Run, Swim, Bike: Lighting Ironman Balázs Csőke
How I planned and lit three sessions for a pro Ironman triathlete, from a stepladder run shot to a mobile light on the bike.
2026 note: The bike session below was shot from the dropped tailgate of a moving truck, and I wouldn't do it that way today. If you try anything like it, use closed or very quiet roads, a dedicated driver, the rider's consent and nobody riding on the tailgate, and check your local laws first.
A few months ago Balázs Csőke asked me to make a series of photos for his new website and personal use. I already had ideas flowing, but let me back up a little.
Unless you're involved in triathlon, and Ironman in particular, you might not understand how cool this was for me. Balázs isn't just another athlete; he's an Ironman champion. He's a Hungarian machine (both athletically and at the dinner table!) who had recently moved to The Woodlands, TX, to train for Kona and coach triathletes in the Houston and Woodlands area with TriTactics. He had seen some of my work and asked if I could shoot a series capturing him in his element, in his offices and his passions: the pool, the bike and the run. I was more excited than I can put into words.
The brief
When I first sat down with Balázs, he told me he just wanted to look "cool." Kind of vague, but I had an idea of what he meant. He wanted action, a cutting-edge look that went beyond the usual runner in mid-stride or swimmer taking a breath. He wanted to show what Ironman means: going beyond the norm and accomplishing the impossible. Now we're talking about an interesting shoot!
We used the Ironman Texas course here in The Woodlands as the backdrop and worked around a schedule packed with coaching, eating, sleeping and, you guessed it, workouts. That meant three separate sessions, each at the beginning or end of one of his workouts, so we could catch him in his element. We shot the run first, then the swim, then the bike, and I'll walk through them in that order.
The lighting choice
When I think sports, I think high contrast, muscle definition, some motion blur and all that photo goodness. So there was no doubt I'd use a silver beauty dish. It still gives me the nice light I'm looking for, and I can soften it with a sock if I feel it's necessary. I tend to use silver when I shoot men because it picks up the contrast in the skin a little more and makes the overall image a little harsher.
I chose strobes because they let me drop my shutter speed below the 1/(focal length) rule and still freeze the action with a clear image. To capture action and still get the feel and movement Balázs wanted, that's exactly what I needed. For each session I exposed the background 1–2 stops darker and lit Balázs based on those readings.
The run
To take in more of the Ironman Texas course, I got up above Balázs (not easy, considering how tall he is compared to me!) using one of the overpasses and a small stepladder. Since he was running past my shooting point, I used a deeper depth of field to give myself a bigger window for clean focus, spot-focused where I wanted to frame him, and clicked the shutter as he reached that point. The beauty dish came almost directly at him. I had him back up and take a good run-up so he looked and felt comfortable, and we got great shots of him in stride at full speed. It was a great shoot to kick off the series.
The swim
We didn't get any behind-the-scenes photos of the swim because we were so short on time. I was in the water with Balázs while my wife Sam shot from the pool deck, which gave us as many angles as possible in the least amount of time.
The bike
The last and most complicated shoot was Balázs riding. I really wanted to capture him in motion, and after years of watching other photographers work their magic in behind-the-scenes videos, I wanted to step up my game. So instead of just having Balázs ride past me, I set the light up in the back of the truck and, hanging off the dropped tailgate, directed Balázs and Sam (who was driving) while shooting at the same time.
The lighting strategy matched the run, head-on glamour lighting, to keep the series consistent, with the background again exposed 1–2 stops under. That session gave me some of my most memorable photos of Balázs.
Originally published on the Ruddock Visuals blog, July 2013. Lightly edited in 2026.