Fitness Photography Test in Los Angeles, California

May 16, 2018

Two years ago I moved to Los Angeles, California with my wife and daughter, since then I’ve been working hard to sustain my photography business as well as challenge myself to explore and create new images. One of the ways I do this is to self-produce test shoots. These are often pulled together at the last minute and provide me with an opportunity to take on multiple roles that are normally done with a team of creatives. Working this way this helps me see the bigger picture when I have a client who needs more than a just a guy with a camera. It’s important for photographers to stand out from competitors in the very beginning by showing that they can add value to a project with creative vision and experience.

The images in this post are from a recent Fitness test that took two months from first contact with the Model/Talent Agency, SLU Agency, and actually shooting. I let the agency know what my ideas were for the shoot and then they sent me a list of available models. I then made selections based on what would fit with my concepts and style. I shoot a lot of “real” people (not models) so I didn’t want the talent to be too polished. Since SLU is a sports and lifestyle agency, they have plenty of people that fit with what I was going for. It was also important to find a Hair and Makeup person that understood what we were going for and, since this was a fitness test, I didn’t want someone who did lot of movie special effects.

Although this shoot took longer than normal to pull together because of schedule conflicts, I was still only left with a few days for final location scouting and pulling together props and wardrobe. This is where the grind began for me! On this one I was Producer, Wardrobe Stylist, Location Scout and Art Director! Wow, so much respect for all the people that do these jobs to collaborate and support photographers to create something great. In the end, the shoot was a huge success and I have a handful of images to add to my Fitness portfolio. Now on to the next one and repeat!