Anderson Silva Fan Photography Day!!!

Once upon a time when Anderson Silva

was the UFC middleweight world champion, the universe aligned everything that needed to or could possibly be aligned in order for me to photograph him and his fans for a whole day. Exclusively. I didn’t have to fight for space, I set up where I wanted to and gave his translator the rundown. Anderson was amazingly courteous, warm and friendly. He gave me a huge hug and was such a good sport.

I also realized that television

did not do him justice, and in person he is an incredibly impressive person. Both physically and presence wise. He was so much fun and truly engaged with the fans. I was enjoying the day very much but I was also running at a brutal, red line photography pace checking eye focus on every image before firing it over to a separate room where I had a team of people printing 8X10’s for Anderson to sign.

One thing I realized about Anderson Silva

early on in the day. He is going to do exactly what he wants to do within reason. I urged him to keep it moving a couple of times because we were burning daylight and he was going to have to bolt at a certain time.

But you know, he just couldn’t help himself with the children. He had such a blast goofing around with them. He would let them put him in choke holds and all kinds of stuff and then unleash a tickle barrage that would have them squealing like crazy and then toss the kid back to their parents. What a sweetheart.

It was a really terrific day

all around and I’m blessed to have been a part of it. If you love MMA I would love to hear from you!! It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but if it’s your cup of tea throw up some hands!