Female Body Builder - First Shoot - Advice Please!

snoop69

snoop69

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Hi guys,

Im preparing to do a body builder shoot & was wondering if anyone had any
experience in this field.

Do I treat the shoot just as a 'normal' portrait shoot or should I be setting up
differently to try & show muscle definition etc?

Thanks in advance.
 
Tell her she looks beautiful so she doesn't clock you one lol !!!!

Think you have to really define the muscles in a shoot like this or it would / could just look like a normal shoot
 
Not photographed a female body builder myself (shudder) but it's all about the light baby. If you want a dramatic shot with lots of definition and shadow on the muscles you need to go for harsh directional lighting.
 
Thanks guys for the replies.

Would you suggest keeping the backdrop unlit or raise the power on the
model light?

The backdrop is a white continuos job of the vinyl variety.

Along with a huge softbox & backdrop lighting there is also a hairlight
available. Would that be of any use?

Thanks again.
 
As Flash P says above take a look at McNally. Don't know if the blog is the same but in his latest book he has a body builder example of how different light and light modifiers massivley affect the outcome. It all depends how you want them to look. If you use a softbox she might look 'prettier' (;)) but there will be much less definition and shadow on the muscles etc. What is the effect you're going for.
 
Dangleman said:
As Flash P says above take a look at McNally. Don't know if the blog is the same but in his latest book he has a body builder example of how different light and light modifiers massivley affect the outcome. It all depends how you want them to look. If you use a softbox she might look 'prettier' (;)) but there will be much less definition and shadow on the muscles etc. What is the effect you're going for.
Click to expand...

I couldnt find any bodybuilder pics on the blog I looked at (maybe the wrong Mcnally)
but I did find some pics through his older posts.

Here is something similar to what I hope to achieve.
 
kapawayna said:
I would think directional lighting to get te shadows in the defenition on the muscles.
Click to expand...

Apologies for being a novice but I guess that would be direct light with
no softbox?

Do i set the light straight on or at 45degs as per the norm?
 
Snoop take a stroll through Lighting 101 for some help. Direct light should be at whatever angle works best for the pose you are thinking to use. You might want to consider two lights or a light + reflector to light both sides of her to exagerate her form.
 
V8burble said:
Snoop take a stroll through Lighting 101 for some help. Direct light should be at whatever angle works best for the pose you are thinking to use. You might want to consider two lights or a light + reflector to light both sides of her to exagerate her form.
Click to expand...

Thanks V8, Lighting 101 & You Tube have been very informative.

I notice that due to oils etc, there are what looks like overexposed areas
(I guess I should do alright with my track record :lol:) Is this something I should
be aiming for to exaggerate the shadows?
 
Do search for 'jason cole' in the nude section, search for a post on how to accentuate the body muscles and there is a thread that will help you to achieve your mission.

I think it is mainly having light at the sides of the body.
 
Personally I would head in a low-key direction if I were given the job, but yes the highlights and shadows will exaggerate the body toning (which is what most body-builders are concerned about). I would still use either soft-boxes or shoot through brollies rather than bare flashes, or your highlights will be blown I would think.
 
I would not light that bg and keep her fairly far forward to get it to go grey/black

use hard light from the sides

defo check out strobist he did something similar a few weeks back and gives great details
 
david1701 said:
I would not light that bg and keep her fairly far forward to get it to go grey/black

use hard light from the sides

defo check out strobist he did something similar a few weeks back and gives great details
Click to expand...

^^^ That's how I would do it. I think that's fairly conventional BB style.

The darker background will stop the really shiny bits of muscle definition from disappearing.
 
Hi I used to take pics for Body Builing Monthly when I was alive. If they are posed shots I always went for slightly low key and even lighting, a top light is very handy, then one harsh brolly with a gold reflector about 15deg to the front of the model and very slightly higher than the pose. I used to like the brolly exposure about 3/4 of a stop higher than the other lights. Use this as a base and experiment. I had the disadvantage of using film.
Best part of shooting bodybuilders is that you don't have to pose them. They know what they want.
Lot's of luck.
 
david1701 said:
I would not light that bg and keep her fairly far forward to get it to go grey/black
Click to expand...

That was my thoughts. Will try & get the studio to let me have the black
backdrop.

DUNKS said:
If they are posed shots I always went for slightly low key and even lighting, a top light is very handy, then one harsh brolly with a gold reflector about 15deg to the front of the model and very slightly higher than the pose. I used to like the brolly exposure about 3/4 of a stop higher than the other lights. Use this as a base and experiment. I had the disadvantage of using film.
Best part of shooting bodybuilders is that you don't have to pose them. They know what they want.
Lot's of luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you, very helpful indeed.

V8burble said:
Personally I would head in a low-key direction if I were given the job, but yes the highlights and shadows will exaggerate the body toning (which is what most body-builders are concerned about). I would still use either soft-boxes or shoot through brollies rather than bare flashes, or your highlights will be blown I would think.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much.

I will post my results (hopefully) by the weekend :lol:
 
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