Making the Images

Every so often I enjoy doing a themed photo shoot. The occasional themed shoot allows me to experiment with various lighting setups and editing styles which I can carry over into my other work. This keeps my photography fresh, exciting and constantly evolving.

The reason I chose yoga for this shoot is that most of the yoga photography I’ve seen is done outdoors. I understand the connection between yoga and nature but at the same time I feel the images contain 2 subject … the scenery and the yogi. I decided to do these images in studio so the model is the only focus of the images. A special thank you to friend and Yoga Instructor Stefanie Jillian who modeled for this shoot. Please visit her website Yoga Bunny for lesson and class information.

Lighting setups for fitness style photography tend to be a bit more complicated than most photo shoots. The lights have to be positioned in such a way that the subjects body is separated from the background and the persons physique is “carved out” and muscle definition is enhanced. This is not done to enhance or create something that isn’t natural to the person but to bring back the 3D definition that exists in real life to the 2D world of digital images and print. For this shoot I used 2 medium size strip boxes that washed specular light over the model that were positioned slightly from behind, one left and one right. I used a large 7′ deep parabolic umbrella “key light” in front of the model to provide controlled fill light. As you can see in the images below these lights were moved slightly for each different image based on the look and feel I was capturing.

Lighting is so critical when photographing the human body. It’s a balancing act between proper illumination and well placed shadows that give definition.

tell a friend

After spending about 30 minutes getting my lights, reflectors and background just right it was time to shoot. We tried several different looks, poses and lighting setups until I found the right combination that I was looking for. I shot about 70 images in total and produced 9 fully edited final images. Stefanie was great to work with and took direction very well which allowed me to bring out her and my best. We had a fun and engaging session and I learned about yoga in the process.

I love doing fitness and athletic based photography! I hope you enjoyed this look behind the scenes into my life a Las Vegas photographer. ~ Bror Fredrik

If you’d like to schedule a yoga photography session or themed shoot please use the contact info below or click this link to schedule a call back!