One Day, Three Disciplines: Balázs Csőke for lululemon
Shooting an Ironman swimming, biking and running under a natural-light, unretouched brief, with a tiny wetsuit, a truck and a pair of rollerblades.
2026 note: The bike shot here was made from the bed of a moving truck with people holding my legs, which I wouldn't do today. Closed or very quiet roads, a dedicated driver, the rider's consent and nobody riding on a tailgate are the minimum, and check your local laws first.
Back in the fall, the lululemon store in The Woodlands asked me to photograph one of their ambassadors, Balázs Csőke. Balázs is no stranger to my portfolio, so I was thrilled to work with him again under different circumstances. The brief was lululemon's new style: gritty, real, naturally lit and unretouched. On top of that, we'd shoot Balázs in all three disciplines, in one day, in The Woodlands, in the same style. Not my usual style or circumstances, but I like a good challenge and working with great people. The images here are some of my favorites, edited more in my own style.
Once I knew what the client wanted, it was time to talk to the athlete, since his input was vital to how he would be portrayed as an ambassador. He wanted to show motion, look like he was moving and be portrayed as an Ironman. Simple, right? So now I had to capture motion (a blurred background) and keep Balázs in focus, using only natural light at a shallow depth of field. From a technical standpoint, the shoot was suddenly far more interesting than I'd expected. The key was to move at the same speed as Balázs, keep shooting, find good light and get great images.
The swim
The last time we photographed Balázs swimming, it was during practice in a pool. This time we wanted him in his element: open water. At the end of November, that was no small task. The water was freezing! After some scouting, we chose the Ironman Texas swim location in Lake Woodlands and planned an action shot of Balázs getting out of the water. It was the first shoot of the day, right at dawn, with the sun behind him at the boat ramp. I put on a wetsuit a few sizes too small, backwards, so at least my legs were warm, and we jumped in.
After a few runs with natural light only (my Canon 5D Mark II in an EWA-Marine housing), we realized we were fighting lens fog from the cold water and warmer air, water in the way of focus, backlight, and Balázs moving as he came out of the water. I talked the lululemon team into letting me use just a little fill light to stop the action, and it made all the difference in the world. Keeping the photo looking natural was an interesting balance, but I think we pulled it off and got great results for everyone involved. I can't wait to get back in the water and try this with some really creative lighting.
Crushing the big gear
The bike and run shoots happened back to back at dusk to keep the light about the same, bike first. This was the easiest shot for us, since we knew the setup and the area and had made the shot before with lights. What we hadn't done was make it without lights, so controlling everything with shutter speed alone was a new way of looking at the situation, and I had a ton of fun with it.
With Sam behind the wheel and Kelly and Lauren from the lululemon team holding my legs to keep me in the truck, I slowed the shutter down, got low out of the truck bed and caught the Hungarian wonder crushing the big gear.
Almost done, it's just a marathon
When you're doing an Ironman, all you can think on the bike is, "Let me off this bike." Then you get to the run and you only have one sport left... but it's a marathon! That's how it felt getting to this shoot. How do you capture motion while someone is running, make it personal and keep them in focus, without making them look like they jumped in the air and got caught between strides? The answer is rollerblades.
Laugh all you want; it worked perfectly. After all the years and houses I've hauled those things to and from, they finally came in handy. All I had to do was not fall over while I skated backwards in front of Balázs as he ran six-minute miles. It was real and natural. I could talk to him and change my viewpoint easily, from the front, low, eye level or the side. I got the movement we wanted without the static feel of a fast shutter speed, and I can't wait to play around with the blades more.
A quick behind-the-scenes video from the day is below.
The film
Watch the behind-the-scenes film
Originally published on the Ruddock Visuals blog, April 2014. Lightly edited in 2026.