Fitness – Imgcr8tive Photography

Karen Personal Branding

Sharon — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 03:52:40 +0000

Karen is a personal trainer based in Virginia Beach. We’ve created a lot of images through the years and now she has a variety of content in her brand photography gallery to choose from. This is a sampling of the types of shots she wanted. The mix of fitness shots in the gym, in her studio, and outdoors illustrates how she incorporates her workouts anywhere. She also shows her style and personality through other images that are not always fitness related.

Unique Photoshoot Location: Red Rock Amphitheater

Sharon — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:23:37 +0000

Unique photoshoot location: Red rocks amphitheater

The Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison Colorado is always a great place to do a photoshoot especially when you want to portray that mountain lifestyle. There are a lot of beautiful spots with mountain ranges in the background, the steps at the amphitheater and, of course, the red rocks. I often prefer to start at the upper most lot called the plains view lot because it is mostly private compared to other lots. There is also a covered picnic area where clients can change and put their things. The covered area works really well for multiple outfit changes that often happen with branding photoshoots. The nearby outhouse is also convenient when you really need to go. The steps at the amphitheater are great for getting fitness photos. Best of all is that there are no fees to pay do a photoshoot here.

I can’t help it, I love to take my off camera flash. I like to shoot natural light as well as light assisted. If there is too much wind then I would have to have someone come help hold lights. It can get really windy up here. Golden hour never disappoints but just keep in mind where the sun will be. I like to use a sun tracker app called Sun Seeker. I will also bring a pop up tent in case anyone needs to change outside of their car. I would start off by parking at any of their designated lots and see where you can explore from there.

All the areas are easily accessible. I like to show up on days when there are no concerts scheduled (check that ahead of time!), but keep in mind that there are often hikers and families that like to sight see so it might not be as private as you’d like. More people means that parking in smaller lots might be an issue. However, larger lots have plenty of parking and sometimes meeting there then taking one car to another location also works.

There are a lot of Rangers doing security at this location so staying compliant to all the rules posted is a good idea. On quieter days I’ve been able to pull my car over to the side and shoot in certain spots I liked. On busier days and weekends it’s harder to do, so it helps to be quick. Do not park too long in areas where you are not allowed because the rangers will kick you out. I hope my images on this short blog will show you the type of shots you can get at this near Denver location. I’ve been sharing more of my locations because, as a photographer, it’s often hard to get out and scout places all the time and having recommendations of where to start looking would have helped me when starting out.

Unique Photoshoot Location : Warehouse

Sharon — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 20:00:53 +0000

warehouse photoshoot For branding, fitness, and art

I try to do a special shoot where I pick a location and offer my clients something unique that they can participate in. I rented time at this warehouse through peerspace which had a really cool old industrial look I was going for. I always try to be professional so I will not risk trespassing where I’m not allowed, especially with clients. Many property owners are pretty open to allowing use of their space and never hurts to ask. Since I shoot art, fitness and branding photography, I used this same warehouse space for all those kinds of shots.

In this blog I will give you just an overview of my thoughts about working in a space like this so you can simply have them as considerations when you plan or participate in a similar photoshoot situation.

1) Warehouse locations are often not heated or air-conditioned so keep in mind the temperature. I shot in the spring and the fall. You can perhaps get away with shooting in the summer because the space was made of concrete and stayed very cool.

2) It’s dark so bring lights just in case. The gorgeous windows definitely added some incredible light and drama but sometimes it was too dark and having a light helped a lot.

3) The room is grand so having my 24mm-70mm lens was very helpful. I sometimes don’t get it when photographers spend all this time and money on a location then shoot the subjects with a very blurry background or cropped tight in the frame.

4) The floor is so dirty! It is hard to get any images where the person can sit or lay on the floor. Be careful of your model touching a surface then touching their face or clothing! There will be hand and finger prints everywhere. I brought a lot of wet wipes to this shoot. We had some shots using a chair but you will not get any shots of lying on the floor unless you bring something to put on the ground.

5) The light moves throughout the day. The very large window light was only available to me in the morning. So I had to plan on the kind of client that I needed to get that shot with and schedule appropriately. I had to get really creative at the end of the day when there was barely any light. We had fun chasing the light and mostly worked within the rooms that had great light. It’s all part of the fun and sporadic surprises of shooting in different spaces.

