Skateboarding On The Roof | I Hate Orange Safety Nets!!!

[runnah]

No, the person is the primary subject. Obviously it's important to show what trick they are doing, but it's also important to show the whole scene to give a frame of reference as to what's going on. Like I said, look through some professional skate photographers work on google

I disagree. Often faces are obscured and not clear. The trick and the setting is primary while the person is secondary.

 

[MichaelHenson]

So something like this is better? Sorry for any quality degradation... Screenshot from my phones Flickr app.

 

[runnah]

So something like this is better? Sorry for any quality degradation... Screenshot from my phones Flickr app.

yes better. Give a sense of scale and difficulty for the trick.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Cool. I'll rework some of those I posted earlier when I get home this evening and see if I can include more. On most of them, all that is there to add is more of the mini ramp they were on...not a whole lot of jumps going on really. Mainly just the occasional kickflip off the lip of the ramp.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Quick bump for the afternoon gang!

 

[imagemaker46]

I understand the concept of tying the skater in with the surroundings, but having an image where there is absolutely no subject/background separation just turns the whole image flat. It is obvious that there were tight restrictions as far having the safety fences in place, could it have been shot with a longer lens from further back that would have allowed for a cleaner background, or separation? Pretty much every skater shot is done with a wide angle and shot at what looks like f11, I realize that it's easier shooting wide, less chance of not ending up with an image.

 

[MichaelHenson]

I understand the concept of tying the skater in with the surroundings, but having an image where there is absolutely no subject/background separation just turns the whole image flat.

I completely agree. This is something that I definitely need/want to work on. So many of the shots of skateboarders, etc. I see have a large depth of field. I want to be able to separate them from the background while still keeping a "tie-in" in the image.

It is obvious that there were tight restrictions as far having the safety fences in place, could it have been shot with a longer lens from further back that would have allowed for a cleaner background, or separation?

I probably could have tried it. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of space and if I would have gone with a zoom lens, I would have been too close when they were coming towards me...I think. I was trying to keep my gear minimal...Oh well.

Pretty much every skater shot is done with a wide angle and shot at what looks like f11, I realize that it's easier shooting wide, less chance of not ending up with an image.

I had my aperture wide (2.8) open pretty much the entire time...It's just that when the skaters were facing my direction they were 20-30 feet away or so...

 

[MichaelHenson]

Regarding background separation, shots like this make me wonder about the importance of it with this genre?

Atiba Jefferson

Personally, I'd prefer some separation to keep the focus on the skater and the trick...but this guy gets paid to do this and I don't and that's how he chose to do it?

 

[jsecordphoto]

That may be one of the cases in which Atiba is basically the master in his field, he's allowed to break some of the rules.

 

[imagemaker46]

I understand the concept of tying the skater in with the surroundings, but having an image where there is absolutely no subject/background separation just turns the whole image flat.

I completely agree. This is something that I definitely need/want to work on. So many of the shots of skateboarders, etc. I see have a large depth of field. I want to be able to separate them from the background while still keeping a "tie-in" in the image.

It is obvious that there were tight restrictions as far having the safety fences in place, could it have been shot with a longer lens from further back that would have allowed for a cleaner background, or separation?

I probably could have tried it. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of space and if I would have gone with a zoom lens, I would have been too close when they were coming towards me...I think. I was trying to keep my gear minimal...Oh well.

Pretty much every skater shot is done with a wide angle and shot at what looks like f11, I realize that it's easier shooting wide, less chance of not ending up with an image.

I had my aperture wide (2.8) open pretty much the entire time...It's just that when the skaters were facing my direction they were 20-30 feet away or so...

Really at 2.8? Everything in the entire frame is sharp, the disadvantage of shooting with a wide. There are lots of times when shooting wide and bringing in the whole crowd works well, although for me personally I'm not a fan of loose shooting.

 

[runnah]

Pretty much every skater shot is done with a wide angle and shot at what looks like f11, I realize that it's easier shooting wide, less chance of not ending up with an image.

This is done because more often than not a skater will either not get a lot of chances to try a trick before getting kicked out of a spot or they will only nail a trick once out of 30 tries. Therefore the photographer will try to eliminate any room for error.

Personally I hate the ultra wide angle shots of skaters.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Really at 2.8? Everything in the entire frame is sharp, the disadvantage of shooting with a wide. There are lots of times when shooting wide and bringing in the whole crowd works well, although for me personally I'm not a fan of loose shooting.

Yes, sir. Unless my lens is doing something funky and sending LIES to my camera? But I kind of doubt it because this shot was without me changing the aperture and turned out plenty blurred in the background.



I'm not a fan of loose shooting either and typically take things to the other extreme. I'm always being told to stop cropping too closely, etc.

Pretty much every skater shot is done with a wide angle and shot at what looks like f11, I realize that it's easier shooting wide, less chance of not ending up with an image.

This is done because more often than not a skater will either not get a lot of chances to try a trick before getting kicked out of a spot or they will only nail a trick once out of 30 tries. Therefore the photographer will try to eliminate any room for error.
Personally I hate the ultra wide angle shots of skaters.

Agreed. I'd love to be able to get some shots with a nicely separated background and focus on the skater/biker while still showing the trick. Gonna have to get plenty of practice in to be able to put that all together though.

 

[Overread]

I've found that event shooting like this is very tricky at times to get what you want and what you "know" will make a good shot. Sometimes, esp in live events not setup for photography, you can find that backgrounds are full of distracting elements - the angles are poor - the positions limited and your range of options curtailed.

Bigger professional events can be better, they can work a little within the though of good video/photography and provide some form of suitable access for the official workers on site at least. Smaller time or events just without a mind to the photographer can be very unforgiving.

Moving back and using more telephoto is an option; but only if you can. For something like this where there isn't a viewing platform and where you can't step back too far because spectators will end up standing in-front limits you.

Sometimes the problem is the venue just isn't any good - at which point you've got to adapt and change. You've got to go with flow and accept that there will be greater imperfections than you'd like; but work with them. Maximise what you can get and when you come to review you'll feel better because yes the shot might not be the shot you "want" to take in an ideal world; but you'll be able to say to yourself "This shot DID work under the constraints I was experiencing at the time".

You'd be surprised, but many shots of sports are oft taken during practice or special setups when the shots are taken away from documentation of a game/event. Sometimes a photographer works very close with the subject to get the shot - its not a lie its just ensuring that the event unfolds in a way and means that allows for a greater maximum potential for the shot the photographer "wants"


Ps I think the whole wide angle small aperture is minimising error chances and maximising getting the event - esp if they can't move back to use a telephoto to follow the action. Because hten you're ensuring that your subject is going to be in the frame - and will be in focus and will be sharp.

 

[KmH]

Regarding background separation, shots like this make me wonder about the importance of it with this genre?

Atiba Jefferson

Personally, I'd prefer some separation to keep the focus on the skater and the trick...but this guy gets paid to do this and I don't and that's how he chose to do it?

Look at the side-by-side skate shots. The skate action shot has deep DoF. The accompanying portrait, non-action shot has much more shallow DoF.
The deep DoF action shots provide an 'environment' function that puts the skater at a location. Skating to a large degree is about skating in locations that are kind of ad hoc.