Brian Fitzsimmons Photography » AustinFit

U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Brian — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:20:47 +0000

Alright, so I’m back this month with a shoot from one of the best views in Austin. If you haven’t noticed the Austonian on Congress Ave., you need to look up. We went to the top floor of the Austonian to scout for the shoot and realized that it was way too high up. You can actually look down into the top of the Frost Bank building, it’s crazy high! So we ended shooting these shots somewhere around 45 flights up, still high enough to keep me away from the rail. Senator Cornyn had no problems hanging out on the edge though. My favorite view was to the south where you can see the river/lake meandering through the city. These shots were all taken in the late morning, but I would love to do another Austonian shoot at sunrise or sunset when the light is a little more dramatic, you know?

jamie eason

Brian — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:59:27 +0000

Today’s photos are featured in the Jan 2010 Austin Fit Magazine article Jamie Eason: More than Meets the Eye. Go pick up a copy! Jamie Eason has been given the title of “The World’s Fittest Model.” She bounces from being a professional model to writing a monthly feature at Oxygen to being a swimsuit designer. Because of time constraints we had to do a little road trip for Jamie’s shoot. We ended up setting up a makeshift studio inside a gym that worked out great. Jamie was a blast to work with, very professional, talented and super cute.

Rusty Coco at Jason’s Deli

Brian — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:12:00 +0000

So, I am now getting closer to actually catching up on my blog entries, I only have 2 more Austin Fit shoots before we are up to speed. This article featured Rusty Coco, co-owner of Jason’s Deli. I got a kick photographing Rusty’s candid expressions during his interview. He was very passionate about food! We did the shoot at the Jason’s Deli restaurant in the Hancock center, a place where I frequent for the ranchero wrap. I must’ve been on a mission to include every Jason’s Deli logos in the photos, I’ll buy you buy a drink if you can give me a tell me how many there are. Rusty and Jason’s Deli are always introducing fresher foods and removing the more processed foods and additives. At home I buy the cane sugar dr. peppers, hopefully soon they will replace the soft drinks at Jason’s Deli that contain high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar, you can actually vote for this item on their website. Democracy in action! Its amazing when eating out how many foods contain hormones, antiobiotics, pesticides and high fructose corn syrup. It’s nice to know that somebody in the food industry has your back. So, nuff wit da chit chat, here’s the photos…

JB & Sandy

Brian — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:42:21 +0000

Here’s another fun shoot. This time with JB & Sandy from mix 94.7’s morning show. If you listen to their show, you probably know that JB & Sandy hold the annual charity event Bikes for Kids. Somewhere around 1,000 bikes are donated to deserving kids during the holidays. During the interview, Sandy was asked what it means to get a bike when you’re a kid and he said, “freedom.” Which really made sense, when I was a kid, that first bike gave me freedom and mobility. Growing up in a less than perfect environment, it can be very liberating, letting you go places and see things that weren’t available otherwise. Anyways, I really dig JB & Sandy for choosing such a worthwhile effort and I was happy that I could be a small part in helping promote their cause. Keep on Ridin’! Oh and thanks to Craig Staley at Mellow Johnny’s for letting us throw some tricycles around the store. Thanks also to Keith and Johnny over at API for the last minute location.

Austin Entrepreneurs

Brian — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:10:58 +0000

Hey! This post is of some photos for Austin Fit Magazine’s feature on Austin’s entrepreneurs, all having a common theme with health and fitness. First off is fitness mogul Paul Carrozza with RunTex. The leading shot, “the Clark Kent pose” was done at Runtex.

Jennifer Mull, CEO of Backwoods.com. Thanks to the Crescent Apartments for the great location.

Here is Clayton Christopher & David Smith from the yummy Sweet Leaf Tea company:

Kim Overton and her cool little Spibelt

These guys are the Fitness Doctors, Sarah Scott & Tony Kelly from Ironsmith

Ken & Joyce Beck from The Crossings:

yoga

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:13:58 +0000

I’m putting up a handful of shots from Austin Fit’s feature Yogi Life: Austin’s Yoga Treasures and the People Behind Them. Though the photos have a studio look to them, each one was at a different location. I really enjoyed working on these images for 3 reasons. One, the simplicity of the shoot. When shooting against a solid background in a studio type of setting I can give more focus on the subject with out having to worry about the upteen other factors that manifest themselves on a normal outdoor shoot. It makes for better rapport between photographer and model. Two, I was photographing people who are masters at what they do and they love it. You can’t go wrong with that. And lastly, because of the nature of the shoot, everybody I photographed was calm, warm and inviting. The energy on the shoots was extremely positive and uplifting. I have to give respect to all the people who practice yoga, it’s amazing how strong and conscious the practitioners are. That being sad, here’s the rub. Does it really have to be 400 degrees in the yoga studio? When I did these shoots, the outside temperature was over 100º and I would have to go outside to cool off during the shoots. No joke. My knees were sweating, I didn’t know that was possible. Anyways, look at everyone’s faces, cool like lemonade, no sweat. The first shot is of Leah Kramer at sunstoneyoga.com

