Six Peeps

June 26, 2010

MMA Legend Jens Pulver: Boise, ID Family Photos

I love when I get an interesting shoot in the books, one that might never be replicated in my career as a photographer.   Today I had one of those shoots, as I photographed a UFC Legend, Jens Pulver.

To date, I have photographed some very cool celebrities:  The weddings of PGA Tour Golfer and winner of the Canadian Open, Chez Reavie; FOX news anchorwoman, Libby Weaver; and even Dinger the Dinosaur’s wedding!

Of them all, there has only been one who required that I don’t publish their image:  Dinger the Dinosaur.

Today I got to photograph someone who will go down in UFC history, a legend in the sport, as he was the first ever UFC Lightweight World Champion.  To take family photos of a professional fighter, Jens Pulver sounded like an awesome opportunity.  And it was!

Meet Jens:

There’s currently a documentary film being produced about jens.  Here’s the first 3 minutes of it.  I’m loving it already.  I think this video is going to make people appreciate MMA fighting a little more.  It’s not the barbaric mindless fighting that people assume it to be.  The fighters are real athletes.  they train hard and dedicated their lives to the sport.  Jens is obviously no exception, he has an incredible story and I’m looking forward to seeing the completed film:

Jens has a wife, Nikka and son, Karson (I hope I spelled that right). I met them at Jens’ gym in Idaho and then we went out to a local greenbelt and did some outside shots, too.

He is a great guy, and has an equally great family too. And I’m not just saying that because he can beat me up!

I sort of wanted this shoot to be less of a “family portrait session” (even though we did do a few…), but more of a photo documentary / lifestyle shoot.  I am happy with how it came out.

OK how about some photos…

Here we are at his gym, Driven, just outside of Boise:

I’m not sure why I get this feeling that his son is going to follow his footsteps.

I like this one – mom in the background, cheering on her two boys.  I think she’s got her money on Karson.

Karson, finishing off his dad with a free lesson.

We pulled out a sled and had a little fun with that.  Nikka and Karson:

Jens is currently training for his next fight, which will air on Pay Per View, August 14.  He’s got his family behind him!

Karson gives us a very subtle hint that he is over this photo soot.

Next we ran off to a nearby creek to do some “nicer” photos…  Yes, Jens has one blue eye and one brown eye.  So if you ever see that in a dark alley, know that you can run, but you can’t hide!  Jens’ wife looks exotic and that’s because she is!  From Laos, just a skip from Vietnam.  I hear she can make an amazing pho!  Which I am addicted to!

…and this is where I am officially too tired to blog any more.  Gotta get up early for the Boise Urban Challenge!  More photos to come.  Thanks Jens, for having me shoot your family photos!  Awesome family!  And good luck in August – train hard!  Or like Matt Carpenter (another amazing athlete, Leadville 100 record holder) says, “go out hard, when it hurts – go harder” (actually I think it’s “speed up”, but I think “go harder” works better in this instance!  Regardless, I like that way of thinking!

**UPDATE**
Now that I have gotten some rest, did the Boise Urban Challenge thing (we got 3rd place overall, that’s right) and spent a day boating, I am back at editing and have 44 more shots to add to the collection here.

This is Karson’s trademark wink.  Love it.

Priceless…

The sign on Jens’ office door  Believe it.

Karson in clean clothes…. didn’t last long!

…and that’s all she wrote.  Until next time!

June 26, 2010 |