Lighting Help Please!

[photogenics]

Can anyone help me out on the lighting set up that is being used in the following pics of a bodybuilder training? I really would like to be able to understand how many lights and directions they were used in, also the background still seems quite bright in some of them, is this due to a slower shutter speed?

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

http://www.flexonline.com/photo/men/3?image=6

http://www.flexonline.com/photo/men/2?image=6

Thanks
Tauseef.

[nat869]

Most people photography I do involves bodybuilders and fitness models of some kind. My guess is that a faster shutter speed was used. Guys pushing that much weight are not going to stop and pose for the camera and the pics look too sharp. It looks like they are not near any windows either. Not sure if they used lights.......most gyms I have been in are too crowded with equipment to set up lights effectively, but maybe these were not done at a public gym. If I were doing it, most likely I would use my 550ex with a lumiquest softbox on it, with the camera in manual mode. This is a great question, one that I would like to have more info about as well. I have been overdue to shoot some friends while they are working out, so some of the true experts on here I bet can shed some light on the subject (no pun intended........lol).

[drisley]

I'm fairly sure they were using some external lighting.
That gym looks very large, and I'm sure they would have room to set something up.
If you look closely at the first picture where Ronnie is doing the shoulder shrugs, you can see a very strong shadow on the inside of the dumbell on the left side of the picture. This would indicate a strong horizontal light coming from directly in front.