Claire Asmann, a Pillar and a Houston Sunrise
A lululemon ambassador shoot at Buffalo Bayou Park, and how to augment a sunrise and frame yoga poses with the shapes around them.
This was one of those shoots where everything comes together. I had a phenomenal athlete in Claire (seriously, the flexibility and strength it takes to do what she does are unreal), and a beautiful sunrise came over the horizon that morning to light up the Houston skyline.
I always love working with lululemon, and I'd been excited about this ambassador shoot since I saw Claire had been nominated. I first met her at another lululemon event in Marfa, Texas, where she was part of the yoga group in the last round of the lululemon Residency project. I'd photographed her a little there, but I was excited to work with her one-on-one and really showcase what she can do.
The pillar shot
Claire has been a pillar of the Houston yoga community for a long time with her studio, Black Swan Yoga, so we met at Buffalo Bayou Park to get the skyline in the background. I was struggling to find a spot that put her in the skyline without a lot of distraction when she climbed up on top of an actual pillar. It scared me. Honestly, it was the first shoot where I'd ever been more worried about someone else than about myself. (If you try something like this, check that the location allows it and keep someone close by to spot.) But it let me place her right in the skyline, where she belonged, standing tall and proud in the pose we'd chosen together.
I wanted the image to look real, not lit by "alien light," so I waited for the sun to come up and then augmented the warm sunrise with a large octabox from the same direction. The image is still clearly lit, but it feels more natural to my eye because I can believe the light is coming from the sun.
Once we knew we had a winner for the store, we moved and captured some of the poses Claire is known for. My job on a shoot like this is to give the client a few hero shots and a lot of other options, depending on where we really capture who the ambassador is.
Framing the shapes
I can't explain how much it hurt just to watch her get into some of these poses. It was unbelievable to witness, and I had to remind myself to keep shooting instead of just standing there amazed.
What I really wanted to work on was framing Claire and supporting the shapes she made with her body by using the structures around her: walls, pillars, the skyline, trees, even a ring of ivy. Yoga takes so much inspiration from shapes and natural forms, so bringing those into the frame felt like the right complement to the strength and control Claire was showing.
We finished with a serene black-and-white portrait using my Heroes on White setup, with Claire's hands at her heart in the namaste position. It's always amazing to work with athletes like Claire.
Originally published on the Ruddock Visuals blog, February 2018. Lightly edited in 2026.