Brand Photoshoot For Intangible Product or Service

Sharon — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:04:09 +0000

tips for branding photoshoot with intangible product or service

I’ve worked with my friend Kristina for a long time. Her business involves being a life coach and has honed in on helping people with their mental health. She takes a wholistic approach in that she stresses taking care of both the physical well being as well as the mental thoughts because it is all connected. Body and mind, mind and body. Many of her images addressing physical well being have been fairly straight forward. We create shots of her working out, meal prepping, and sleep. We have her in the kitchen cooking, bedroom sleeping, outside running, hiking, stretching. But what if the subject is something intangible? For people that have brands that sell or offer customers “a way of being”, “a way of taking charge of their lives”, “a way of battling depression” there is no straight forward “before and after” shot. Kristina wanted to have images that addressed about past trauma, healing, self discovery, self care. Here are 5 tips that you may want to consider which helped me create these types of images for her.

1) Focus on emotion: In a lot of my branding work I aspire to create emotion. Images of someone shown running up a flight of stairs or doing pushups on the ground can say many things. It can say this person is fit or into fitness. It can also allow for stories of perseverance and determination. A lot of that communication will be through the subjects facial expressions so have them do them all! Happy, sad, thoughtful, excited, frustrated etc. It is fun to play around with this and the best way to get genuine responses are to help them think of a time they felt that way.

Keep in mind body language, facial expressions, and lighting. How can you light the scenario to support the mood? Light and bright can show happy. The creation of shadows can make the environment more moody. However, a light and bright scene can have an unhappy subject which can add to the feel of intended disconnection.

2) Windows: Windows are awesome. The light is beautiful and gives you so much contrast. You can work with light and shadow to make the mood feel bright and light or contrasted and dark. Putting the subjects away from or facing the window gives you so many options for drama. In my shoot we used the window to make her look trapped, afraid, sad. I wanted it to look like someone locked into the fear of their own mind looking out to find courage.

3) Reflections: The reflection play of the window was a perfect representation of someone looking either out at the world or at themselves and their inner thoughts. I loved it so much I decided to bring a mirror to our shoot. We played around with this concept of reflection. Mirrors and reflections are a great symbol of who we are, how we see ourselves, how the world sees us and the dualities in life.

4) Hands: When I am trying to make a connection of something intangible come across as, well, tangible, I find the use of hands can help make that happen. Hands out or open can make the connection of being open to or receiving an idea. I think about receiving intentions from the universe as well as sending out my intentions to the universe or even the viewer. Hands folded can say peace or calm. Hands writing can depict understanding or self discovery. Hands touching grass or rock can also evoke ideas of discovery. Hands physically touching a person or nature can symbolize our connection to them.

5) Sun Flares: I love a cool sun flare for any type of photography. It creates all types of crazy haze, shadow and desaturation but I absolutely love it! Incorporating the sun reminds us of time passing. Sunrise and sunset can often represent the ending of one thing and beginning something new. It is renewal, forgiveness, new beginnings, a new day. The passing of time which is necessary for healing.

Bonus Tip: Location Location Location! Location adds to the narrative and can really bring home the idea or feeling. A gritty street full of trash and concrete can convey the cold loneliness of abandonment. The warm sunshine on a face in a nicely manicured park can portray joy or content. For Kristina we took advantage of the beautiful mountains that surround us in Colorado to give the feeling of grandeur. That greatness gives one the feeling of humility. We are just one small part of a larger whole that is this world, this life. What a blessing it is to exist in this moment, at this time, in this state of mindfulness and gratitude.

Unique Photoshoot Location: Pool

Sharon — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 21:07:25 +0000

pool day photoshoot

It’s summer so I thought why not do a pool photoshoot? For those that are accidental photographers without famous clients or large budgets like myself, we have to work with what is possible. In this particular case, the models are the clients and we are not working under a commercial scenario. Therefore, the client experience has to be paramount in that I need to make sure the model is comfortable and having fun. I brought lots of water and a tray for fruit. My friend Josie was also there to assist.

How I Found the Pool: I like spaces that are private. Some people will find community pools to shoot at or public pools. I’ve not tried it but I try to avoid it because I want clients to feel at ease, not rushed and comfortable wearing close to nothing (or nothing) in front of the camera with plenty of privacy. I got lucky and found a guy who listed his private pool on VRBO. It was also a 1 night stay minimum. I had from 3pm until 12pm the next day to shoot for about $370 total. I figured that I’d be able to fill up the schedule with enough gals to cover that cost. Just to make sure, I sent out a post asking for interest in a pool photoshoot and had a minimum number of gals that I needed to commit to the shoot before I booked the property. I also asked the owner of the pool and property if it was okay for me to use that time for a photoshoot. I explained how the schedule was going to go and what I needed to do. It is important to give the owners of the rental property a heads up. Property owners are usually okay with it as long as you are respectful of their stuff and they know you will NOT be having a party.

