Growing up a competitive athlete, one thing we were always told was "hard work beats talent." I didn't realize until I was older that this statement didn't just apply to sports. As a business owner in a field where your talent gains you work, I'm aware there will always be more talented photographers. But, I can work harder to market myself better than my competition, as well as work harder to become a better photographer. In this same fashion, April, a personal trainer and fitness competitor, will always have competition that is better than her. She works hard to ensure she can separate herself from the competition. It takes dedication, a healthy diet and exercise. The result of her hard work is clearly visible in the photos.
I wanted to provide photos that had a lifestyle look and feel to them, because that's what this is to April. It's a lifestyle. To avoid being overly posey we made sure every scenario involved movement. Doing this made it easier for April to be comfortable in front of the camera. This made for great photos, but it meant April was really working out during the shoot. By the end of our time at the track she was exhausted because we had her running stairs, sprinting on the track, doing cone drills on the turf, and any number of other exercises. It's a good thing the first photos we got were of her stretching.
We decided to split the shoot up between two locations and times. Sunrise at the track for the first half and then we had full access to Independence Gym after hours since that's the facility April trains her clients out of.
I'd like to thank Independence Gym for allowing us to use their facility.