Starting Strength Coach and Photographer Tom Campitelli discusses some basic compositional ideas when taking pictures of people lifting as well as looking at how they apply to several example photos. This is part two of three of his address to the 2015 Starting Strength Coaches Association Conference that took place in Wichita Falls, TX.

Taking Interesting Pictures

1:00 - Get low, get faces, move around, and keep hands and feet in frame

2:30 - Benefits of landscape orientation

4:22 - Taking good shots vs fixing shots with software

5:35 - Example photos, with explanations of composition and settings used

6:15 - Squat #1 - Face, Bottom of squat

10:50 - Squat #2 - Focus on lifter face, blurred coach. Lighting challenges in gym - set exposure for face, trading subject detail for loss of background detail.

12:52 - Squat #3 - Low shot, face in frame

13:35 - Composition - challenges of barbell in frame vs rule of thirds

15:20 - Squat #4 - Moving to capture subject face and context with minimal equipment interference.

16:30 - Take multiple shots, groups of shots

17:38 - Squat #5 - Close-up shot

20:00 - Backgrounds

20:20 - Press - Outside shot to minimize background and focus on specific shot needed for publication.

21:10 - Prowler

22:08 - Handstand walk - Setting camera for "overexposure" to overcome backlit subject.

23:32 - Lighting - On-camera flash vs additional light sources.

Part 1

Part 3

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