San Francisco holds a unique place within sports and fitness culture. It’s home to six major league sports franchises, while recreational facilities and the outdoors furnish various active lifestyle options. Gyms and fitness centers are a stone’s throw away, while the nature trails and nearby waters accommodate everything from running and jogging to surfing and paddle boarding. Expending one’s energy has never been easier, but if the masses need some persuasion through compelling visual imagery, we found seven of the best San Francisco fitness photographers using our directory.
At Wonderful Machine, sports and fitness photography “includes anything relating to sports, games, athletes, fitness, or exercise [and] can be candid (action) or controlled.” That’s plenty to cover visually, but these photographers will accommodate your campaign requirements with the utmost care and attention.
Ian Tuttle is a fitness photographer in San Francisco who used to race road bikes. Perhaps that was the source of his passion for active lifestyle imagery, showcasing men and women pushing their physical boundaries both indoors and outdoors. He’s a skillful manipulator of natural and artificial light, using it to reveal his subjects’ physical and mental attributes. The light may strike at just the right angle to unveil the contours of muscle on a person’s body, or it may overwhelm the entire frame to reveal a heightened state of awareness like a runner’s high. Ian loves immersive assignments that require a story to be told, positioning him ideally for various commercial and editorial projects.
Ian’s clients include Lululemon, Adverum, Giordana Cycling, HP, Impossible Foods, Team Illuminate, Outside Magazine, BuzzFeed, Rowing News Magazine, and many others.
Jayms Ramirez’s images discover the fun and adventure in physical activity. It’s a quality that stems from his life before photography, when he spent 10 years traveling through Mexico, Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia, producing footage for the Travel Channel. A visit to Jayms’s portfolio is highly recommended if you’re looking to cultivate an unabashed sense of wanderlust and fitness-lust (if there is such a thing). Witness people snorkeling and scuba diving, jogging and running, and hiking and cycling in The Great Outdoors, breathing in the fresh air and bathing in the sunlight.
Jayms’s particular brand of imagery has been covered by organizations and publications such as Nat Geo Adventure, Nature Air, TravelZoo, Race Across America, Haute-Living Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, and more.
Depending on the task at hand, Jake Stangel is a fitness photographer in San Francisco who switches his style with ease, predominantly leaning toward warmer colors and tones. Having wrapped up numerous assignments in both the advertising and documentary worlds, he understands how to set the mood to satisfy clients. When needed, his photos can have a sleek and polished look or a down-and-dirty aesthetic, standing as proof of his immense versatility.
While he’s based in San Francisco, Jake’s a dual citizen of Canada and the USA while holding active visas to China and Brazil, making him available for photo assignments in distant places. In addition, he’s a cyclist, surfer, snowboarder, and rock climber, giving him a distinct advantage when photographing outdoor sports.
A few of Jake’s clients are Adidas, Instagram, Nike, Ogilvy & Mather, Reebok, Samsung, TBWA, ESPN the Magazine, Men’s Health, Outside, and Runner’s World.
For cinematic images with dramatic action and lighting to follow, look no further than Alexis Cuarezma. From celebrity athletes to newcomers working up the ranks, Alexis’s photography casts his subjects as primetime talent. There’s a riotous combination of color and lighting in his images, sometimes composed conceptually, to present the athletes as superhuman. It’s an approach that is bold, vivid, and striking, sure to grab your attention no matter what.
And Alexis’s photos have definitely grabbed the attention of clients. He has worked with organizations such as Nike, the LA Times, the New York Times, and HBO. Additionally, his photos have been on the covers of Sports Illustrated (six times), Ring Magazine, Undisputed Fight Magazine, SEEN, Fighting Fit, Boxing News, TV Guide, and People Magazine.
Deanne Fitzmaurice served as a photojournalist for The San Francisco Chronicle for over two decades. Her work for the paper served as a springboard for more projects with the likes of National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and others. One photo essay of hers on an Iraqi war victim earned her a Pulitzer Prize, making her an exclusive presence on our list. Today, Deanne collaborates with the world’s most recognized brands, from Amazon and Apple to Nike and Facebook, sharing their stories with global audiences through her pictures.
For sports and fitness photography that is raw, honest, and unscripted, there is no finer candidate in the Bay Area than Deanne. Her camera has been privy to moments of happiness and heartache, from the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win in 2019 to Barry Bonds’ last appearance as a Major League Baseball player. Emotion is central to her photos, and she documents a range of them as a keen yet inconspicuous observer of the stories that unfold before her.
While Kaare Iverson has worn many hats in life – teacher, chef, web designer, climber, and writer – he remains a photographer to his core. Kaare is a visual storyteller whose narratives primarily focus on people’s relationship with the natural world. While he can capture the balance and poise of an athlete’s deadlift or a wave that ripples across a punching bag in the gym, his outdoor lifestyle images are just a notch above.
His compositions of physical activity in the outdoors carry a serene quality, with people finding a home in nature with the sun not too far away. Sometimes, he can make his subjects stick out like a sore thumb, while in others, they blend in with the greatness of the Great Outdoors. His images are also not shy about telling stories. If needed, he can make a surfer resting atop a cliff seem like a man meditating in the grand splendor of the wild. That’s just one of many examples available.
Kaare’s clients include Adidas, Calm, Expedia, San Francisco Magazine, Yoga Journal, Backpacker, and Climbing Magazine.
Fitness is fashionable. That’s a statement supported by the billions of dollars occupying the intersection of fitness and fashion. For images within that intersection, take a look at RC Rivera’s portfolio. He’s a fitness photographer in San Francisco who makes sweating it out seem stylish. His photos are chic and sleek, with athletes making statements through their posing and clothing. He combines the two via unorthodox compositions, fooling around with color combinations and visual concepts to create a surreal perspective. This is largely characteristic of his studio-based photoshoots, while his projects outside carry more conventional sensibilities.
No one’s complaining about either of RC’s approaches, because he has worked with the likes of Nike, FitBit, Men’s Fitness, PUMA, SF Magazine, Levi’s, GAP, and countless others.
With careful thought and consideration, we put together this list of San Francisco fitness photographers to suit the broad spectrum of visual requirements different campaigns require. With each photographer bringing something distinct to the table, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to your next photo assignment.
Further Reading
Find more San Francisco fitness photographers through our Find Photographers page.
Learn more about other types of photography on our Specialties page.