SecondFocus Blog

Photography at bodybuilding competitions is what most people think of when they ask about what I shoot most of the time. And actually that is not the case.

I spend most of my time in the gym, photographing my subjects working out. My preference is real life gyms and real workouts as opposed to studio gyms and fake weights. Yes there really are fake weights.

Having spent many years myself lifting weights, studying the subject and working with others has given me the advantage of knowing how to really put people through a workout that is technically correct and photo friendly.

This is a series of photographs shot for one of the bodybuilding magazines with my friend Robert Hatch, a long time bodybuilder and just plain impressive human being at 6 ft tall and 258 pounds.

205 pound curls is not something I would have most people do in a photo shoot. But Robert Hatch is big enough to make it look good.

Robert Hatch doing dumbbell curls with 50’s is heavier than I would do with most people. But Hatch is a big guy.

Regardless of how much weight you are lifting, a hard contraction at the top of the movement puts a real strain on the muscle. Rob really hits it with his arms.

I prefer incline dumbbell bench press. It is less dangerous with heavy weights, you can turn them out and have them not fall on you. Here Rob is putting up a pair of hundreds.

Shoulder shrugs build the traps. Rob grabbed a pair of 150’s, big weight for a big guy.

Taking a stop between exercises I shoot a few posed photographs. It also gives Rob a rest.

Taking a break from lifting for a moment, I shoot these posed shots around the equipment nearby.

Working through the photo shoot workout can be a lot of effort. With Rob I am shooting him with heavier weights to have it match his 6 ft 258 pound body. Here you can see he is wearing down a little while we do seated back rows.

We do get in a change of clothes, maybe a few times. And that requires going back and doing some more work. Rob did a few preacher bench curls and it looked good. But he was working hard.

A few body poses to show off the hard work Robert Hatch has done over the years.

I hope you find this view of a photo shoot a little more interesting. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More…?"

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Training, Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.