Advertising Fitness Photographer

Commercial Fitness Photography - Advertising

Fitness Photo Shoot - Workout - Health

A number of years ago I received a new assignment email from a long time client wanting some fitness photography. That’s not out of the ordinary, but their specific request was. They wanted some “bright and happy” fitness shots. My immediate response that I actually said out loud while reading the email was “why are you contacting ME?” Normally with advertising photography, clients/brands/art directors etc. are painfully specific about who they choose for a shoot. There’s a running joke/story out there about a food photographer who was showing his “fruit” portfolio to a client that needed his services. His work was exquisite. More beautiful images of fruit you could not find. The client loved what he did with apples, oranges, bananas, mango, kiwi, pineapple, etc.. After going through the whole portfolio though, she asked him “but can you photograph a yellow apple? Are you fuckin kidding me??? That sums up a lot of the photography industry . Most people aren’t capable of making the mental bridge and want a photographer to be so specific that they specialize in shooting “yellow apples” or whatever the fuck the case might be. I probably botched the story itself, but you get the point. Until receiving that email about a “bright and happy” fitness shoot, it was something that I’d never done. My style was always dark and gritty and probably the thing I was most known for. I thought, what the hell, let’s give it a go. So I took the assignment and ended up really enjoying it. Since then there have been a number of clients who have hired me to make images in a similar style for them. It’s been fun and I look forward to that change in pace/style from the dark and gritty. Currently working on a new gallery for the website of bright fitness images. Until then though, enjoy these shots which were made for a few different clients over the past year or so. They are a mix of indoor/outdoor and shot with natural light, strobed, bounced, diffused, etc, etc, etc


Steph Curry

Couple images from a shoot a few months back with World Champion and NBA MVP; Steph Curry of the Golden Sate Warriors. This was my second shoot with Steph, and he's still cool as ever. The second shot was taken during filming of the Foot Locker commercials you've probably seen on tv, and done with all natural light. The first was done on white seamless with 5 strobes. The only place we were permitted to set up our seamless was outdoors. And at the very least, you always have to worry about wind taking up the seamless, or knocking down your strobes. Weather that day said 0% chance of rain. And of course it didn't rain all day, until we were a few minutes into our shoot. Then it just started pouring. Steph wasa good sport about it, and thankfully, we had already got what we needed. Some of my equipment on the other hand, took a small beating. Took quite a while to rip it all down, and get out of the rain. Everything was all good in the end though.These two images are my favorites, but certainly not what Foot Locker/Under Armour used for their store windows/ads.

 


 

Emmanuel Mudiay

Emmanuel Mudiay just went #7 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, and is now the newest member of the Denver Nuggets. I had the opportunity to shoot with his last month in LA for Under Armour. If you pay attention to hoop, you've probably seen all his "Life changes after the draft" commercials. Funny spots.Anyway, he's a good kid, and was fun to shoot with. Seemed very mature for his age, and handled all of his responsibility well. These shots below are from the 34th St. Foot Locker in New York City. It's always cool to see your stuff used like this. 




STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING-SAN DIEGO

Paddle Boarding Photography

Had some more fun in the water a few weeks ago with my Aquatech Water Housing and Broncolor Strobes.  Was originally hoping for some early morning light to shoot Carter Graves doing some stand up paddle boarding on Mission Bay. We didn't get the sun, but I'm thankful for that now. Think the clouds provide a more dramatic look and add a lot to these images. 

Carter Graves

 

American Body Building

Body Building Photography - ABB Nutrition

Found out last week that the ABB "Build Greater" ad campaign I shot last year, won a Clio Award.

 "Honoring the best in sports advertising and marketing internationally, the awards are judged by the Who’s Who of the sports industry – from marketing executives and commissioners, to broadcasters and professional athletes.  The Clio Sports Award recognizes “breakthrough communications that elevate sports culture in the collective consciousness.”

It 's huge honor to be involved as other winners in this category are Nike, Reebok, ESPN, Gatorade, Foot Locker, NBA, NFL, and EA Sports. Everything about this shoot was awesome. The location, athletes, client, and agency were all great. Quad's Gym is a really old school joint in Chicago. The type of place that just doesn't exist anymore. We scouted it the day before, and I knew we would come out with some great stuff. My only complaint is that we didn't have a week to shoot, so we could take advantage of every little nook and cranny in the place. Everyone at ABB was awesome. And I gelled really well with "Take Third Street", which was the agency in charge. Would love to collaborate with the whole team again. 

Click here to check out more of my fitness photography


Steph Curry- NBA MVP

Steph Curry was just named the NBA MVP. And it couldn't be any more deserved. If you have watched him play this year, then you know why. He's just operating at a different level. I shot this image of Steph last year for NIke Basketball and Foot Locker in Los Angeles. He was a pleasure to shoot with. Genuinely nice dude. Big fan of the "Dark Knight". 


PCT - California

Trail Running Photography

Pacific Crest Trail - California

Drive about an hour east of San Diego on the 8 and you'll find the Sunrise Highway. Explore up there for a bit, and you'll be happy you did. Lots of fun hiking with great views. Especially on this section of the Pacific Crest Trail. 


DeAndre Jordan

DeAndrea Jordan - Portrait

NBA - Basketball Photography

You never know where your images will get picked up. I shot with DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers) a few years ago, before he really blew up into the beast he is today. It was only his first or second year in the league, but you could already tell that he would be a force. Awesome to shoot with, as you can see from his energy in the pictures. Very willing, and has an infectious smile. Huge dude, but seams like a teddy bear off the court. I think he's my wife's favorite player, just because of his smilie. Anyway, these images from a couple years ago got picked up by another media outlet recently. And ran alongside an article about DeAndre, written by DeAndre. Pretty cool. 

You can check out the article here.