April 20, 2016

Location: Crossfit Harrisburg....  Harrisburg, NC

Nikon D750 w/24-85mm   Alien Bees 800 and Pro Studio 300 Strobe

 

 

 

 

      Those who have been following my work know I have been shooting with a D600, however this would be my first fitness session with my new D750.  I am absolutely in love with this camera. I was super excited when Eric reached out to me for a booking for his fiance Dawn. Dawn is a personal trainer and runs her own company called Fitmom3... yes you guessed it she is a mother of 3. Before our session I checked out Dawn's website to see what looks she liked. Eric made it clear to me that they were game for me to incorporate my edgy flare to the images. This was a birthday gift for Dawn so as excited as I was to announce it on social media, I had to resist. There was also a request for a make-up and hair artist so I reached out to Alli Love. She did an amazing job as usual and I will continue to work with her as long as she is available. Once everything was in place all I had to do it wait for the day.

 

 

I arrived at one of my favorite places to shoot, Crossfit Harrisburg. I arrived at CFH a couple hours early so I could open up for Alli to do her magic. I had a great time setting up and talking to Eric. Always a pleasure talking to others who share the same passion for fitness and nutrition.  I had all my lighting set up and I was ready to go. Once Dawn came out I knew she meant business. I called her "quadzilla" instantly because it was clear that loves to squat. So where did we start??? THE SQUAT RACK. With the setup I placed my softbox off to the right with my background strobe placed in back right. Super pleased with the look of these!!!! 

 

 

I then pulled Dawn off the squat rack and wanted to do some profile standing shots of her with the bar on her shoulders. I will tell you this, Dawn had no problem holding 135lbs on her back. Clearly by these pictures you can see why.

 Next up we were going with deadlifts. I wanted to really capture her hamstrings and triceps while engaged in the lift. The great thing about working with athletes is that I can say very few words and they know exactly what position I am talking about. Dawn was no different and super easy to work with. With this setup I placed my softbox off to the left of her. 

   

 

I wanted to incorporate some kettlebell work because I love the way they look. Also I wanted to to do a shot in the form of a single arm row, which would really show off her core. We performed a few swings and also threw in some profile shots with Dawn holding KB in front rack position. For the profile images I literally placed the softbox directly next to her not even 2ft away. I wanted to make sure I provided Dawn with pictures she could possibly use for he "About me" portion of her website. These images couldn't have came out better in my eyes. 

The next setup is the one I have received the most questions about.

1. Was is your idea to go topless?

2. How did you get the "ok" for her to do that?

My response to everyone was the same. We are talking about an athlete who has put in a ton of hard work to look this way. Also this was a very artistic approach as well to show the beauty of the female anatomy. Dawn's lats were insane and definitely needed to be highlighted. Dawn and Eric both came to me with the idea for these shots and I was 100% comfortable as a professional and that they trusted me to capture them. This would be my first time capturing an athlete this way and I was stoked with how they came out. I personally wanted to thank Dawn and Eric for allowing me to take these. Check them out!!!!!

 

 As we were getting towards the end of the shoot it was time for a couple wardrobe changes. I have done lateral raises before but we decided to use kettlebells instead which looked pretty cool. Then we moved towards the more sensual and soft look. Posed up against the squat rack and even brought out a bench. The lighting on these are probably my favorite and I LOVED the outfit choice. 

This last shot is one of my favorites and was all Dawn's idea. This lunge off the bench really made her quads pop and made the image INSANE!!

 

  

  

In conclusion I want to thank Eric and Dawn for trusting me to provide images for the new website and I cant wait to see the new layout. I would like to personally thank Dawn for trusting my vision and being open to everything I suggested. I also appreciate her dedication to her nutrition and fitness which knocked these images out the park. You are a motivation to mothers and women all over the world. You even motivated this guy here to put in some more work. If your looking for someone to assist with nutrition and workout programming please make sure you reach out to Dawn. I have put her info below.  Thanks to all my continued supporters for taking the time to read about this experience and look forward to providing you more work in the near future!!!  

 

 

"No Work Like Hard Work"

3...2...1...GO!!!!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FitMom384/

Instagram : FITMOM3.0

Website: www.fitmom3.net

 

Hair and Make-up : Alli Love     Instagram: embraceyou_loveyourbeauty