Posing and Shots: I like variety. Even though this photoshoot was not for an editorial in a magazine, I like to shoot as if it were. I took images that were full body, 3/4 , headshots, standing, sitting, laying down, horizontal and vertical. We shot around the pool, in the pool and under the pool. to go under the water I had to purchase a special camera casing to make it water proof. This was my first time doing under water photography it was a hit or miss. I will definitely need to go back to do more underwater photography practice. Keep in mind that the shots where the person is half in and half out of the water, there will be distortion of the body that’s under the water. That could make it look weird in the image so just be aware of that.

Don’t Forget the Hair Flip: It’s water and it’s fun so don’t forget to splash around and play with the motion and energy of it. Just make sure to do it at the end once you’ve gotten all the close up beauty shots. Once the hair or the face is wet, then there is no going back to fixing the hair or makeup.

Gear: I always bring strobes just in case. The first day we did the shoot it was overcast so I did use my lights. The hair flip image you see here is complete artificial light because it was already around 7pm in the evening. One light lit her from the front and another lit all of the background. The second day was really sunny so I shot it using natural light. I even had to take out my ND filter to control some of the white highlights.

Last Thoughts: Yes, one client did bring her pet snake. I had spoken to her ahead of time and we planned on her bringing it. Before I do any shoot I plan out some poses and looks I want to achieve during the shoot. I research on Pinterest and Instagram stuff on pool shoots, poses with snakes and bikini poses. I like to be open to an environment and what it can give me, but I also have a list of images I keep on hand. I use it for reference if I freeze on ideas or need to get something started.

Fitness Photoshoot Ideas: Bodybuilding Photography

Sharon — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 01:47:26 +0000

My Gym Fitness Photoshoot
with IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Dorian Haywood

By: Fitness Photographer, Sharon Lewis

I’ve known Dorian for about 6 years. If you ever follow the sport of bodybuilding you see the consistent progression of each competitors physique and can’t help but have great respect for it. Muscle creation, definition. proportion, maturation all takes time and a lot of patience (years of bulking and leaning) to achieve award winning results. Dorian has been working on his physique for 20 years and being with him in a gym, in his element, shows you what a real pro he is. Dorian is a trainer and chiropractor working out of the “Mile High Mecca” of bodybuilding gyms, Armbrust Pro Gym in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Luckily I caught him just after he did an IFBB Pro Show the past weekend. This shoot was unique in that I shot Dorian as he did his normal fitness workout for the day. It was an arm and shoulder day so we got some great upper body shots. There was no posing and everything captured was authentic and in the moment. He would sometimes flex and do his routine after a set. As a competitor, I know that this helps us see the areas that need improvement and practicing the posing is always a good idea.

Although I love to shoot at Armbrust Pro Gym, we decided to shoot at my gym, VASA, in Centennial Colorado because we had planned to do a leg workout right after. One of the main benefits of doing a gym photoshoot is that you can fit in a workout after you finish shooting. When doing a gym fitness photoshoot at a place that is more of a “commercial gym” like VASA, you need manager approval and must schedule at a quieter time of the day. Most gyms are quieter from 1pm-3pm on weekdays and 1pm-8pm on Sundays. I tend not to schedule anything Saturdays because it can be a mad house with too many people at any time. If people work during the day and I have no other choices, later in the evening also works (after about 7:30pm).

You want as little people as possible in the gym because you don’t want to have to photoshop them out of the shot or get their permission to be included in the image. If you want to get invited back to shoot at that gym it’s also best to not anger the clientele. Since lighting is crucial, the space that it takes to shoot is pretty big. Even thought I try to not be in the way, shooting is always going to be a distraction. Regardless, I positioned us at one of the ends of the free weight section. I placed one light on either side of Dorian towards the back angled towards the rim of his shoulder (these 2 lights act as the rim around his body and will give some definition to his form). . Another light was placed towards the front of him positioned at about 45% facing him and angled down to hit some of his face and torso.

As I test the lighting, Dorian is doing his workout. He does each set of exercises 4 times. The last set is often the hardest and most dramatic so that’s the one where you will aim to get “THE” shot. Also, during the last set, the athlete’s muscle is already pumped from the previous sets. It’s when you want to capture them at their fullest. This is often how I shoot guys during gym shoots. The situation is slightly different for girls depending on what the girl wants to showcase (lots of pumped hard strong muscle or slightly softer look).

If the lighting is done right, the best part is, there should be very little editing!

Credits:

https://www.armbrustprogym.com
https://www.facebook.com/Chiromega-Chiropractic-Physical-Wellness-190760314301930/
https://vasafitness.com/location/centennial-willow-creek-colorado/