3 things to keep in mind for your gym space photo shoot.

Gym Studio Owner photoshoot checklist

A lot of business owners like to showcase a busy and booming environment hoping it translates as a successful location. However, what this tends to do is create confusion in your gym space or fitness studio photos. Often leaving first impressions of 'what or who am I supposed to be looking at?'. In gym settings, most enthusiasts want to avoid crowded locations, so they try to find locations that cater to like minded individuals. Or in some cases some want the guidance to work out because they don't know where to start or need the accountability. Why do I mention this? I have attached a few screenshots of some large scale and growing gyms to show examples of carefully thought out photos.

"I'm not chasing victory, I'm becoming it." - Dr. Eric Thomas. At some point an atheletes training method is just a replication of their competitors. You want to rival or take the gold, you have to do what the heavy hitters are doing. How does this relate to your photos for your webpage/brand? As a gym owner or gym manager it is best to do what works for high earning gyms or fitness studios.

Let’s take a look at the following photos before we dissect them.

Let me break down the themes in these photos. In these gym spaces and fitness studio photos, did you notice that the person is working out alone? If they are with someone else, they are seen with a trainer in front or in back of them? Or ​that the additional people in the photo are elements, like legs or arms to add framing to the main focus. People subconsciously want to see themselves doing these types of movement. Imagine a car commercial where there is a group of random people all trying to drive one car for a Mercedes commercial.

They don't want to see a group of people they don't know or fear they need friends to attend a gym. They also don't want to see that it's too busy that they won't be able to get in their desired workout or have to deal with waiting for their turn.

In addition the photos make the subject the brightest part of the photo. This is done intentionally to draw the eye to the message in the photo. Or if the photo has lines leading along the person they want you to see or shift your focus towards.  In the third picture, the layout has a yoga block, mat, towel and bottle of water. Nothing is left to the viewer to interpret what any of those elements might be.

With the exception of the Gold's gym photo, the white and teal background, all the cropping in the photos are balanced and avoiding crops at the joints in the body. The crops are slightly above or below the joints, because our eyes translate joint separation as a bad thing so it creates unrest. Also when it comes to cropping, notice tight/zoomed in photos leave little to no room for the subject's head. This technique is used in cinema a lot! When you watch your tv programs or movies watch the close-up shots and how the top of the head fits the frame. This technique helps viewers feel like they are in the environment as well. It helps the viewer see themselves in the gym on a intimate level.

When you’re ready to make your photos for your webpage or social media stand out with intention, click the link and contact me to start chatting about your photography needs.

5 things to consider when having your photos taken in a public gym

Having your photos taken in a public gym can be tricky. If renting out a space is a little out of budget or not an option where you are located here are 5 things to consider.

1. The gym might be a ‘public’ place but it is still a private facility. Meaning having people in frame of your photos without their consent is a real thing, so be cautious. What’s the work-around? A majority of your shots will have to be tight or filling the frame nearly to its entirety. Photoshop is an option but not always full-proof. 

2. Time = Money. Waiting for a specific machine or apparatus can reduce your photoshoot time. How to combat this circumstance? When hiring your Fitness Photographer it might be best to opt for a deal that gives you ample time to get in the shots you want barring waiting on other gym members. Or if the coverage for extra time is costly, create a mood board to select a few of the ideas that can be captured in one spot in the gym. Extra tip: Go during non peak hours, like before sunrise or graveyard hours.

3. Your photographer may need a gym pass. What’s the trick here? In a perfect world, you’ve met your photographer at your gym so no need to worry about admittance. Or review your gym pass policy, you might have a buddy pass system that will allow them on certain days or times. Try not to get a trial pass, because usually that comes with a salesman trying to pitch a membership and it’ll take time away from your photoshoot. Plus it’ll make it awkward. 

4. In a public setting it is unrealistic to have your photographer bring all their gear such as light stands, light modifiers, lights, so on and so forth. Depending on the gym space bringing extra clutter will make it difficult to setup and navigate through the crowd. What’s the realistic approach? You’ll have to accept the available light from the gym during your Fitness Photo Shoot. Depending on your Fitness Photographer, they might bring a minimalist approach to light sources. Pro tip: During your workouts start to make note of the areas of the gym that make you look pumped. Recommend these to your Fitness Photographer so that it’ll take less time hunting for a spot.

