corralled and empixellated before they have time to get grumpy. A scintillating spheroid stopped in perfect mid-descent by a precise shutter finger. An assembly line apparently running full tilt, yet activated by lighting and camera tricks alone.
One example is the shot of the Vancouver policeman in the People section. Two assistants outside holding strobes, a one-second exposure to snag the computer screen and blur the passing bus, and it’s all done – a cop arrested in less than 60 seconds. Simple, effective, efficient. Mr. Kent is super-fast.
Photo shoots are best performed at low attitude. Kent’s deferential manner and knack for fun on the job are pretty amazing when you consider he’s been at it for well over 30 years – including 15 as a TV and radio broadcaster. Another plus with clients is a physiological disorder that prevents his mouth muscles from forming the word ‘no.’
“When a client asks if I can do something, I say ‘yes’ before they even finish the sentence,” he confesses.
Which is another reason why Best Buy, Expedia, Vancouver General Hospital, ScotiaBank, RBC, Translink, BC Hydro, Larriveé Guitars, the David Suzuki Foundation, Bell Canada and too many more names to continue dropping here keep his number so handy.