Photographing Yoga: Sunrise on a Mountain, Motion in a Park, Poses in a Brewery

Yoga has become one of my favorite things to photograph. I've shot just enough of it now to feel like I'm starting to understand how to craft the images, and three very different shoots taught me most of what I know: a sunrise on a West Texas mountain, a morning around The Woodlands, and two teachers in a brewery.

Sunrise on a mountain

A year earlier, during the lululemon residency in Marfa, I wanted to make some images that were more stylized, the way I usually like to shoot, rather than the documentary work I'd been doing all week. Marfa sits a short drive from the Davis Mountains, and while I was there with the first group I scouted a few spots and worked out the timing. It would have to be very early: travel, set up, shoot, tear down and get back before breakfast and morning yoga. That's a lot to ask of people who would be on the go all day after the shoot, but like any good photographer, I asked anyway.

My friend and fellow photographer Eric came out for the second and third groups as a second shooter. Eric is more of a photojournalist, so he was all in on learning how I use lights to shape a scene. We convinced three of the group, Shannon, Adyn and Luna, to wake up and hike with us, and set the departure time at 5:45 a.m.

After a cold shower and a Red Bull, we drove toward the mountains in the dark, watching rain clouds move in from the east and hoping we wouldn't get rained off before we could shoot. We hit the trail just as it got light enough to see where we were putting our feet. The climb was fun and a bit of a scramble, until we realized the spot we wanted was right next to the road we could have driven up. Not the realization you want, but it got the blood flowing, and I could run the mile or so back down alone to get the car while everyone else packed up.

Once we looked out over the valley, the call time was completely worth it. The sun was just cresting the lower mountains in the distance, spilling light through the valley and the morning mist. Eric and I started with some quick natural-light frames while the women simply began practicing and taking in the morning. It was so extraordinary that we almost felt bad interrupting to start on more staged poses, but time was short.

Because we expected to hike somewhere remote, I brought only what fit in my backpack: one Profoto B1, a beauty dish, a 69-inch Elinchrom Rotalux octa and a Manfrotto Quick-Pole, which is basically a handheld light stand. Looking at the soft light surrounding us, I wanted to keep that same feel, so I passed on my usual favorite, the beauty dish, for my favorite portrait modifier, the Rotalux. Its soft, wrapping light meshed with the sunrise behind us and the ethereal feeling of the moment.

To stay with that feeling, I asked them to keep the poses simple, fluid and tranquil, and they understood it on an almost spiritual level. That's why I love working with athletes: give them the feeling you're after and they know what creates it and how to convey it. Ask a yogi for tranquil, a triathlete for determination or a CrossFitter for grit, and they deliver.

We shot fast. I even spent a good while as the light stand while Eric directed and shot with lights outside a studio for the first time. (He now owns one.) Then I ran for the car, dodged a snake or two on the way down, and we were back at the house before most people were awake.

Let them flow

In 2017 I photographed several local yoga ambassadors for the lululemon store in The Woodlands, including Michelle. I hadn't met her before the shoot, which can make things harder, but it also leaves room to get to know somebody and create something unexpected. Fortunately, Michelle brought pure stoke from the start, and we ran with that energy. We worked around some iconic spots in The Woodlands to give the store's wall images a community feel, starting with basic yoga to knock out supporting shots before we tried to really capture her.

Here's the biggest thing I've learned: let the yogi move through a flow instead of finding a static position and holding it. Yoga is as much about smooth movement as holding poses, and as a sports photographer I love motion. Images captured in motion feel more natural than a pose held until I say I've got it. If I see something in their flow I love, I'll ask them to repeat it more slowly or pause there for a breath or two, but I rarely ask a yogi to jump straight into a difficult hold.

It's also safer. Yogis are athletes just as much as runners or cyclists, and they need to warm up before attempting anything demanding. As photographers we sometimes forget that, and the last thing you want is somebody pulling or tearing a muscle trying to fold into a pose for your shot.

Once we had the simple frames, I'd chatted with Michelle enough to feel like I knew her a bit. She's outgoing, the kind of person who lights up a room just by smiling, and I wanted to capture that. The frames of her goofing around between shots ended up being everybody's favorites, because they showed why people come to Michelle's practice.

We finished on Town Green under a gnarly overcast sky and extremely flat light. Just a touch of a large octabox gave me enough to catch a few great images of her natural smile, and I loved the warm tones against the darkening sky. It was a tranquil way to end the shoot: a cool-down stretch and a smile on green grass.

Yoga in a brewery

When the lululemon City Centre store asked me to photograph Angie and Cindy, I honestly thought I'd heard Jeska wrong on the phone. "Wait, they practice yoga in a brewery? So we're going to be shooting yoga. In a brewery. Well, this should be interesting."

Once I looked into what they were doing, I was stoked. They partnered with breweries around Houston to hold classes in the taprooms before opening, then rolled class into a social hour. How often do you get to shoot yoga in an industrial space without it feeling cliché and out of place? Their personalities fit it perfectly, too, and ten minutes in front of the camera told me why lululemon wanted them as ambassadors.

There were real challenges. Posing two people practicing together in a way that's complementary and well lit, in a space never built for lighting, took a lot of playing around before we dialed it in. We also shot in a different order than I usually do: the hero image of the two of them together came first, and the individual supporting images came after. It felt backward, but it made sense, because it moved the shoot along in the most comfortable way for the people in front of the camera.

What ties it together

Match your light to the light and mood that's already there. Let yogis move instead of freezing them, and respect their bodies the way you would any athlete's. And be willing to rearrange your plan around the people you're photographing.

The behind-the-scenes film from a yoga shoot for lululemon is below.

The film

Watch the behind-the-scenes film

Originally published on the Ruddock Visuals blog, August 2017. Lightly edited in 2026.