5. All eyes are on you. If you are shy or awkward in front of the camera the draw to attention is going to be magnified when the other gym members see a fitness photographer following you around taking snaps. Practical approach? Try to find a corner of the gym to keep your exposure to a minimum. 

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Understanding your goals for your pictures should be just as precise as your gym goals

Are your photo goals just as dialed in as your gym goals?

The picture here was shot with 3 artificial lights (flashes) and natural light from the window in front of the subject.

Before you go to the gym, you’ve already planned out your workouts. If you’re like me, you’ve probably designated each day of the week for certain body parts. None the less going in with an idea of what you want is the way to set yourself up for success. I want to help you understand what is exactly you should be identifying before searching for a fitness photographer.

To set the record straight for this blog I’m not pointing out right or wrong. Instead I am showing what is optimal compared to run-of-the-mill photography.

A majority of photographers that would like to think they shoot fitness style portraits are hitting the mark but not quite the bullseye. What do I mean by this? Well, 3 out of 10 photographers know how to shoot with flash, otherwise commonly known as flash photography. In the photog world the lingo would be “OCF”. Off Camera Flash. This may sound like it’s over your head but I’ll break it down in due time.

For now, let’s talk about the 7 photographers that don’t shoot flash photography (I’ll use this term since it’s easier to identify). For those 7 photographers, about 4 of them shoot using natural light, or what we call available light. This is the most common practice that everyone, including cellphone photographers, understand. The more light in your scene will usually equate to a more in focus photo.

Example of a photographer using natural light for this fitness coach headshot session. Photo by: Nick Gonzales of nixpix_

For fitness photos, you need to control the light or be at the mercy of the natural light.

Again, I want to state that I am not saying that there is a wrong way or right way, but merely there is a more effective solution. Or let’s put it plainly and say more bang for your buck for your fitness photos.

The photo above of the gym coach, she is doing a double bicep pose and showing her back. If you know what you’re looking for, you can see she has nice definition in her posterior deltoids, her upper back/traps, and lats. I put the emphasis on if, because she is a fitness coach. Therefore her target audience will be those who need guidance because they do not know. It’s like that saying, if you assume, you make an a$$ out of you and me. Now, compare the first top photo of this blog and this photo here of the gym coach. Which of these look like they are a certified gym coach? If you said the first one, congratulations you nailed it! However, they are both certified coaches. Now, to understand this our minds identified the most suitable image to our pre conceived figure of what a coach should look like. Is it that one is more fit than the other? To the eye it would appear that way, but I’m here to tell you that the second picture with the right angle and lighting it would have been tough to make your decision.

Flash photography is essential for your fitness photos!

The first photo was photographed using 3 artificial lights, aka flashes/strobes. The benefit to using flash is that as a photographer you can place the light to spill how you want it to with the right technique and modifiers. A lot of times we catch our pump or definition in the gym restroom or dressing room of a department store and it calls for an obligatory selfie. Now imagine having that kind of ‘good’ lighting for your fitness photos. Let me be clear that not all recessed lighting is not equal. Example to follow…..

Example of using available light from recessed lighting. Photo by Nick Gonzalez of nixpix_

To say the least, I think we can all agree this is not a flattering picture. There are several ways a photographer that could have approached this scene to make it more useable but that is for another day.

To quote Dr. Dre, “Back to the lecture at hand”. Taking it back to the very first image we discussed. As mentioned there were 3 flashes placed in the scene. I know, I know. More emphasizing. I promise this will make it worth it. These flashes weren’t attached to the camera. The camera had a remote to trigger the flashes to optimize the end result of the photograph. Hence they were off camera flash. See! I promised you I’d make it easier to grasp. I wanted to make that distinction very clear, because we talked about the 7 photographers that don’t know how to shoot using off camera flash, but we didn’t touch on the 3 photographers that are part of that 7. Well to put it plainly they haven’t gotten there yet with knowing how to use a remote to trigger the flash, so the strobe will sit on the camera and it’ll yield a decent photo but nothing like our image produced with off camera flash.

There you have it! Now you should be able to look for a fitness photographer going forward. Before you pay anything and link up for the shoot, make it clear what time of photos you want. Do you want available light or off camera flash!

When you’re ready to stand out in a crowded market, message me so we can start planning your photoshoot!