Several months ago I was contacted by Virginia Downes, Director, Production and Design for Godine, an independent publishing house located in Boston, Massachusetts. Virginia and I had previously worked together on another book cover when she was at Harvard Common Press. During our initial phone conversation she said she was interested in having me create a cover image for a book that, to quote the book jacket, “follows the players on West Point’s fiercely passionate rugby team as they became members of the first class to graduate from the military academy into wartime since the days of Vietnam.“ Virginia is a joy to work with, and together we combined our talents to bring Godine’s vision to life. Guidelines were provided by a tight comp. There was some thought of having me shoot on an actual playing field, but ultimately we decided that a tight studio shot, with the look and feel of a playing field lit dramatically would be the best option. This was a challenging and rewarding experience and I don’t think it is untrue to say that the people at Godine were very happy with the final results.