You have been working out and transforming your body. Now the fun part! You want to document the results / progress for the scrapbook, a YouTube video, the photo galleries, or for your chance to cash in with the Beachbody Challenge … whatever the case may be. How do you get the very BEST Before/After pics possible? Below are several tips that will help you show off your new physique!
1) Lighting = You want a light source directly overhead, which will cast a downward shadow and accentuate muscle curvature. I’ve found fluorescent overhead lights work well for this. The overhead can lights in my house DON’T work well because they cast too much of a shadow and make it look overdone. It needs to be a broad light source, but overhead. Also, outdoor photos at mid-day turn out real well for the purpose of accentuating muscle definition. Try taking multiple photos while moving back and forth in your light source to get the amount of shadow that looks best. Below is me outside during the early afternoon — good shadowing and contrast.
2) Angle = Be sure the camera shoots the photo from about your mid-section (not looking way up at you or way down at you. Ladies, if your husband is much taller than you, have him squat down to take the photo from a better angle compared to you).
3) Muscle Pump = Lift some weights right before the pics! Get those veins popping and those muscles bulging. In my p90X2 pics above, I used some resistance bands and did a quick 2-3 minutes of curls, triceps, shoulder presses, and back rows to get the blood flowing into the muscles for a better photo! I really liked those pics!! If you are taking your pics at the time you workout, don’t OVERDO it. Often, you will be so tired at the end of an hour-long workout that you will actually not be able to flex as well and you won’t look as defined. Consider taking your pics during the workout (about 15-20 minutes into it) or at a different time of day like I did in the pics above.
4) Video Still Shots = I figured out this cool trick while using a flip camera. I had shot video of myself flexing, then took screen shots on my computer from the frame-by-frame. This enabled me to capture the exact moment of maximum flex. The quality of the pics still turned out great for internet resolution, even though I probably couldn’t print an 8×10 from it. This is how I capture nearly all of my progress pics now (from still shots of a video). If you have an even nicer video camera, set it up for maximum resolution and you can pull some even better still photos.
5) Tan = Even a totally ripped GHOST won’t look good. Get some sun (or better yet a spray tan to avoid the damaging UV rays)! It makes everything look better! Yes, I have spray tanned a few times. Sure, I fell like a dork going into a tanning place, but hey, I look good coming out LOL.
6) Groom the hair = The ladies don’t need tips on this — they already have this figured out. Some of us fellas need some direction though LOL. Guys, if you have back hair, shave it! All of it! Show off those back muscles. Back hair is NOT attractive! LOL! For front hair, trim it up if you are extra wooly so that the abs can show. What works best for me is to totally shave my back and use trimmers on my front. I don’t shave the front totally smooth though — I just thin it down some. Some guys may even find that they need to trim the hair on their arms and legs if it tends to be thick or dark — do what you gotta do to show off those muscles!!
7) Poses = Get a variety of poses from a variety of angles. That way you can better see your progress. Single blurry pics from your phone in a bathroom mirror are okay for quick updates, but you want to do a better job for your big before/after photos.
Beachbody has a really nice video tutorial on how to take great Before and After photos, including the angles and poses to use.
Beachbody wants you to make sure that you get great before and after photos if you want to enter the Beachbody Challenge. And we have had TONS of teamRIPPED members bringing home the $500 prize and even going on to win monthly and quarterly prizes ($1000 and $5000 – BIG TIME $$$). All for working out and making such a positive and powerful change. But you gotta make sure you’ve documented your progress well with a good set of before pics and a knockout set of jaw dropping after pics!! So use these tips!
Get more info on the Beachbody Challenge HERE.
I hope these tips will have your next set of progress pics looking AWESOME!! Keep bringing it!!
Want to see some awesome Before and After photos? Check out our teamRIPPED BEFORE/AFTER gallery in the tab at the top of your screen, or enter the teamRIPPED Hall of Fame below!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
