Training Dogs With Charles Glass

Just a few months ago world famous trainer to the bodybuilding stars of the Olympia stage, Charles Glass, had no idea that behind closed doors we had a plan for him…. Dog Training.


It started out like this; we were all sitting around a conference table at BodyBuilding.com in Boise Idaho. One of the big topics was our print magazine ads and the photography for them. And one of the many ideas that came out of that meeting was using Charles Glass and using him to be training a cat running on a treadmill in a gym. My position was that if you want a cat to run on a treadmill I could get it done but a dog might be easier. And so it was agreed that a dog was it, and an English Bull Dog was the choice. So as I returned to Southern California, the art department went to work on designing a concept and I went to work too. We needed a gym that would be empty, that was part of the concept, and an English Bull Dog that could run on a treadmill. And I had a time rush looking like we were going to need to shoot this within a couple of weeks. We did it.


Now this was not an ordinary English Bull Dog but an actual actor, and a veteran of many big time television commercials and major ad campaigns. It took some looking but I found the right dog. And then I was lucky enough to have a great gym to use, Iron Bodies in Costa Mesa CA. And so it was set for the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Our own world champ, Bob Cicherillo, gathered up Charles Glass, and our star dog arrived on set with an entourage of two trainers and the owner. They did not however arrive by limo and the press was not invited.


The first thing we had to do was to make sure that our stars, the dog and Charles understood each other. So Charles used a sure fire method that he uses with all Olympia champs, bribery with small food items.


And then Charles explained in depth his training methods and secrets so we would get off on the right paw. Charles did tell me afterward that the dog was quicker to learn and grasped the concepts better than many of his clients.


We did both upper and lower body that day including some bench press.




Preacher bench curls of course are great for biceps, front biceps only.


And of course we got in some cardio.


I did manage to take a few photos along the way while being careful not to fall on Bob from my positon on the ladder. And Bob managed to take it all in and picked up a few training tips himself.


Actually we had a lot of fun and it was one of the more creative bodybuilding ad shoots we had seen anywhere. Bob was actually a lot of help coming up with some really good ideas along the way. And Charles Glass showed himself to be a really good actor. The BodyBuilding.com team told me that they could not stop laughing out loud while they watched the frames of the shoot go by. It is funny. It was not just showing up and taking photographs of a dog. It took some planning, the right people, the right place and the right dog. And it all worked out.

Thanks for taking a look and keep coming back for more!

10,000 Views

This is a milestone for me. A few months back I shot some video of “BodyBuilding Pros Silvio Samuel & Hidetada Yamagishi”. It was edited into a short segment by BodyBuilding.com and it became somewhat of a hit, just today reaching 10,000 views on YouTube. Of course that is less than a lot of videos but I think it’s fun! Take a look at it right here!



Thanks and keep coming back for more!

I Have Been Busy!

Here are a few things that have come around in the last few weeks...

An advertising shoot (appropriately named for this one for sure!)...



The "Cal" Bodybuilding and Figure Competition...



The big Bodybuilding and Figure Competition at Muscle Beach...



A photo shoot with amateur figure competitor, Allison...



And Allison also won at the "Cal"...



Thanks for visiting! More soon, so come on back!

Behind The Scenes On The Bus...

If you have picked up any bodybuilding or health and fitness magazines in the last few months you have seen the BodyBuilding.com "Public Transportation" advertisement. Like so many ads that we do this one started with a phone call to me…


At first thought to some people this would seem pretty simple; get a bus, put some people on it and take some photos. Well it didn’t seem that simple to me because I immediately realized that getting people evenly lit in the interior of a bus to get a lot of good color could be tricky, especially if it ended up being a cloudy day. And then of course there was the part about getting a real transit bus.


Living near the land of movie magic, Hollywood, usually means that you can get anything you want and it all just depends on what it will cost. And as it turned out the bus was available. Actually the place we found had every kind of transit bus you could imagine from 1950’s East Coast buses to current Los Angeles type buses. And while we were finding a bus, I lined up a cast. We had the face of BodyBuilding.com, World Champion Bob Cicherillo, the bigger than life competitor Jerome ‘Hollywood’ Ferguson, stunning fitness model Cara Basso, Mr. Canada Eric DiLauro, and amateur bodybuilding competitors Larry Brown, Eric Domer, and Geoff Etherson, and amateur figure competitor Kim Hill.


