A few years ago I fell into yoga photography as an extension of my own yoga practice.
I have found that as important as it is to be able to capture the technical aspects of a specific pose, it is just as important to capture the simple gestures that define both the grace and surrender of the yoga practice.
In portrait photography they are often referred to as the in-between moments. Tiny moments in time that occur as a subject moves from one planned pose to the next. These moments are more telling than the poses themselves, help us connect to the subject on a human level, and help us feel what the subject is feeling emotionally.
I practice yoga throughout the week and I have completed two 200 hour teacher trainings(West Hartford Yoga and Kripalu).
I approach a yoga portrait session as I do any project, taking time first to understand your goals and how you intend to use the photographs. We talk it through before we start and agree on what we are looking for, including a theme, if there is one. We develop a shot list.
Once on location, or in a studio setting, the process is similar to a yoga class. Starting out slow, level setting the mind and body, then moving through more difficult poses, or your signature pose, until winding down at the end. This process ends up delivering both technically beautiful poses and those - in between moments - that define you and your practice.
For some samples of past projects visit my yoga page.
I enjoy working with yogis who are interested in documenting their own practice and teachers and studios who require lots of content throughout the year for marketing purposes. I can say that everyone I’ve worked with uniformly says, “That was fun,” at the end of a portrait session. And studio owners have said, “That was seamless and easy.” Fun and stress free.
That’s my goal. It’s yoga after all.
All photos taken during classes at Yoga From the Heart in Avon, Connecticut.