Photo Finish - Susanna Backman

It was somewhat last minute, but Melissa and I managed to make it up to the NPC LAs to shoot and attend the competition, which she won the overall title in last year. It's only right that the champ is there to pass the crown on to this year's winner, which turned out to be Arizona's Valerie Carlino.

The next morning, after not much sleep, it was time to pound a Starbucks Americano and get to work, which in this case was shooting with Swedish figure competitor Susanna Backman. She had expressed her desire to shoot outdoors, specifically at the beach, and since we were staying only 10 minutes from the sandy seashore, I felt it was my duty to oblige. The weather was a little rough with cloudy skies and a brisk breeze, but Susanna toughed it out and allowed her experience in past shoots to hit some great poses.

Next, we stopped at another location to shoot in something other than a bikini — shocker, I know — that being the dress in the photo you see above. It was a very flowing dress, so it took a bit to figure out how to tighten and wrap it in the right places to showcase Susanna's athletic silhouette, but I was pretty happy with the results from this portion of the shoot. Actually, I was pretty happy with most of the images we captured that day. Susanna was a great model to work with and Melissa did a fantastic job with the makeup and assisting.

Let me expound on that subject for a hot second, if I may. For photoshoots this season I've teamed up with NPC figure competitor, fitness model, personal trainer, nutritionist — and pretty much my BFF — Melissa Deal. Many of you that have shot with me in the past know that I've always been a one-man band, and at times, it could get overwhelming. So this year, I decided to make some changes in the way I work, and bring on someone who I work with. Not only is Melissa an enormous asset due to her make up artist skills, but just having an experienced model at the shoot to coach other girls is huge. We've always made a great team, which is why we are officially now known as Team FitSights.

Well, I guess it's not official until I get us some new business cards printed up.. but hey, it's pretty official nevertheless.