C&C Skateboarding

[MitchStrp]

... Im just such an anti photoshop nut!!

I have a version of lightroom. . .I still don't quite get all of it. I came from film, and still try to get things right on the camera. I hate to rely on post processing to get "the shot", honestly, then it's not photography to me, but digital art. Nice to see someone else who isn't into the whole photoshop thing.

Amen brother! The only thing I ever seem to do in photoshop is adjust exposure and thats very rarely. Plus I get so excited when I capture a great image I just want to post it EVERYWHERE haha, Im like a little kid when it comes to this stuff.!

 

[MitchStrp]

I dont really care for this one.. just because the bottom left portion of the frame is disturbed by the coping and his right hand looks a little over exposed but it was one of my first trys with skateboarding and off camera lighting.

 

[Ratboy]

Quote from Grant Brittain - " If you dont wear a board in the head , your not close enough " , get in close with a fish eye , i'm not a expert in skate photograpy , just a skater for the past 25 years that's been looking at the stuff for that long ....personally i like the dead space , if you darken the dead space in lightroom and lighten up the skater , it will look cool ....my thoughts

 

[MitchStrp]

Quote from Grant Brittain - " If you dont wear a board in the head , your not close enough " , get in close with a fish eye , i'm not a expert in skate photograpy , just a skater for the past 25 years that's been looking at the stuff for that long ....personally i like the dead space , if you darken the dead space in lightroom and lighten up the skater , it will look cool ....my thoughts

I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY! Thank you so much! I feel like we are on the same level haha and yeah the only problem with the board to the head is I have a broken ankle and on crutches so its damn near impossible to try and avoid being hit when close.]

 

[gsgary]

Try upping your iso to let a bit more ambient light in, also try putting your flash on camera and using second curtain sinc at about 1/30 for a nice blur effect

 

[MitchStrp]

If i put my flash on my camera the lighting will be to raw/harsh and cast a nasty shadow and I dont want the blur effect and when I do I sync it to about 1/60th but thank you! But i will try upping the ISO to let more ambient light in, never even considered it!

 

[Brycycle53]

I didnt read all the comments really but generally speaking ober all of these.
get in closer with the fisheye, I use the same one, and alot of the time I take the photo, then get the **** out of the way before they land. Im always prepared to eject if need be.

If the subject is moving across your frame then you'll have a harder time freezing the action ive noticed at the lower shutter speeds. rather than if the are coming to you or away from you.
Dont crop fisheye photos, it never looks right when its done, and i am also guilty of this.

the first photo you posted as is. I like the crop alright, but there is to much light on the ledge, and not enough on the skater himself. look at his face and arms it looks as though you had the flash pointing down to much. The upper left corner close to blown out and overall distracts from the subject.

Ive done this for a few photos, but sometime i use my flash and shoot at 1/320 if you place your subject in the upper portion of the frame then he will be exposed by the flash at the fast shutter speed but the lower portion will not be. Play with that idea in you room to see whats the fastest shutter you can use and still get a usuable portion of the frame.

 

[CouncilmanDoug]

don't forget that there is other lenses besides fisheyes for skateboarding, I swap between a 35mm and a 135mm ususally. In my opinion fisheye gets kind of old pretty fast. with that said, to get rid of motion blur in your photo's up the flash power, or use multiple flashes.

and just to show you the different, not ridiculously distorted shots that are possible in skateboarding haha
35 - DSC_0105 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

135 - DSC_0013 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[runnah]

I've seen the "crop the photo" comment a lot on here in reference to action sports and I have to say when it comes to sports like skating or bikes often wider is better. When shooting these type is athletes you have to remember that the trick is only half of the equation. I can hop on my bike and grind a ledge, boring if it is a 2ft ledge, exciting if it is 4ft and has a 20ft drop on the side.

Just food for thought.

 

[Ballistics]

I've seen the "crop the photo" comment a lot on here in reference to action sports and I have to say when it comes to sports like skating or bikes often wider is better. When shooting these type is athletes you have to remember that the trick is only half of the equation. I can hop on my bike and grind a ledge, boring if it is a 2ft ledge, exciting if it is 4ft and has a 20ft drop on the side.

Just food for thought.

Which isn't the case here.

 

[MitchStrp]

Thanks guys! Thanks Bryce. Typically on a shot like this if you had two flashes... where would you put them and why? suggesting you had light stands if need be.