Alexandra Pohuntu, Fitness & Fashion Shoot with a Miami Fashion Photographer

Jean Paquingan
Dec 8, 2025
4 min read

Alexandra Pohuntu flew in from Italy and hit Miami like a shot of espresso: fierce, polished, and sculpted. This Summer 2024 fitness & fashion photoshoot was designed to document her journey to WBFF, build a high-impact model portfolio, and provide her with content for competition prep, social media, and brand partnerships across South Florida.

We shot in Miami, working with bright ocean light, palm-lined streets, and architectural backdrops that read both editorial and athletic. This was a fit-and-beautiful concept: athletic lines, couture touches, and punchy lighting that reads like magazine-grade fitness fashion.

Woman in a red swimsuit poses with arms raised. Background features modern buildings with blue accents. The mood is confident and dynamic.

Concept: Fit + Fashion for Pageant Performance

Alexandra wanted images that could live on a competition rack, an influencer feed, and a brand brief without missing a beat. The brief was simple: translate her fitness journey into high-fashion imagery that highlights muscle definition, posture, and presence. We mixed performance-driven poses with soft fashion movements, think power sprint, then Vogue turn.

Objectives:

- Build a model portfolio photoshoot tailored for WBFF.

- Deliver content for sponsors, Instagram reels, and press.

- Create editorial stills that read like commercial campaign work.

See more of our fashion photography at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/fashion

Location: Miami - Heat, Palm Trees, and Editorial Backdrops

Shooting in Miami means playing with elements: sun, wind, humidity, and skyline. We used a mix of Miami Beach salt air for outdoor swimwear-adjacent looks and downtown architectural lines for editorial portraits. The city offers vibrant color, dramatic sunsets, and reflective surfaces that enhance skin tones and add dimension.

Locations chosen:

- South Beach stretch for athletic swimwear and movement.

- Urban Miami blocks for high-fashion editorial portraits.

- A neutral studio corner for razor-sharp competition prep shots.

Explore our Miami swimwear shoots at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/swimwear

A woman poses confidently in a red swimsuit against a stark, angular light and shadow backdrop, creating a bold and dynamic composition.

Woman in a swimsuit posing confidently in black and white, strong shadows on a geometric backdrop. She displays a focused, elegant expression.

Lighting: Bold, Punchy, Editorial

Our lighting approach leaned into contrast to define muscle and contour facial features. We used the Sony A1 paired primarily with the 24-70mm and 70-200mm GM lenses to create both intimate portraits and compressed, cinematic frames.

Outdoor setups:

- Backlit golden-hour frames with a Profoto-style strobe fill to pop highlights and keep skin tones warm.

- Midday fixes using high-output strobes and clean flags to shape shadow on abs and quads.

Studio setups:

- Hard-edged rim light for separation and a soft key to maintain skin texture.

- Short lighting to model facial planes and emphasize cheek structure, critical for pageant-ready images.

View more of our commercial work at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/commercial

Woman in a pink bodysuit and patterned jacket strikes a pose against a white wall. Light casts dramatic shadows, highlighting her focused expression.

A dancer in a beige outfit poses dramatically against a black and white geometric backdrop, casting shadows. The setting is artistic and intense.

Posing & Direction: Coaching That Reads Natural

Alexandra’s training made direction fun. We worked through a warm-up sequence that doubled as posing practice: dynamic lunges into holds, torso rotations, and intentional posture resets.

On-set coaching highlights:

- We cued micro-adjustments, tilting the chin, elongating the neck, softening hands, so her movement stayed effortless on camera.

- Kinetic transitions: instructing her to “finish the sprint” or “hold the breath” to accent muscle tension for stills.

- Wardrobe-driven posing: fashion pieces demanded slower, elongated lines; athletic sets needed engaged core and immediate power.

See how our portrait work frames personality at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/portrait

Woman in a green dress poses dramatically on a chair under spotlight in a dark room. Her hair cascades, highlighting graceful movement.

Woman in a dark dress reclines dramatically on a chair, spotlighted against a circular backdrop in a black-and-white setting.

Gear: Precision Tools for High-End Results

We relied on the Sony A1 for its resolution and autofocus precision. The 24-70mm GM handled lifestyle and editorial frames; the 70-200mm GM delivered tight portraits with creamy compression ideal for muscle definition. Lighting was balanced with high-output strobes and modifiers to get bold, punchy editorial contrast without losing skin detail.

Camera: Sony A1
Lenses: 24-70mm GM, 70-200mm GM
Lighting: High-output strobes and directional modifiers for editorial punch

Check our lifestyle & fitness gallery at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/lifestyle-fitness

Key Moments: Italian Flair, Athletic Form, and Editorial Presence

A few frames stood out on the day: a backlit sprint silhouette on the Miami shoreline that reads like a campaign hero; a studio headshot with razor-sharp eyes and pushed-back hair that could run on a sponsor page; and a slow-motion sequence we pulled stills from, Alexandra’s torso twist, sun glinting off muscle, cinematic and precise.

Highlights:

Her heritage gave her a European model posture that’s rare in fitness shoots, poised but powerful.
Movement-to-still transitions produced the kind of editorial separation brands pay for.
The combination of fashion styling and fitness posing created versatile assets for both competition and commerce.

How This Content Helps Alexandra Win (and Book Work)

For a WBFF competitor and model, imagery must do more than look good; images must sell presence, confidence, and marketability. These assets will be used for:

Competition portfolios and promotional postcards.
Sponsor decks and social content for brand deals.
High-impact feed and reel hooks for audience growth.

If you’re a model, athlete, or coach in South Florida, this is the kind of content that stops scrolls and convinces judges and partners to take notice.

Behind the Scenes: The DSTNCT Approach

We run shoots like productions: moodboards, tempo cues, and a clear content list so every minute on set converts into deliverables. For Alexandra, we scheduled power sets first (when energy is highest), then moved into stylized editorial, finishing with high-gloss headshots. Lighting setups were prepped between sets to keep shooting momentum.

Need commercial-level direction for a single or multi-location shoot? We’ve got the crew and the drive.

Book your South Florida photoshoot at https://www.dstnctartmedia.com/contact

Dancer in a beige leotard striking a dramatic pose with head tilted back, in front of a wall with sharp, contrasting shadows.

Ready to get editorial-grade fitness and fashion content?

If you’re a model, pageant competitor, fitness coach, influencer, or brand in Miami, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm Beach looking for a Miami fashion photographer who delivers high-end editorial, let’s make work that wins. From portfolio shoots to brand campaigns, we design sessions that read strong on stage, on feed, and on billboards.

View more of our swimwear and fashion work, then let’s book your session.