Now I have to thank world famous Gold’s Gym in Venice for giving us a place to put this all together in their parking lot behind the gym. So on a sunny morning it all started to happen. A lot of lighting gear got set up, a generator was delivered, the bus showed up and we got going. If you look at the actual ad the things that you don’t see is down the left side of the bus on the outside is a lot of lighting equipment shooting in to the bus at various angles. Down the right side of the bus are two parked cars placed so it looks like the bus is in traffic but so you don’t see that there are no drivers in those cars. At one point we even tried having Bob as our bus driver but we ended up not using that series. The dish you see on the right is an additional strobe that it took to light up Bob deep in the dark in the driver’s seat.


This was another fun shoot and it was interesting to see it all come together from everything from the city permits being delivered to the bus driving in, all of the gear getting set up, the cast arriving and then of course some friends and bystanders. And my personal thanks to everyone who was a part of it.

This next photo is also from a series we did not use. But it does show you what it would look like on an airplane if you put a bunch of bodybuilders in aisle seats in coach! Like my buddy Cicherillo says; when flying you have to change sides of the airplanes each flight so that you get even bruises on the back of your arms from the service cart!


Thanks again for checking in and keep coming back for more!

The Arnold Classic 2007 Redux

As the photographer for BodyBuilding.com, one of the things I get asked all the time is... What is it like to sit up front and center at a big show like the Arnold? Well it is like this....

Behind The Scenes - Fighting Over A Bikini!

This seems to be a really popular ad for BodyBuilding.com running in many magazines over a couple of months now. And it is one that I have been receiving requests about the behind the scenes as to how it came to be.


Like so many ads this began as part of a discussion as a need to put together something different specifically for the women’s magazines such as Oxygen and Muscle & Fitness Hers. We have been looking to make ads more fun because we know that we are all hit with so many ads on a daily basis that it would be nice to be more entertained by them. During our discussions the concept for this ad emerged. And one of the first things is to plan it with rough sketches from the art department at BodyBuilding.com.


Then it is up to me to plan the actual shoot, find a location, cast for my models, arrange for props and wardrobe, the right lighting equipment, and even arrange the permits and insurance for the location. The date is set and in between a lot of discussion and thought. And it all must fit within a production budget. The day comes, everyone from the models to assistants arrive and we start.


Now you just can’t put a bunch of people in a location and take pretty pictures, it won’t happen. Here one of the models and my good friend, Cara, stands in the area we will shoot so we can see what we have for lighting. The first thing to see is that it is too dark, very uneven and will be prone to a lot of shadowing. We wanted some bright colors for this so light would be a very important factor. So what is a fairly small area required a rather substantial amount of lighting gear in lots of locations and different angles, above, below, behind and to the sides. Once we got set up, it was off to shooting.


Here it gets tough because I needed four girls to fight over a bikini for hours. They got warmed up and it wasn’t before long when they started to have just too much fun. And they get paid for this.


And I had to personally get down and dirty to show them one of the scenes I was looking for. My good friend Shaela was more than happy to push me around in the interest of getting the job done.


I had the girls alternate on the floor, in pushing and fighting positions. Yes they continued to have a ball. Oh well, my shoots are pretty well know for being a lot of fun for the models.


We did draw a pretty good crowd outside watching the goings on inside the store. We were right on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California on a warm sunny day. And the store owner and the employees got to watch a great show. In the end it all worked out just great.


My models pushed and shoved, pulled hair and grabbed at arms and legs. But they had nothing but fun and left good friends. Two of the models I had worked with before and known for a few years. One model I had known but had not worked with and one was brand new with me but she fit right in. From left to right we have Cara Basso, Hannah Gordon, Lauren Elaine and Shaela Luter. Cara is an accomplished actress, dancer and a very well known yoga and health instructor. Hannah you might remember as the very popular hostess from the FitShow. Lauren Elaine is a very successful model and actress having appeared in many ads and music videos. And Shaela has been in many magazine layouts in the bodybuilding and fitness business as well as many exercise videos. They were all great, we had a lot of fun, they will always remain my friends. And we put together a fun shoot and a fun ad.

Thanks for visiting and keep coming back for more!

The Boise Fitness Expo 2007

I just returned from Boise Idaho and among the many thing I did was to shoot the Boise Fitness Expo for BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world. Held in downtown Boise, the Expo is entirely put on for free by BodyBuilding.com to say thank you for all of the support from the people of Boise where BodyBuilding.com is headquartered.


Over 1200 people filled the Expo to capacity and as many as 2000 or more came through during the evening. They were treated to free gifts from the supplement companies, guest posing by the top bodybuilders in the country including Mr. Olympia 2006, Jay Cutler, famous personalities like cover model Jamie Eason and a never ending exciting level of entertainment. It was great fun!