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Outta this world
By JIM MELVIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 26, 2001
[Times photo: David Williams]
Times copy editor Sharon Fink poses without makeup before the Dec. 6 photo shoot at the Bishop Planetarium.
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Even in today's technological society, it's not easy to take a photograph of a tattooed alien leaping through space to catch a glowing, metallic football.
Let's see: First, you make contact with an alien civilization; then, you rent a space shuttle; after that, you break a few laws of nature; and finally, you . . .
Well, given those impediments, we decided to try another way.
First, we found the costume, a $30,000 metal and canvas space suit complete with a battery-powered air handler that fed fresh air into its lighted helmet. The suit, which weighed more than 60 pounds, was rented from Global Effects, a company in North Hollywood that sells and rents props, costumes and miniature sets that have appeared in big-screen and television movies, including Armageddon, Deep Impact and HBO's From the Earth to the Moon. Our spacesuit was worn by extras in the 1998 science-fiction film Soldier, starring Kurt Russell.
Next, we found the venue: the Bishop Planetarium, a state-of-the-art multimedia theater that incorporates slides, lasers, videos and special effects. Planetarium director George Fleenor gave us permission to set up beneath the theater's star-lit sky, and he and assistant Bill Serdyn provided scaffolding, lighting and other materials to assist in the photo shoot.
[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
Makeup artist Jodi Welch works on some finishing touches.
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The star pattern in the cover photograph was arranged to show the constellation Orion as it will appear looking high in the southeast sky 100 years from now at Super Bowl CXXXV kickoff.
Sharon Fink, a copy editor in the Times sports department, volunteered to be our model, which meant becoming a bald, tattooed alien envisioned by Times newsartist David Williams. Palm Harbor makeup artist Jodi Welch spent more than 90 minutes turning Fink into an other-worldly wide receiver. (Welch specializes in doing makeup for actors in TV commercials, print advertisements and programs.)
Fink then climbed onto scaffolding that was set up inside the planetarium's theater. The football, designed and constructed by St. Petersburg artist Frank Strunk III, was suspended from rigging built by Williams out of PVC pipe and monofilament fishing line. This created the illusion that the football was floating in space.
Times photographer Michael Rondou took the cover photograph with Fuji 200 color negative film, using a blend of flash exposure for the subject and time exposure (more than 30 seconds) for the starry background.
Fink endured more than 2 hours of shooting in the heavy spacesuit with arms outstretched toward the suspended football to simulate a diving wide receiver. Rondou took more than 150 photographs, but we ended up choosing the second one as our favorite.
The result is what you see on our cover. Next time, maybe finding a real space alien, renting a space shuttle and breaking the laws of nature might be easier, after all.
[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
Fink poses in full regalia after the photo shoot.
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- The Bishop Planetarium is part of the South Florida Museum complex, which also houses the Parker Manatee Aquarium with residents Snooty and Mo. It is just across the Sunshine Skyway bridge on U.S. Business 41 at 201 10th Street West in Bradenton. Call (941) 746-4132 for information.
Today's Odyssey
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