This summer I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting one of my favorite new clients, Rachel. She was recommended to me by another friend via Facebook (thans, Juan!), which goes to show that Facebook is good for something every once in a blue moon.

Assisting me would be one of my trusty lighting assistants (and fellow photographer) Alexis. Alexis and I met up with Rachel on a quiet and sunny Sunday at North Loop Fitness in downtown Minneapolis--a new gym that I have not shot in before. It was very wide open and lovely, immediately making the wheels in my brain turn for photo ideas:

I also wanted to say that since Rachel is sponsored by Quest Nutrition, she greeted/welcomed Alexis and me to a some delicious Quest protein bars! What new client does that?? :)

Proudly sponsored by Quest! 3-light setup: MAIN is a speedlight into a 43-inch shoot-through umbrella straight above; RIM lights are open speedlights on either side to the rear.  1/250 second at ISO 200.  Lens was the Olympus 75mm pri… — Proudly sponsored by **Quest!**
3-light setup: MAIN is a speedlight into a 43-inch shoot-through umbrella straight above; RIM lights are open speedlights on either side to the rear. 1/250 second at ISO 200. Lens was the **Olympus 75mm prime** wide open at f/1.8.

After setting up the lights and camera, I took some shots of Rachel doing some of her favorite exercises. One shot that we wanted to try was a female version of my "Epic Deadlift" shot that had gone viral in the bodybuilding circles:

My buddy Jerome gets mean in one of my first and most circulated photos. — My buddy **Jerome** gets mean in one of my first and most circulated photos.

I figured I'm allowed to rip myself off, or at least pay homage to the image without getting called out/mocked! But instead of doing a blatant copy, why not put a different twist to it and make Rachel's version her own? After doing a few shots of her actually deadlifting (which you'll see later in this entry), here's what we came up with:

The sexy girl version of my deadlift clap pic!

Look closely at the picture above. As an artist, this composition is no coincidence. Look at the way I use environmental elements to compose the image in order to help move the viewer's eye around:

Here, not only do you see the classic triangle composition (red), but check out the leading lines (white) that lead directly to the subject. Had I moved my position (or hers), then the composition would have failed. Also note: the bright light source helps to balance the other two elements (Rachel and the barbell) of the triangle composition since bright sources of light attract the eye. On a similar note, the bright wall on the right side balances (helps divert the eye from) the weighty darks of the left side of the image. The black vertical supports in the background are also a great leading/connecting line for two of the triangle points.

Hooray for abs!  This pose was a special request by Rachel.  MAIN: Speedlight in a shoot-through umbrella aimed down.  Backlight was a gridded- and CTO gelled-speedlight right behind the tire behind her. — Hooray for abs! This pose was a special request by Rachel. MAIN: Speedlight in a shoot-through umbrella aimed down. Backlight was a gridded- and CTO gelled-speedlight right behind the tire behind her.

With her fiance Jake! :)  Here, an additional speedlight was placed on the ground behind the couple and aimed up against the wall. — With her fiance **Jake**! :) Here, an additional speedlight was placed on the ground behind the couple and aimed up against the wall.

And here are the rest of the finished photos from our shoot; all were shot with the Olympus OMD-EM5 with basically the same settings noted in the pics above, but I'll note which lens was used when you click:

In short, I had a great time working with and getting to know Rachel. She is a genuinely kind person who cares enough to check up on you just to say hi and see how things are doing. You can find out more about her on her personal training Facebook page here.

Special thanks to:

Alexis Miller for the lighting assists
Rachel's sister (Rebecca? I think that's her name!)
Rachel's fiance Jake for the additional assists
North Loop Fitness for the setting

Gear used:

Camera body: Olympus OMD-EM5 with battery grip
Lenses: Olympus 75mm/1.8, Panasonic 12-35mm/2.8, Panasonic-Leica 42.5mm/1.2
Speedlights: Olympus FL-50R, Yongnuo YN560ii's and YN560iii's
Stands: Manfrotto
Modifiers: Promaster 43" white shoot-through umbrella, Promaster 40" 5-in-1 reflector, Westcott Apollo 28" softbox, Honl grids, Rosco gels
Triggers: Yongnuo RF603ii's