Beauty Muscle Fitness Photoshoot – 2018

Beauty Muscle

Deborah and I were long overdue a photoshoot. What with one thing or another getting in the way it had been over one year since the last time she was in front of my lens. Despite the long wait we decided to fix a date and go for it. The emphasis of this shoot was different from the previous one. Formerly we hit the gym for a pre-season workout to show Deborah’s off season condition. The fitness equipment allowed us to emphasize the strong side to her body building.

9 weeks out

This time round Deborah was 9 weeks out from her next bikini competition. Of course that meant she was much leaner than previously. With this in mind we set about producing images with attention to the more feminine side. In short sensual and artistic with just a hint of muscle or ‘beauty muscle’ as I have come to know it by.

Lighting

With the emphasis on ‘beauty muscle’ for the most part of the photoshoot I positioned the lighting to emphasize Deborah’s tone and form of her body and legs and separately illuminated her face. As a result you can still achieve strong contrast around her body parts while still allowing flattering light to roll across her facial features.

Creating images in Black and White

I am lover of black and white photography, it reduces the image into its essence: light, subject and composition. Consequently light, shadow and form play a big part when I am making an image. When you remove the colour from an image there are no distractions from those basic elements. Amongst the highlights and the shadows I look for smooth gradation of tone from Black to White through all the grays in the middle.