Lyle's Lens

Case record 02

AFL Canberra: season media day

AFL Canberra Media Day studio portrait, Queanbeyan Tigers player

Context

AFL Canberra needed consistent, professional photos of roughly 70 athletes from six clubs and umpires before the season started.

Strategy

One media day produced around 200 portraits on white, shot to the league’s brief. Clubs and the league drew on them all season.

Method

The lighting was set up so athletes' faces and sponsor logos both read clearly, whatever channel the photo ends up on. This was a built-to-order job. The brief was 5x4 portraits on a white background, and AFL Canberra’s media team removed the background and used the portraits on their own designs.

Operational value

One day gave about 200 ready-to-use photos, shot to the same standard for every club.

Behind the scenes: how the day ran

The lighting set-up, the brief to the players, then each player and umpire on the mark, followed by the finished portrait from that moment.

AFL Canberra Media Day, March 2026. Shot to AFL Canberra’s brief: 5x4 portraits on a white background. Music: Nbhd Nick, “Three Count (Instrumental Version)”, courtesy of Epidemic Sound (opens in a new tab).

Media day portraits

Queanbeyan Tigers, Jets, Belconnen Magpies, Eastlake Demons, Ainslie FC, Batemans Bay Seahawks

AFL Canberra Media Day studio portrait, club guernsey and sponsor marks legible AFL Canberra Media Day portrait, player holding the premiership cup AFL Canberra Media Day studio portrait, player in a blue guernsey with arms folded, on white AFL Canberra Media Day studio portrait, arms crossed AFL Canberra Media Day studio portrait, controlled lighting on face and sponsor mark AFL Canberra Media Day portrait, premiership cup held to camera

Published use

AFL Canberra cut the portraits out and used them in its own designs through the season. Two examples:

AFL Canberra Round 9 fixture graphics using media-day portraits of an Eastlake player and a Belconnen Magpies player. Portraits by Lyle Holt
Portraits by Lyle Holt. Round 9 fixture graphics, AFL Canberra, Instagram, 19 June 2026. See the post: Round 9 fixtures (opens in a new tab)
AFL Canberra Podcast episode 12 cover using seven media-day portraits by Lyle Holt
Portraits by Lyle Holt. AFL Canberra Podcast, episode 12 cover, AFL Canberra, Instagram, 18 June 2026. See the post: podcast episode 12 (opens in a new tab)

Related

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