All You Need to Know About Fitness Photography
All You Need to Know About Fitness Photography
Every professional photographer is different in the sense that they all bring their own touch of creativity in giving life to a certain picture. This is what makes them unique. However, there are certain fundamentals of every type of photography that are to be followed by every photographer. Like every other form, fitness photography also comes with a bunch of basics that all experts have to follow. These basics help categorize a certain type of photography and put a label on it.
Fitness photography is often the most difficult to capture. It is about catching the perfect motion in a split second which requires high frame rates and a great eye for the right moment. If you are into fitness photography, and want to lay the basis of the path to great expertise in the field, here is all you need to know about it.
Lighting Is Key
While lighting is a key aspect of most genres in photography, it playsa major role while shooting for fitness magazines and articles. Your core focus is to highlight the body cuts that define fitness, and that requires you to play with your lighting equipment in a slightly different manner. Let’s talk about taking pictures outside.
People often tend to think that noon is the best time for outdoor fitness photoshoots. While it may be so for a portrait, having the sun on top does not offer much assistance while routing for top-quality fitness photographs. For them, you have dawn! When the sun is almost level and throws light from the sides, that is the perfect time for outdoor fitness photography. You can make use of a reflector to ensure that the sunlight hits your body more evenly.
Posing Is Important
Fitness photography is not just about what you do as a photographer, but also how the subject – the fitness expert poses. The most difficult part of fitness photography is the pose, and it is just as important as it is difficult. The expression of the fitness expert matter a lot. While getting the pose or expression just right can be difficult for an amateur photographer, you can create the actual scene for the shoot. For instance, get the boxer to throw a few punches or have the runner run for the camera. A true expression will bring life to your effort and help you create an end result that truly speaks for itself!
Another key aspect is to make sure that the light is hitting the subject wherever it is important. You can use additional lights to incase parts of the body that need to be featured but are falling dark. This adds a dramatic effect on the subject’s body making it look sleeker for a great shot.
Camera Angles Matter
Photography is an art of playing with angles to give life to your pictures. Fitness photography elevates that game to a whole new level. Your core motive is to capture the right muscle tone, a perfect feature of your entire physique and make them the talking points of your picture. A great way to do that is to use studio lighting. The lights should be placed at a 45-degree angle in front of your subject and a 45-degree angle pointing downward - with just the tip of the modifier hitting the subject. This will help identify the shape much better as compared to placing the lights right on the front or back. One great advantage with contemporary cameras is that you can go all out.
Every shooting situation is different from the other. Try out different angles to see which one is offering the best results for the condition.
Experts Can Model
There is a difference between a model and an expert. While amateurs hire models for fitness photography, a professional will only opt for an expert: the reason for this is that a model cannot offer the best portrayal of a sportsperson. An expert will know the best posture and poses that will highlight the muscle tone for the best shots.
Prerequisites of Setting Up the Shoot!
There are many fresh photographers that struggle in setting up fitness photoshoots. Here are a few simple steps for you to get started.
Create a shot list
The last thing that you would want while on a fitness photoshoot is to forget a key shot. Not only will it be difficult to create the same environment again, it will also waste a great deal of your time. A simple way to go about this is to create a list of all the shots that you require.
Find the Location
Indoor fitness photography does not require as much attention to the background as it does outdoors. The reason for this is that outdoor fitness photography incorporates the background to make the picture complete in every sense. This takes us to the point that location matters quite a bit in this type of photography.
While planning one, you should always scout for just the perfect location for the shoot. Usually, parks, jogging tracks, and gyms are among the best places that you can opt for in the case you are starting out in fitness photography.
The Right Photographer
Fitness photography is not something that every photographer can or should take on. Here are a few tips that will help you choose the perfect fitness photographer.
Portfolio
If you want to check the work of a photographer, simply go to his or her portfolio. An expert photographer in the field would have catered to a lot of clients and would offer a large portfolio. In addition to that, the shots taken will speak for themselves and portray the expertise a photographer has over the area. A professional photographer’s years in the field can also help you decide if it is the right one to opt for your sporty shots.
Equipment
Another thing that will let you garner an idea of how great a photographer is through his or her working equipment. A professional fitness photographer will carry some of the most elite equipment that adds to the quality of your pictures.
Are you looking for the best fitness photographer in town? Opt for Dino Mosley Photography. We have years of experience in the field. In addition to an exquisite fitness photoshoot, we also offer consultation in the area. For more information you can contact us at 323-332-1197.