Fitness Photography Case Study: CR_MVMNT Personal Training.

Today’s photoshoot starts bright and early. I am in Clarence Park, St. Albans. Partial sunshine is forecast. With the sun behind me, some cloud will help to reduce hotspots. Nevertheless, it is a warm morning with highs of 26 centigrade expected. Although I know the area well, I pace around the monkey bars to line up my vision. This morning, I will be photographing Cory Ramage, owner of CR_MVMNT, with one of his clients.

In preparation for this commission, I assembled a look-book to help me formulate a vision for the session. Sports photography is about capturing raw strength, focus, emotion and technical ability. Low-angle captures help to present the subject in a powerful position; it illudes to dominance. Another advantage of a worm-eye view is the decluttering effect it has. The sky provides a neutral backdrop that a busy park would not. Whilst I would generally expect my gear to cope with the larger dynamic range this approach demands, I come prepared with an off-camera flash, just in case the sky becomes blown out or should the person fall into shadow.

Aside from a low-angle of capture, other shots which work tend to capture some foreground to lead the eye toward the subject. A straight horizon with dead space helps to focus the attention. This will require careful positioning and likely an element of post-production recomposition to successfully pull off.

Some images will require a more technical approach to fulfil some of the requested images desired for the client’s new website. A portable pop-up background, for example, will help to isolate the subject and streamline my retouching workflow when producing png. files with transparent backgrounds. These images could be placed around the text or over other vector objects seamlessly.

The shot list:

Walking shot, holding resistance bands, p-bars, etc
Casual conversation shot
handstand level with the horizon
Handstand in bars low angle with reflector.
front view planche. Horizontal.
side view planche. Low angle.
front level eye view.
Back lever low angle.
ring dip for vector image
False grip
band-assist.

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