Why would so many professionals push themselves so far outside of their comfort zones?  They all have one common goal – to End Cancer In Our Lifetime!

The Fight To End Cancer (FTEC) has become a year round initiative carried out by hundreds of sponsors, volunteers and ambassadors.  FTEC brings together some of the most talented individuals, many of whom are completely out of their element.  CEO’s and top executives take on the role of amateur competitive boxers, while professional photographers hang off the ropes in a completely uncontrolled setting.

Spencer has shared his talents, acting as a professional photographer at the annual Fight To End Cancer, since 2014.  He has been seen on the red carpet, ringside and behind the scenes year after year.  He’s a true hero in the Fight To End Cancer.

The Fight is a black-tie charitable boxing event which raises money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and will top $1 million this year.  Executives from the business and professional communities in Toronto, with no boxing experience must try out, make the cut and are then selected for the final fight teams.

Training the chosen fighters are Jennifer Huggins, founder of the Fight To End Cancer, and Virgil Barrow who put the fighters through the hardest six months of their lives.  They get them in shape and turn them into sanctioned fighters, by the gala fight event in June.
The annual group campaign photo must be made before the media, print and social media can fully promote the event.

WORDS FROM SPENCER WYNN

Photographing the annual, Fight To End Cancer, campaign shot is always a fun, artistic and compositional challenge – one that is worth taking a look at, behind the scenes. The shoot day for the campaign photo is a day with many moving parts and a huge crew of volunteers. For my small part of the day, I could not shoot the campaign shot without the help of ‘Becca and Alisia, two great friends, assistants and talented photographers.

Location scouting at the Old Mill Toronto happens months before the actual shoot day. We have been shooting at the Mill for many years. It is a location with many different halls and rooms with different décor and architecture. This makes it a perfect place to change up the settings from year-to-year.

One year we set up on a grand stairway with the fighters carefully arrange side-to-side and front-to-back. That year’s photo was a difficult one since the fighters both in front and farthest away from the camera needed to be tack sharp. The trick here was to light and photograph each fighter separately, while still within the group. Post-processing took a long time! Each fighter had their own Photoshop layer, including Jennifer Huggins and Virgil Barrow. That meant the 250 MB file had 12 layers, making the working image, 3,000 MB (3 GB) in size!

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I love a challenge – but don’t want to take on that particular composition every year! This year, and other years, we have used a room that presents a beautiful backdrop and floor. These are particularly important in scouting a location since logos and text must also be used over the image in those areas. I am looking for backgrounds that are not too busy as they will distract from the fighters. The backgrounds and floors also need to be free of too much detail as text and logos will be required in those areas..

The Old Mill has many rooms with beautiful wooden floors. This is a dream! When the final photo is created, the floor can be extended if needed to give a clean background.

Another part of the scouting is to wander around the Mill and take note of the furniture in hallways and rooms. Depending on what room we will be using for the shoot, we will move appropriately coloured furniture into the set we build. In addition to furniture, we also have a full-size punching bag that is carefully placed into the set on which some fighters will sit or lean against.

The afternoon before the shoot, we will move furniture, open or close drapery and adjust room lighting if needed. One year, we finished arranging the set, then had a member of the Mill staff light the large fireplace that could be seen at the back of the set. Once the fire was lit I made a plate shot of the “empty” set over top of which the fighters would be photographed the next morning – without the fireplace lit. That plate shot and the campaign shot were assembled in Photoshop and one would never know that the fire was actually photographed the day before!

My cameras of choice are Fujifilm Cameras. I moved from Canon to Fujifilm in 2014. I love the mirrorless technology. When I look through the electronic viewfinder, I will see the set perfectly exposed and can make any adjustments while viewing the changes in the viewfinder. In the past I have used 50 MP and 100 MP medium format Fujifilm GFX cameras for their exceptional image quality and dynamic range – which is important with men wearing black tuxedos.

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This year, I have the brand new, Fujifilm X-T5 camera with a 40 MP sensor and am loving it!

Lighting a portrait of a subject does not require much in terms of lighting setup. A person, or couple do not take up much room, so the lighting is pretty basic – a couple of soft boxes or umbrellas will light them easily.

When the campaign group photo has 10 boxers plus Jennifer and Virgil, this creates some lighting challenges!

To light a large group, I need power! I use powerful Godox strobes that have the power to overpower the sun if shooting outside, so are perfect for indoors! These strobes have no problem reaching to the back of a deep set where people are positioned.

One of the lighting considerations is lighting evenly from one side to another. This can be done in a number of ways such as arranging multiple strobe across the set as well as secondary lighting to fill in shadow areas and provide balance to the lighting.

The afternoon before the shoot day, ‘Becca and Alisia and I meet to figure out how we will create the scene, dress it and light it. We begin by positioning the lights and making test exposures with a variety of reflector umbrella sizes and soft boxes.

