Fitness. Beach. Sunrise. Whitney. It’s a perfect combination.
Long time fans of this page will recognize Whitney. She and I have teamed up several times in the past. Sadly, most of those images were lost when I rebooted this page a few years ago. Take my word for it, everything she does is awesome.
Recently I decided it was time to get back into the fitness side of photography. Naturally, given our history, she was one of the first people I reached out to. She’s a certified personal coach and trainer. You can see her page here.
Now people tend to get the wrong impression when I mention fitness. Images of ripped bodybuilders with bulging muscles tend to pop into their head. While bodybuilding is a small part of fitness, there is a wide range of other aspects. Weight lifting, yes, but also yoga, bicycling, running, walking, dancing, swimming, healthy eating, meditation, overall wellness, et cetera. All of those are open game for me.
Then there’s the stereotype that women who lift aren’t “feminine”. That muscles aren’t “sexy”. I think that we all can agree that women like Whitney and Elizabeth shatter that notion into a million pieces. Curves rock and that includes muscles that add to the curves.
I’m all about trying to change people’s perceptions on what is beautiful. Every person is beautiful. Every body is a work of art.
And, before the question is asked, yes, I work with men too. I know the ratio is skewed towards women, especially with fitness, but that’s because I have a harder time finding a dude willing to step in front of a camera. Again, if we could go back to look at the old page you’d see a few sessions where I was successful in finding a guy to work with. And the images were amazing.
Maybe it’s time to start a Flashback Friday or Throwback Thursday and post some of the older work on here. Like I have a ton of free time. Still…
Anyways, when we decided it was time to team up, we started to think of places to shoot. To me, fitness always looks great on a beach. Can’t tell you why I think that. I just do. Maybe its the juxtaposition of smooth skin and sand. Maybe it’s the openness of a dramatic sky as a backdrop to showcase the hard work. The beauty of elemental nature – both human and environmental.
The environment adds to the session. The breeze introduces energy into a image when it blows through long hair or flairs a dress up. It adds movement to a still photo which I absolutely love. Model and photo tip of the day – When planning a beach session ALWAYS bring something that can billow up or out like a long, flowing dress or swatch of gauzy, light material.
Plus people tend to relax more on the beach. Any kind of tension in the face or body can be spotted a mile away. At the beach you have the feel of the sand on bare feet. There’s the ocean breeze in the hair and on the skin. There’s the freedom of space. All of it lends to a more mellow, casual mindset which shows up in the image.
As always, working with Whitney was an amazing experience. It had been four years since we last worked with each other but you can’t tell from these images. We picked up right where we had left off with the ease of working together and knowing how each other worked.
We both knew before we parted ways that we got some amazing images and began talking about our next time. I can’t wait.
Photography by Mark K 