Men's Lifestyle Fitness Photoshoot with Anmol
This fitness photoshoot gave me a great sense of satisfaction due to the pre-production and actual production processes, and results.
Anmol was different from most others who posted a lot of questions that were already answered on my website. During that period, I was dealing with a difficult client and thus I was more cautious when handling new enquiries. As I believed in having more communication to avert future miscommunication, I was a little worried since the discussion phase with Anmol was simply too smooth to be true.
Anmol was open to sharing his personal story with me to help me understand the purpose of the photoshoot. He managed to shed off a big amount of body mass within just a few months since he embarked on a healthier lifestyle. He was seeking a photoshoot to document his new life, which fitted well into one of my goals in doing fitness photography.
I was amazed as he didn't sign up for any fitness package - what he did was that he work on his diet and include some regular workouts. Although he didn't have the build of a bodybuilder, he was in a good shape that I deemed would be well accepted by most people. The biggest advantage was that it would be well-sustainable.
I tried my best to figure out his ideal fitness photoshoot concept as he sought suggestions from me, especially on the outfits and location(s). I was probably very long-winded as I tried to explain the constraints regarding the logistics and he was extremely understanding.
Eventually, he brightened up my day with his suggestion of using an available swimming pool. I spent hours researching the place to ensure it was good enough in terms of both the looks and the angle of the natural light at the agreed shooting time. Needless to say, he was very cooperative regarding the timing of the photoshoot to ensure that we could get the best pictures possible.
I was delighted when Anmol told me he wanted to hire a professional hair and makeup artist (HMUA) as well. Although none of the extra fees would contribute to the fund to support my photography journey, the styling would increase the quality of the photographs, which I valued the most. The downside was that it would make arranging the photoshoot more difficult, having more people's schedules to accommodate.
As I approached one of my most trusted makeup artists, Ivy Tan, I was confident to claim that this fitness photoshoot would certainly benefit everyone's portfolio and both of us would be working with one of the most easygoing clients ever.
The final injection of confidence was when I requested Anmol to place a booking fee for both the makeup and photography services, he not only transferred the fee instantly but also included the full amount. What I saw from this was the full trust he placed in me, which would aid the smooth process of the photoshoot.
The arranged day of this fitness photoshoot wasn't the most ideal for I had my Tai Chi lesson that evening. However, it was one of the few available timeslots that Ivy could schedule. Luckily, the location was very near to my class and I was able to have the best of both worlds.
Since this was a natural light photoshoot, the preparation was simpler than my usual high-end photoshoots. However, I had to bring along an extra set of clothes for should it take to create good photographs, I might need to get into the swimming pool.
On the actual day of the photoshoot, I joined them early for the makeup session. The vibe was great as though we had been friends for a long time. The communication before the shoot helped to build greater rapport. I took the opportunity to look at his place to source props before I briskly briefed him again on the photoshoot session.
Being professional, Ivy stayed on for a while at the beginning of the photoshoot to ensure that everything was okay before rushing off for her next personal appointment.
My greatest fear about the photoshoot was that the swimming pool area was quite small. Apart from that, it lived up to my expectation to welcome soft light.
The concept of this fitness photoshoot was to present it in a lifestyle manner. Instead of showing off his physique directly, we wanted to keep it natural and let the viewers appreciate the body in a less flashy way. Most of the time, I guided Anmol on what he could do instead of posing him like a model, so that he would be at his most natural self, and at the same time, utilise his creativity.
Anmol was either a born model or a genius. He was able to grasp the concept very well and he was extremely natural in front of the camera. In this very first professional photoshoot of his life, he performed like as if it was just a routine of his life. Whenever I gave a new suggestion, he was able to execute it very well.
We chatted a lot throughout. He shared a funny story about a notice being put up on the wall by the management, which was likely due to him. That piece of paper ruined the perfection of some of the pictures, which I eventually removed during post-production out of goodwill. He also shared more personal stories with me.
Anmol explained the reason why he didn't ask me too many questions - he read through my website and found most of them were already answered. That was the reason why he trusted and appreciated me, which led to our great rapport. I appreciated him a lot for his effort and trust.
Within a very short time, we managed to capture many good photographs due to various factors. Most importantly, the lighting was good and Anmol did too well; therefore, we were able to keep a very good flow throughout the photoshoot session.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was the size of the venue, but I was glad that Anmol wasn't the type of person who had an excessive expectations of the number of different backgrounds. Next, there was someone who decided to join us by having a video chat over there halfway through our shoot, and it restricted some of my angles. Towards the end of the photoshoot, another guy came over to make good use of the pool and we had to make little pauses at times before he swam away. Lastly, since I snapped an excessive number of photographs for every scene, I had a tough time during post-production; it was a happy problem after all.
Featuring ↬ AnmolHairstylist ↬ Ivy TanMakeup Artist (MUA) ↬ Ivy Tan
Wardrobe ↬ Anmol
Camera ↬ Canon 6DLens ↬ Canon 24-70mm F2.8L IILighting ↬ Natural light
Place ↬ Swimming pool @ Edenz LoftDate ↬ Year 2022
Photo Editing type ↬ Basic
💲 Photographer's fee ↬ Prices & packages for Fitness photography
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