27 August 2017

Retiring from fitness event photography?


I've thought long and hard about this, and as much as I've hugely enjoyed photographing fitness events over a great many years, I think it's probably time gracefully retire from shooting them.

Over the last 15 years or so I've photographed many of the biggest and best fitness events;

Arnold Classic (Columbus, Ohio)
GNC Show of Strength (Atlanta, Georgia)
Fitness America / Bikini America / Musclemania (Miami and Los Angeles)
Miami Pro (London)
NABBA (Italy)
FAME / WNSO (Toronto)
UFE (Birmingham)
and of course WBFF (Toronto, Edmonton, & London)

The only thing missing from the list is Olympia, which although I've been to the Expo a few times, I've never quite managed to get in to shoot the competition bits.

I've fallen out with some (I spoke out about the awful organisation behind one of the first Miami Pro events), and some have simply struggled to get going over here in the UK.

Despite getting published more times than I can remember in North America (Planet Muscle, Musclemag, Oxygen, American Curves), and doing 100's of photo shoots across the pond, I've always struggled to translate that success to the UK market.

Indeed, I remember a conversation with Paul Dillett quite a few years before their first UK event saying how well I think WBFF would do in the UK, and it was (is!).

I've had the privilege of being the only photographer allowed to photograph every WBFF UK event to date (not including the 2017 Worlds), and I've enjoyed every moment of it.  Sadly though my business skills aren't quite up to standard, and I've struggled to turn the passion I have for photography into profit, which is a big part of why I think this is the right time to retire.

Who knows, hopefully it'll be a temporary retirement and I'll be back at shooting soon.

Only time will tell.