I’m a Running Star: Livestrong Photoshoot

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was honored to take part in a photoshoot for LIVESTRONG.com. Well, I finally had the opportunity to see the photos and received permission from both the photographer and  LIVESTRONG.com to blog about my experience (and show off some of the images). So without further ado, my Livestrong photoshoot!

Back in October I had the privilege of working with esteemed photographer Cody York as a model for the LIVESTRONG.com website. I’m not sure exactly how the photos will pan out on the site, but I did have an amazing experience.

First off, let me give kudos to Cody. He was contacted last minute to photograph for this project, and I appreciate the time he took to put his artistic talents into it. It was a bit last minute for my family and me as well, but it ended up being a great, albeit long, day for all of us! 

A little background about the photoshoot/project: When working on losing my post-partum weight, I relied heavily on the LIVESTRONG.com tool called My Plate. It is an excellent resource and tool for weight loss or weight gain, depending on your goals. I used it extensively, and still do to keep myself in check (especially over the winter months when we eat lots of chilis and pastas!).

After I lost the baby weight, I submitted my story to the LIVESTRONG.com as one of their Success Stories. Lo and behold, I was featured on the page, and very much enjoyed seeing my efforts recognized by the fitness and healthy lifestyle community.

Fast forward a couple years and I was contacted to participate in a photoshoot featuring some of the Success Stories. I was grateful and very excited to take part in this project. Unfortunately, when I was originally contacted over the summer, I just had Little Bee and was holding on (understandably so) to some baby weight! I was already aiming to shed all the weight prior to October for my best friends’ wedding, but at the time I was under the impression they were going to send a photographer soon! I was in a bit of a frenzy to lose weight and get back in shape, and took the challenge by the horns.

Time passed, I continued to lose weight and get back in shape, and October rolled around. I wasn’t quite at my pre-pregnancy weight for my friends’ wedding, but I was pretty darn close. Fortunately the photoshoot was scheduled for the next weekend, and not a minute before.

Cody arrived bright and early, and with a boatload of equipment. Needless to say, Boo was intrigued and hard to distract. Boo gave Cody the third degree — asking question after question, touching all of his equipment, wanting to help, etc. Cody was very professional and did a wonderful job entertaining and appeasing Boo, even though he definitely was getting in the way at times!

The photoshoot itself took approximately eight hours, start to finish. We had several scene changes, and several wardrobe changes. We had family photos first, then a wardrobe change for some outdoor portrait shots. After that we came back inside and focused on my healthy eating and spent some time in the kitchen. Luckily for Cody, I had just made a challah the evening before, so he got to sample some of the goods. I hope he enjoyed it! 🙂

Following the kitchen shots we had another wardrobe change and moved to do some inspirational/lifestyle shots — basically, how I got to where I am. My family, my gear, my race bibs, etc. Then came the fun photos. The action ones!

Cody took some great photos of me on my treadmill. I felt bad for him because our basement was such a mess. Poor guy had to hop around every which way to get a halfway decent shot. But of course, with Cody’s talents, he nailed it.

Some of my favorite shots are the ones that we took outside. Unfortunately it was cold that day (not nearly as cold as today — you know, -2˚) so I was quite uncomfortable while I wasn’t doing anything physical, but we saved the cold shots for last so it wasn’t so bad.

I was really interested in getting a sleek “Runner’s World” style shot. If I had this opportunity for a photoshoot with a professional action sports photographer, might as well make it count, right? Of course Cody was game. The running photos were by far my favorite of the day. Instead of setting up the reflectors and gauging light and shadow, Cody busted out the telephoto lens and yelled “go” and snapped quickly as I ran by. It was so fun. That’s an understatement, perhaps.

After running for a while and ensuring he got some great shots to choose from, I stretched a bit, showed off my LIVESTRONG hoodie, and my first official “race” tee. I must admit, when Cody asked if we could do some stretching shots, I replied, “uh… I don’t stretch…” Hah! But I did do some stretching as I used to in high school, so I actually did know what I was doing. 🙂

All of the photos Cody took are amazing. All of his equipment — the reflectors, the telephoto lens — made me feel like a VIP for the day. I’m sure once we were outdoors my neighbors started peering out their windows to see what was going on with this FAMOUS RUNNER! I kid, I kid. It was good fun, though.

Special thanks to Cody for putting up with the last minute nature of the photoshoot, for being such a nice person to work with, for all of the amazing photos and making me look like a rockstar. He is an excellent photographer and a very personable guy. It was a long day, but it was a great experience and never once did I feel awkward or uncomfortable having a stranger photographing my family and me in my home.

Very special thanks to my husband, Brandon. HE is amazing. Not only has he been encouraging me every step of the way, but he continues to encourage and support me in everything that I do. I have recently started training for a 10-miler in Louisville, and not only does he put up with my ridiculous training, but he has started training himself! Not for a run, but for general fitness. It is an honor having such a wonderful partner in life.

A shout out to our babysitter, Jess, who came over to help out on the morning of the photoshoot. Without her, who knows what kinds of chaos Boo would have created. He’s already a handful, but having her around to help redirect and entertain him was a big help.

Be sure to check out Cody York at http://codyyorkphotography.com/. Truly a very talented, professional, and genuinely nice guy.

Hopefully some of these images will be posted on LIVESTRONG.com soon. I’ll keep checking and let you know when I see something.

Have a happy day! 🙂