Keith Kachtick at dharma yoga

the next 3 fun shots were at the yoga vida studio on west 7th

here’s Mike at black swan yoga

Mehtab from yoga yoga on 360. Mehtab was alot fun to work with. I think he actually levitated for a while, but I was in such awe, I forgot to take the picture

This crazy pose is done by Cosmo Wayne at yogagroove

Last, but not least is Mardy Chen at the Bikram Yoga Downtown

Austin’s Ten Fittest

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:14:22 +0000

Here’s a big post for you. These are from Austin Fit magazine highlighting Austin’s ten fittest people. Its a diverse group ranging from athletes, trainers, authors, entrepeneurs, and even a Senator. First couple of photos are of Pam LeBlanc, Fit City columnist for the Austin-American Statesman. We took these photos at first light on Lake Austin, check out Pam on the water…

This guy might look familiar, it’s State Senator Kirk Watson. And if you didn’t know who he is, it says so right there on his shirt. We went down to the hike and bike trail for this shot. I found out that everyone on the trail is friends with Kirk. Me too.

Here’s the charming and super fit Chrissie Novak, owner of Austin T3 (Austin Team Triathalon Training)

David Garza, 3x in the Austin Fit’s ten fittest. Nuff said. Here’s David’s blog.

Ryan Nail, high energy and motivational. He was atleast 10 feet up in that pecan tree, wait til you see Ryan’s photo in the current Austin Fit magazine, he must really like heights! Check out Ryan at corefitaustin.com

Crystal McReynolds is a trainer at Austin’s CrossFit central. She was super nice to work with and very easy on the eyes. If I wasn’t such a lazy bum I would go work out with her!

You probably know who this giant of a man is. It’s Mike Rosenthal the 6′7″ offensive tackle. Mike played at notre dame, then went the giants and also the vikings. He and his wife operate 1379, a hip kid’s store in W. Austin. That’s where we took this photo of Mike and his 4 little sprouts.

Here’s the warm and friendly Monica Brant-Peckham. You think you can guess where we took this one? Wrong, it was gold’s gym. Monica is a world famous figure competitor and is in serious shape. We do a fun monthly feature in Austin Fit with Monica called Kick Mo’s Butt. Here’s a tip for all you trainers out there, you cannot kick Mo’s butt, she’s that fit. Check out Monica @ www.FEMCamp.net and sign up for her FEM CAMP!

Ok, now guess where we photographed this one? Jeez, wrong again, this was at P. Terry’s Burger Stand. And this is The P. Terry chatting about the state of fast food and how he is making a positive change with his popular burger stands. Patrick, thanks for all the free burgers. I must’ve ate there for a week straight. “I would gladly photograph you Tuesday for a burger today.” Take a look at his website at pterrys.com

Garret Weber-Gale

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:26:24 +0000

Garrett is a 2x gold medal winner in the Beijing Olympics and also a 3x swimmer of the year while he was at the University of Texas. He was part of the famous U.S. 4 X 100 relay team that included Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak and Michael Phelps. We wanted to show Garrett in his environment so we did part of the shoot at the texas swim center at UT and then the other part in the kitchen! Garrett is a cofounder for Athletic Foodies and quite the athletic chef. The shoot was a blast and Garrett is a funny dude, you should check out his blog here.

American Gladiator Ally Davidson

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:39:23 +0000

Here’s another Austin Fit feature, this time with Ally Davidson, the crowned champion of NBC’s show American Gladiator hosted by Hulk Hogan and Layla Ali. We went up to Pure Austin Gym at Quarry Lake for these photos, I thought the rock wall there would be a good place to photograph/test Ally’s skills. Ally and her Husband run Camp Gladiator, a fitness bootcamp geared towards high intensity workouts and measurable results.

Swimsuit Issue

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:41:17 +0000

I’ve got some eye candy for you today! These are from Austin Fit’s annual swimsuit issue, the models are the lovely Jessie Layne and Chris Farrell. We did this shoot at a picturesque home on Lake Austin. Thanks goes to Fleetwood Boats for the classic Cris Craft boat. We did something a little different on this feature, I shot part of it at Lake Austin and the famous Austin photographer Todd V. Wolfson shot part at the Austin 360 condominiums. At the time 360 was the tallest building in Austin, now I believe it is the Austonian. Next month’s Austin Fit will feature a shoot we did on top the Austonion! I’ll keep you posted. Personally I like Todd’s photos better, I think he did an incredible job, his style has a very organic and spontaneous feel to them. You can see some of his photos here.