Check out some of Alex\'s amazing art - just click the pics below for the full size versions.

Many of the amazing photos featured on the covers of your favorite fitness magazines were taken by my friend, the renown photographer Alex Ardenti. In today's EliteFitness.com News, we have a bunch of his sexiest pics and you can check out what he had to say about working with celebrities, what it is like handling taking pictures of some of the sexiest women alive, and how to get into major photo shoots that can jumpstart your bodybuilding career and get you seen by hot babes everywhere. Nyd.

There aren’t too many days that go by where I don’t fantasize about my dream job of photographing extremely sexy women behind the lens of a high-powered camera. In my vision, I’m sitting out on the white sands of some exotic beach taking incredible pictures of scintillating, bikini-clad babes all day long while sipping on lemonade and being fanned down in between shoots.

In reality though, I’d be a perverted, drooling mess who’d spend far more time ogling at the models than I would actually doing any real photography. Lad os se det i øjnene; some of us just aren’t cut out to handle snapping pictures of beautiful women for a living.

Men, one man that actually can handle this type of work, and has even flourished in it, is world-famous fitness and bodybuilding photographer Alex Ardenti. Den 18 year veteran has worked with the absolute best in the business including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, Monica Brant, and many, many more.

He is a guy who knows that anyone in the bodybuilding and fitness industry can do wonders for their career by understanding the importance of photo shoots. He even has great advice on how to handle a major photo shoot so that you’ll impress people and have the top supplement companies calling you again and again.

I was lucky enough to catch up with him recently and sit down with him for an interview. Now we all have a chance to see what it’s like to be a major fitness photographer, work with tons of celebrities, and what photo shoots mean to a bodybuilder who wants to excel.

George Spellwin: What\'s it like being able to photograph sexy models and celebrities for a living?

Alex Ardent: It's a dream come true. I started in 1990 by buying a cheap 35mmcamera and wanting to be a fashion photographer. The fitness and bodybuilding industry started giving me way more workthan fashion so I steered my career in that direction. The great part about my job is that I am my own boss. I work with who I want to work with and have never signed an exclusive contractwith any one company. I love to freelance because it gives me the utmost artistic freedom under all points of view.

George Spellwin: Are there any new celebrities that you\'ve been working with recently?

Alex Ardent: We just finished up a shoot with Jose Conseco for GAT. I had shot Jose before and I knew he would be in good shape and ready to work. It was a long and arduous session but he stayed charismatic andupbeat the whole day. He's such a down-to-earth guy and my crewr eally loved him, as did the models we hired for the shoot. I don't know anything about baseball because I'm from Italy originally but, it was still a great experience being around a top athlete of any sport. I found out he is also an accomplished martial artist.
We also photographed Randy Couture for his new line, Couture Nutrition. I had also shot Randy before and he is always as professional and prepared as can be, despite his tight schedule. This guy is in big demand right now so it was an honor for us to have himfind time in his schedule to fly to Los Angeles to shoot.
In the bodybuilding world we shot Ronnie Coleman recently for BSN in London. The gym we used was amazing! A total time warp with somuch character and hardcore feel to it. The ads are out now and I amvery proud of them. Trey Brewer was another guy we just finished photographing. I call him the "Wonder Kid." He's a big boy who gave it his all at BSN's shoot in Miami.

Dennis James looked incredible for the SAN shoot and Monica Brant was in her usual top form for Muscle Mag's special edition. Coming up is our shoot with Mr Olympia Jay Cutler for Schiek. Schiek sponsors Jay for his training belts, gloves, straps etc.

George Spellwin: Last time we communicated, you told me about the short film Leftovers that you did. Are their any new movies or films that you've been making lately?

Alex Ardent: Leftovers got accepted in the Los Angeles Short Film Festival and was screened at the Cinerama Dome-Arclight complex so that was a big accomplishment for me. It was a little spooky seeing my first short film made from scratch on a huge digital screen. We were interviewed live in front of the attending audience right after our showing so that was a real treat for everyone involved.

I love narrative features and every director's dream is to work on feature films that are released theatrically but this year I decided to pursue TV commercials a little more and formed Ardenti Films, a TVcommercial production company.

We've concentrated more on TV commercials this year simply because they tie into our photographic print advertising campaigns. Clients often want a print campaign and a commercial campaign that go hand in hand. Plus they end up using the spots for their websites and trade show booths.

The best one of the year in my opinion was the GNC project for\'Horse power\' by Ultimate Nutrition. The client flew out their main athlete Ed Van Amsterdam from the Netherlands. He was in great shape considering he was off season at the time of the shoot. We shot over a two day period and Milos Sarcev was kind enough to open the doors to his Kolosseum Gym in Fullerton for us. It's an absolute pleasure to shoot there. The second day we were in Malibu on the beaches for all the running and lunging footage.

George Spellwin: Do you think you'll ever fully transition yourself to film making or do you think you will definitely keep doing photography?

Alex Ardent: I still love photography and I don't think one will cancel the other out. Actually they go very much hand in hand and many directors shoot stills, even if just for their own artistic pleasure. We have such a high demand now for print advertising that it would be foolish to pass up all the work. Luckily we get to choose the projects that are more interesting.

George Spellwin: Is there any advice that you have for aspiring models or bodybuilders with regards to the importance of being photographed?

Alex Ardent: When I was competing and modeling I understood at an early age the importance of having good pictures of myself in the magazines. I landed my first cover in Europe at 19 and that immediately put me in a whole different category on the bodybuilding scene. After that first cover I started pushing the publicity as much as I could and continued to get more and more exposure in the bodybuilding publications and on TV. I have to admit I won several close contests because I was the most popular athlete on stage. That and my posing always set me apart.

Today that is still true in my opinion. Exposure helps a great deal in any sport and in any business. It's what you do with the exposure that sets athletes apart. Managers and agents usually can't do it.

It's the internal drive of the talent that makes you successful.
I would have to say that professionalism is king in this business. Nobody wants to deal with arrogant people that have a bad attitude. I enjoy shooting people who want to be there at the shoot. I don't need to talk anybody into it.

You need to be on time for the shoot. You need to be ready for the shoot. Some guys show up with a deep dark tan all over their body and ghost white face, hands and feet! Sometimes models show up late with no good wardrobe and 1 hr to shoot. My make-up artist takes 1 1/2 hrs per model alone.

It's crucial in a career whether it be bodybuilding, fitness o rmodeling that you have only the best images floating around the media. Now in the digital age photos last forever and are seen by potentially millions of people... so why not shoot when you are ready and willing to give 100%?

I am always looking for new models for magazine shoots and to hire for advertising jobs. Models and athletes can send images to my site www.alexardenti.com at any time. People who submit have to realize that they need to be close to top shape and that the fitness world is extremely competitive these days. There are bodybuilders and models from all over the world trying to get exposure in the U.S. publications but I encourage everyone to at least try. A lot of times we keep the photos on file and contact the models down the line if a job or editorial shoot comes up where they are looking for their type.

George Spellwin: I see on your website alexardenti.com that you have banners for Mandy Blank and Timea Majorova on your website. Did you have a big hand in the development and photography of these sites?

Alex Ardent: Yes I do most of the photography for both www.timeamajorova.com og www.mandyblank.com . I chose these two models because they are at the top of their game at the moment and will be for a long time to come. The fans love them and they always are courteous and friendly to their fans when they meet at trade shows and events. They both have a mixture of sexiness and athleticism that sets them apart from mainstream models. They definitely have a strong niche and their member sign ups proveit. Both models are great to work with.
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