Fitness and Gym Photography Distance Guide
Gyms are awkward places to photograph: mirrored walls that show your camera back to you, tight gaps between equipment, and subjects whose muscle definition can look powerful or flat depending on how far away you shoot. Getting the distance right fixes most of these problems before you touch a setting.
Mirrors
Most gyms have a mirrored wall, often right where the best angle on a lift would be. If you shoot straight into it, you and the camera are in the picture. The reflection angle equals the incidence angle, so stand 30 to 45 degrees off the mirror's perpendicular, or put your back near a wall at right angles to the mirror so it reflects that wall instead of you. A longer lens helps because its narrower view makes it easier to keep the reflection out of frame. In a small mirrored room, stepping back a metre or two and using a slightly longer lens often opens an angle that was impossible up close.
Why distance flatters the body
Things look bigger the nearer they are, and a body has depth. The chest is about 25 cm nearer than the back, and an arm reaching toward the camera can be 60 cm closer than the shoulders. The exaggeration is that depth divided by your distance. From 1 m, the torso looks about 25 percent deeper and an outstretched arm about 60 percent bigger. From 3 m it is about 8 and 20 percent, and from 5 m about 5 and 12 percent. So a wide lens at 1 m can make a torso look oddly proportioned instead of powerful, and the arm toward the camera is the biggest culprit. The same logic flatters faces, as the portrait distance guide explains.
How far to stand
Distance is the focal length times the height you want in the frame, divided by the frame height. On full frame, with the camera vertical for a standing person and horizontal for a lifter with a bar:
| Shot | 35 mm | 50 mm | 85 mm | 135 mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torso, 0.7 m tall (vertical) | 0.7 m | 1.0 m | 1.7 m | 2.6 m |
| Full body, 2 m tall (vertical) | 1.9 m | 2.8 m | 4.7 m | 7.5 m |
| Lifter with a bar, 2.4 m wide (horizontal) | 2.3 m | 3.3 m | 5.7 m | 9.1 m |
| Hand or grip detail, 15 cm tall (horizontal) | 0.2 m | 0.3 m | 0.5 m | 0.8 m |
For a physique portrait, an 85 to 105 mm lens from 1.7 to 2 m frames the torso with the exaggeration down to about 12 to 15 percent. A full-body lift with an 85 mm lens wants about 5 m. A hand detail on a 100 mm macro is about 0.6 m, not the 1.5 to 2 m some guides give, which would frame a whole person.
Lifts and safety
Stand to the side, 3 to 5 m back, with enough room that a dropped bar or a loss of balance cannot reach you. Olympic lifts need more, 4 to 6 m, since the bar and lifter move through a larger arc and the weight may be bailed. Do not stand behind or in the fall path of a heavy squat, deadlift or overhead lift. A side position at a slight angle is also the more flattering angle for showing form. For bodyweight and plyometric moves, stand 3 to 5 m back, a little elevated or at an angle, to show the whole movement.
Depth of field
Gyms are busy backgrounds, so some blur helps, but not at the cost of the subject. With an 85 mm lens at 3 m, the zone in focus is about 20 cm at f/2.8, 28 cm at f/4 and 39 cm at f/5.6. A 135 mm lens at 4 m gives about 14 cm at f/2.8 and 20 cm at f/4, which is less than the depth of a squat with arms and a bar. A 50 mm at 4 m has about a metre at f/2.8. So f/4 to f/5.6 is a safer range for lifts with a longer lens, with f/2.8 for portraits. A bar moving at 1 m/s is fine at 1/250 s, and sprints and jumps want 1/1000 s. Gym lights often flicker, so use anti-flicker mode if your camera has it, as covered in the basketball settings post.
Small and home gyms
Where you have 2 to 4 m, use a 35 to 50 mm lens and keep an eye on stretching: a 35 mm lens stretches things by about 12 percent at the side edges, so keep faces and the lifter away from them. Under 2 m, use 24 to 35 mm for environment shots only, or take details. A diagonal from a corner gives you the most distance. With 4 m or more, 50 to 135 mm is open to you.
The 85 to 135 mm range at 2.5 to 5 m solves both the flattering-proportions problem and the safety and mirror problems in most gyms. When a shot feels cramped, step back, not forward. To check how far away you were in an existing frame, use the calculator.
Related reading: Portrait Distance: What Focal Length at What Range, Street Photography: The Right Distance for Strangers, Subject Distance Calculator.