Looking Back: The Jordin Sparks Experience at Superbowl XLIX

It was 2015, the Super Bowl was coming to Phoenix, and I was getting divorced.

That’s probably the most accurate place to start this story.

The paperwork had already been filed, so at that point there wasn’t much left for me to do except wait. And somewhere in the middle of that waiting, I went back to something I knew.

Photography.

Before I got married, I had spent years shooting concerts and events under the name CMI Productions — short for Creative Media Intuition. I had worked as a photography intern at The North Texas Daily at the University of North Texas and photographed concerts and events around Dallas, including 97.9 The Beat’s Hip Hop for HIV concert as well as their Custom Car Show in 2010, building an entertainment portfolio along the way.

But photography had taken a backseat during my marriage. I wasn’t really shooting anymore. Then the Super Bowl came to Arizona.

Phoenix and Scottsdale were full of events, and I figured… why not?

So I pulled out my concert photography portfolio and started applying for media credentials.

One of those applications was for the Red, White & Black Party, part of the Jordin Sparks Experience during Super Bowl XLIX week.

Another was for a Kevin Hart event and after-party.

I got approved for both.

And honestly?

I was surprised.

It had been years since I had seriously put myself out there as a photographer, and suddenly I had two Super Bowl-week credentials in my hands.

I had also recently changed the name of my business.

CMI Productions had become DannieM Photography because my years photographing artists had taught me something important:

I was the brand.

People didn’t say, “Hey, CMI Productions.”

They knew Dannie.

And “Productions” caused people to assume I produced music videos.

So DannieM Photography was born.

Rule Number One: Follow Directions

There is something unglamorous about shooting celebrity events that I think younger photographers should know:

A lot of it is waiting.

You get your instructions.

You pick up your credential where they tell you to pick it up.

You arrive when they tell you to arrive.

And then…

You wait.

You wait for the event to start. You wait for talent to arrive. You wait around with other photographers and media people.

And while you’re waiting?

Watch your mouth.

Seriously.

You never know who is standing around you.

I had arrived when I was supposed to, picked up my credential, came back when instructed and was basically just waiting with the other photographers.

There were women milling around nearby and people coming and going.

I didn’t think anything of it.

At one point, while we were waiting for Jordin to arrive, some of the photographers got tired of waiting. I specifically remember a photographer saying something along the lines of, “I’m going to Drake’s party down the street. I’ll be back.”

Several photographers left with him.

Here’s the problem:

They didn’t have the credentials issued by Jordin’s team and the venue.

Then Jordin arrived.

I don’t know what kind of secret celebrity-photographer Bat-Signal went out, but suddenly all those photographers were back.

They seemed to materialize out of thin air.

Now there were photographers everywhere, and the woman coordinating media looked completely overwhelmed.

That’s when one of the women I had casually noticed earlier suddenly became very important.

It was Jordin Sparks’ mother.

Remember what I said about watching your mouth?

I was suddenly very glad I stayed.

There had been a credentialing process for a reason, and suddenly there were all these photographers standing around while nobody seemed completely sure who had actually been approved.

She wanted to know where everybody’s press passes were.

I happened to be standing right next to Jordin’s mom when the media coordinator’s eyes landed directly on me.

She saw my badge.

Then she pointed at me.

I remember her saying:

“She’s with us.”

Everybody looked at me.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is approximately when Dannie woke up.

Because until that exact moment, I think I had been operating almost entirely on autopilot.

Remember: I’m going through a divorce.

This is my first real photographic event in years.

I had applied for credentials almost on a whim.

And suddenly everybody is looking at me.

Okay.

Ma’am.

DannieM is awake now.

Time to lock in.

Working the Carpet

Jordin’s mother looked at me and said, "I'm gonna tell Jordin to look at you." I felt both empowered and terrified at the same time. This was a professional first.

She walked over to Jordin, pointed at me and said, "Look at that one." Everyone, including the photographers and fans nearby, stopped and turned to look at me again lol.

Once Jordin stepped in front of the cameras, she consistently looked toward mine, which made my job considerably easier.

I wasn’t new to photographing performers. Working alongside the celebrity press was a new experience.

That was a completely different environment than what I was used to. I almost felt like I was competing for the shot.

Today, I shoot with a full-frame Canon 5D Mark IV and a 24–70mm lens. However, at the time I was shooting with a Canon 50D, a crop-sensor camera that made photographing low-light events more difficult.

To fix this issue, I quickly realized I could use some of the light from surrounding flashes to my advantage. So I started timing my shots and piggybacking off the flashes around me.

As everyone moved in trying to get the shot, things got crowded quickly. Arms, elbows and bodies were moving in as photographers tried to position themselves.

At one point, I started backing away rather than fighting for position.

I had my shots.

I remember Jordin noticing, telling the photographers around me to give me some room, and motioning for me to come forward.

I appreciated that.

From My Camera to Rolling Out

Notable guests in attendance included former NFL receiver for the Arizona Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald, Grammy Award-winning singer Chrisette Michele and many other notable athletes.

I covered most of the night, including Jordin's performances.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, another opportunity happened.

At that point in my career, I had already spent years building my portfolio by photographing concerts and events, but I hadn’t developed a real strategy for marketing the entertainment work I was producing.

I was creating the photographs.

I just wasn’t always thinking about how far they could travel afterward.

That began to change when I connected with journalist Joi Pearson.

Joi told me she wrote for Rolling Out and could use my photographs from the event for the article.

I ended up getting some great photos, so I was grateful for the opportunity. This was my first time placing my photos as a freelancer rather than working directly for a publication.

I said, "Absolutely."

A few days later, there they were.

On February 5, 2015, Rolling Out published Joi’s article, “Jordin Sparks hosts party for charity pre-Super Bowl XLIX,” along with a gallery featuring 10 of my photographs from the night.

Thankfully, I had the foresight to screenshot the website when it was published.

More than a decade later, the original gallery is no longer available on the live article.

But I still have the screenshots.

Looking back, that was one of my earliest lessons in networking my photography onto a publication.

I met another media professional. We talked about what we did. She had a place for the photographs, and I had the work.

That connection taught me something I understand much better today:

Taking the photograph is only part of the job. People have to know the work exists.

Eleven years later, I’d love the opportunity to cross paths with Jordin again and photograph her.

And the Kevin Hart story?

That’s another post.

Tune in for the next installment of Looking Back. I’ve got a lot more stories to tell.

Until next time,

Dannie