I often place a large, seven-foot umbrella at a height of about ten feet above the group and ahead of them. Positioning this large top light in front of the group assures that women’s dresses and the men’s black tuxedos would be well and from a pleasing angle.

I love soft light, so directional light from the sides is feathered away from the fighters, just as the top light was feathered away to avoid hot spots on faces and lighter coloured dresses.  By feathering multiple large soft boxes and umbrellas, everyone will be evenly and softly lit and with soft shadows.

I don’t worry about what the lighting ratios! That’s pretty old-school! Lighting is light sculpting with light, it is more by feel and what looks well balanced.

It must be said that ‘Becca and Alisia are very patient! There are many test shots made with fine adjustments to lighting power output as they sit in various positions. These test shots are meant to approximate the final position the fighters who will be photographed the next morning.

Once the camera and tripod are in the final position and the furniture has been tweaked – sometimes even a centimetre makes all the difference – we then have a bit of fun! Without the camera or furniture moving, ‘Becca and Alisia will sit, stand or lounge in different places in the set. I will make one photo for each change of position. Once I feel they have been in good positions to make a cloning type of group portrait, then it’s back to Photoshop and creating a “group” photo with ‘Becca and Alisia from all the different layers. The end result is pretty fun and a creative way to celebrate the end of creating the set for the year’s final campaign shot.

After setup and fine-tuning, everything stays exactly where it is. The tripod is secured and taped to the floor so it does not move at all. The lighting stays in place – and when we are satisfied, we turn off the lights and lock the doors.

At 6:30 the next morning things begin the Mill wakes up to a huge crowd of volunteers for the final shoot.

Fun fact . . . Because we spent hours creating the set, making tiny adjustments to the position of furniture and making many test shots – the actual shooting of the campaign shot only takes about 15 minutes!

For the campaign shoot, while it is early in the morning, we feel good that all the heavy lifting – literally in some cases, has been done.

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A huge thank you to all of the photographers, hair & make-up artists, assistance crew & FTEC’s Planning Committee, for  all their hard work in executing such an inspiring and stunning campaign.

Official Campaign Photographer: Spencer Wynn
Headshots and Photography Assistant: Rebecca Freeman
Principle Photographer: Virgil Barrow Photography
Social Media & Behind The Scenes: Alisia DeMelo
Behind The Scenes Photography: Kaitlin Black, Zardasht Abdulkhalegh
Makeup Artist: Melanie Lima (Belle Beauty)
Hair Stylists: Monika Iskra, Melissa Karagianis
Official Shoot Location: The Old Mill Toronto, Kingsway Boxing Club
Wardrobe By: Tip Top | Kimurawear
Production Team: Mitchell Cairns, Nic Ambrosio, Cristian Sturino, Ben Botelho, Marc Vicioso, Adam Bazzana, David Damico, Francesco Iantomo
FTEC Support: Betty Ann Mosher, Lynn Mosher, Allison Dellandrea
Production Assistant: Claire Arena

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Important Dates:

–> FTEC2023 OFFICIAL MEDIA DAY WEIGH-INS: Thursday May. 18 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm | The El Mocambo
–> FTEC2023 FIGHT TO END CANCER GALA: Saturday May. 27 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm | The Old Mill Toronto (Blue Rooms – Lower Level)

DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION!

Public Relations Team, Fight To End Cancer
info@fighttoendcancer.com

Donations to our Fight Team can be made at: fighttoendcancer.com.
Photos available upon request.

Interview Opportunities:
Interview Opportunities are available in studio, on site, and via phone or email with:

• Jennifer Huggins (Executive Director and Founder, Fight To End Cancer)
• Virgil Barrow (Fight Team Head Coach, Kingsway Boxing Club)
• FTEC 2023 Fight Team members (contacts available upon request)
• Presenting Partners:
  • Landscape Plus Ltd. (Since 2015)
  • Grafton Apparel Ltd. (Since 2014)

About The Fight To End Cancer

The Fight To End Cancer (FTEC) is a year-round initiative carried out by ambassadors, sponsors and volunteers worldwide.  Over $2,000,000 has been donated to date, since our inaugural year, in 2012.  Funds raised by FTEC are donated directly to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.  Each year we celebrate the incredible hard work and dedication of our FTEC family with a black-tie charity boxing gala.  This gala showcases ten men and women who represent our Official Fight Team.  Our goal is to raise funds for cancer research year-round with the support of the local community and business owners.  Let’s make a difference now in the fight to end cancer, for a long and successful future for everyone.  This is an event like no other and has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in Toronto. www.fighttoendcancer.com

About The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at University Health Network raises funds for breakthrough research, exemplary teaching and compassionate care at Princess Margaret Hospital and its research arm, the Ontario Cancer Institute, which now includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute and The Campbell Family Breast Cancer Research Institute. More information about the Foundation can be found at www.thepmcf.ca