They could lift me with a pinky.

* Time-lapse video created by Teodore Vladimirov, still image by Christopher Barr

Last week, I assisted Christopher Barr Photography on a tremendous photo shoot. It was a three-day, 10 hr/day shoot, putting in more than 35 hours by the end (not counting Chris' location scout and about 20 hours of preproduction). There were five assistants working in concert on two tandem sets as well as talent, stylists, clients, visitors, and plenty more. All in all, the set was well-organized chaos. Check out the lighting diagrams, set stills, raw images, and an amazing time-lapse video done by Teodor Vladimirov. 

Location: Freedom Fitness, Scottsdale AZ

Client: Smash Brand Agency

Chris' job was to create images of several body builders in two locations: a studio setup in a workout room and environmental lifestyle shots in the gym. The shot list was very detailed, including at least a dozen different poses, lifestyle/apparatus setups, wardrobe, prop and lighting changes for each model. The client would be taking most of these shots and creating high impact, final images for web, packaging, POP (point of purchase displays), and print advertising using proprietary Photoshopping techniques. Chris' job was to light the talent (all champion bodybuilders) to the clients specs (in studio: high ratio, directional, hot rims w/ strategically placed specular highlights & lifestyle environmental: an ambient mix of overhead fluorescent, window light with rim and accents firing in from multiple directions)  and most importantly...pull as much energy, spontaneity and emotional power out of the subjects he was shooting.  Chris has said on more than occasion..."lighting is critically important to the production values yet it is usually the most overrated element of a shoot...without compelling energetic delivery from the subject, it is only a booby prize."

This was the second time I had worked with Chris on a Smashbrand shoot, but this one was much larger and more complex than the first. We began setting up at 10:45am each day and wrapped the sets around 9:00pm. I will discuss more of the lighting techniques and the problems we ran into with the lighting, more than the shoot itself.

The studio setup

Our studio setup in the gym / image by Bryan Kinkade

Chris' lighting included several rim lights and a single main (either softbox or beauty dish with grid depending on the model). The rim lights would accentuate and amplify muscle definition while also simplifying the strip work in post. It was important that our rim lights carved in at the correct angle of incidence to the model's body or it would create a flat light, merging and softening muscle tones rather than defining them.  Because we needed to prevent lens flare, flagging these lights became an on going battle throughout the shoot.  We used a 3x4 softbox as main light for the first two models. It worked well... dramatic and directional but we found the beauty dish, while throwing far less specular highlights, gave a much more gritty and high contrast look...which the client seemed to love.

The first day was a major test of lighting and Chris' satisfaction with it.  We had a plan, which worked just as well as we hoped - even the client happily signed off on it - but we didn't stop refining it until the morning of the second day. We began with the main light on a boom and directly above the model, slightly tilted to carve along their torsos and then quickly falling off around their waist.  We then placed two brollies at 10 & 2 o'clock positioned five feet from and forty-five degrees to the model, then added two handheld speedlights to each side (one high and one low): all six of these lights were only for rimming the subject at 1-2 stops hotter than the main. 

(If you have ever used speedlights in conjunction with studio lighting, you probably know they will not keep up with a fast shooting rate; plus you run through batteries like digital photographers run through disk space.)  While these lights helped us to establish the look we needed, their limitations were obvious.

Chris shooting in the studio setup / image by Bryan Kinkade

On the second day, two strip lights replaced two of the four struggling speedlights. This helped preserve batteries, relieved at least two assistants as human light stands, and helped created a more consistent light. Though the strips worked very well, we still needed the extra "kick" of a speedlight precisely targeted to each side, still held and controlled by an assistant to highlight the model's abs where the brollies and strips simply could not. The hand holding of these speed lights was a critical (albiet labor intensive) key to keeping the lighting fluid and customize the angle of incidence to the individual model.  Shooting seven different bodybuilders, always moving and adjusting poses as Chris was directing them, meant that planting these lights on stands would result in serious compromises to the effectiveness and beauty of theses accent lights. Each assistant, on either side of the set was responsible for aiming the light with precision to "skate" across the models at the optimum angle at Chris' direction. It required serious attention all the time - it wasn't unusual to hear Chris yelling at someone to wake-up or try a different angle of attack with their strobe.

This is another example where having a digital tech and and being tethered to a work station becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity to ensure the aesthetic direction and momentum of the shoot.  From this station, the shoot was constantantly being assessed and calibrated.

Here is a diagram of our finalized lighting setup:

The gym setup

On the Freedom Fitness set, I was the assistant in charge of setting up the gym set. I determined where in the gym we would shoot and what kind of attack angle we would use - then I would consult with Chris to make sure it was okay 

          Here is a good view of how we worked in the gym:

*image by Jason Doson / Christopher Barr Photography 2011

This setup was very tricky: not only were we working with ambient light and limited space, we were in a gym with equipment everywhere and a wall lined with mirrors. I know what you're thinking, "you can get real creative with mirrors!" Yeah, right. Given the rim lighting emphasis required, we had to worry about the reflections in a whole different way; each light added to the subject created a second angle of attack from that light via the mirror, which along with flaring, it often produced cross shadows and unwanted fill.

The gym setup. No flags were injured during the shoot / image by Jason Dodson

The shot list in the gym included several positions of the models lifting a variety of weights. We slightly altered the gym set from the studio setup, but kept the same feel, style and look; and we replaced the studio monoblocs with more speedlights - allowing us more mobility, faster lighting and ratio changes and making it much easier to fit lights in small, tight places. After the first day shooting, we decided to switch the main/fill light speedlight with a bare studio strobe for consistency and power.

A ridiculous amount of weights / image by Jason Dodson

Again the limitation of the speedlights was the most consistent source of frame loss and shoot momentum.  It wasn't unusual for the set to have three to five assistants, each with a different speedlight and/or flag, constantly moving, adjusting the output, flash spread and direction, while constantly monitoring the recycle rate and need for fresh batteries.  We went through about 50-AA batteries (rechargeable - gotta be green) during this shoot.

An equipment note: Chris loves Paul C. Buff's lighting equipment line... he started using them a couple of years ago with great results and has taken them on shoots all over the world but in these unusual shooting conditions, we ran into a frustrating problem with the CyberSync CSRB + Remote Receivers, as their battery compartment doors were continually falling open leading to sync failures and some hot tempered moments. I pity the poor customer service rep at Paul C. Buff who took Chris' call about that problem. Fortunately, PCB has amazing customer service.

Here is a shot from Chris' raw edits. I will post more of his work from this shoot and more from Smash Brand as they become available.

*image by Christopher Barr/Christopher Barr Photography 2011

For more examples of Christopher Barr's work, please visit www.christopherbarr.com. A huge thank you to Freedom Fitness for being so supportive and kind throughout this extensive shoot. Also, props to each of the models for straining their bodies to hold a pose that really shouldn't have been held that long - we got the shot though! This entire team did an incredible job and I'm very happy with the results.


Here are a couple more set stills you may enjoy...

Huddled around computer to see the shot / image by Jason Dodson

"Someone get makeup over here;" / image by Jason Dodson

Til next time,


B