Seeking advice for shooting a female body builder (Page 2): With no personal experience I'd say -give B/W a try, -spray her with a few water drops on her slightly oiled skin, -let the...

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

With no personal experience I'd say
-give B/W a try,
-spray her with a few water drops on her slightly oiled skin,
-let the shadows on her body enhance her muscles.

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

donnahde wrote:

Hi all, br br I'm an experienced sports and natur... (show quote)

Check out the work of Joel Grimes just about the best in body definition. You have seen his work you just don't know it yet Television ads Major magazines . . I

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

donnahde wrote:

Hi all, br br I'm an experienced sports and natur... (show quote)

You'll have to experiment with your light so position the light not to soften your subject, but instead you want to emphasize shadows. I'd use 2 lights. One from above subject, and to the side like a Rembrandt lighting setup. Use the second light as the key light on the other side but from the rear. Not behind the subject, but on the side, then move toward the rear slightly. You want to emphasize their muscles so don't use umbrellas. If you have grids to put in the soft boxes then use them. It keeps the light from spreading as much. Don't position the lights too close to the subject like you normally would when doing glamour portraits. Move them back to about 8 feet. You will need higher power with lights further back like this.

Take some shots using side lighting as well. This will put a split shadow on the subject which is going to emphasize shadows again.

DVJ

donnahde wrote:

Hi all, br br I'm an experienced sports and natur... (show quote)

MY QUICK suggestions are (1) ask her to show you some photos of herself or others that she liked. Then try to equal or surpass what she likes. use side light for definition. Second quick suggestion is find some body building mag and look at good photos. A well known photog of my aquaintance some times brings torn out pages to show his models what he wants. Your model probably cares only about how good your photos are and not how "original". ((Is anything really original??))

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

donnahde wrote:

Hi all, br br I'm an experienced sports and natur... (show quote)

Most of that kind of image is shot with fairly contrasty light. They want their muscles to show in detail. I would say a light about six-eight feet up and about 60 degrees off center. Then check and see how that balances with all the gym lights. If need be, a fill light right near the camera. You could also try some back lighting to set her off from the background. That's all for poses.

For actions use some of the weights and benches and/or machines. Maybe reduce the contrast a bit.

Just suggestions. I shoot nudes and usually do not want that much contrast. But body builders do.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

To shoot a female bodybuilder, I recommend a large caliber pistol or rifle with a lot of "stopping power". You gotta knock em down with your first shot, or they'll keep coming, rip your arm off and beat you to death with it.

Oh, wait, you mean photograph them! Never mind.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

amfoto1 wrote:

To shoot a female bodybuilder, I recommend a large caliber pistol or rifle with a lot of "stopping power". You gotta knock em down with your first shot, or they'll keep coming, rip your arm off and beat you to death with it.

Oh, wait, you mean photograph them! Never mind.

Mark

AlohaBob Loc: Los Angeles, CA

This might help

https://www.glyndewis.com/classic-bodybuilder-picture-plus-lighting-set-up/

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

jerryc41 wrote:

Lots of links here. Good luck!

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+photograph+body+builders&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=how+to+photograph+body+builders&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.7807j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for making me think to google, Jerry. Duh..... After finding little from a search on UHH I completely forgot to just google in general. I just found this one that I think fits what my current client is interested in.....

http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/23/how-photographing-bodybuilders-for-a-living-inspired-me-to-get-a-six-pack-5770032/

JD750 Loc: SoCal

donnahde wrote:

Hi all, br br I'm an experienced sports and natur... (show quote)

My advice is (1) don't piss her off and (2) Go with your gut. Bodybuilding is a sport/competition, your shoot sports. She must have seen your work and liked it. Do your thing.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

amfoto1 wrote:

To shoot a female bodybuilder, I recommend a large caliber pistol or rifle with a lot of "stopping power". You gotta knock em down with your first shot, or they'll keep coming, rip your arm off and beat you to death with it.

Oh, wait, you mean photograph them! Never mind.

hehehehehehe

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Reinaldokool wrote:

Most of that kind of image is shot with fairly con... (show quote)

Thanks for your thoughts, Reinaldokool. I've shot boudoir and you're right about the softness vs contrast. Good things to consider. I'll shoot raw, too, so that I have fuller control pp.

tracs101 Loc: Huntington NY

jbmauser wrote:

rmorrison1116, I beg to differ. It is shadows that Accentuate the mussels. The most dramatic body building shots are not shot with lots of light, you don't want to flatten her subtle contours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FqwPuu1Tk

DITTO!

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

jbmauser wrote:

rmorrison1116, I beg to differ. It is shadows that Accentuate the mussels. The most dramatic body building shots are not shot with lots of light, you don't want to flatten her subtle contours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FqwPuu1Tk

Wowsa! Just one of the lights shown in this shoot runs $2000!!! That said, I did gain some ideas. Thanks.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

AlohaBob wrote:

This might help

https://www.glyndewis.com/classic-bodybuilder-picture-plus-lighting-set-up/

Thanks, but a little overkill for what I can do.