First Attempt @ Sports Photography (Skaters)

[STICKMAN]

My First attempt at getting some shots of the local skaters. Think I did ok for my first attempt.... I dont do much sports photography but would like to learn to.
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http://www.pbase.com/kennyvp/image/101571110

http://www.pbase.com/kennyvp/image/101571105

http://www.pbase.com/kennyvp/image/101571109

http://www.pbase.com/kennyvp/image/101571104

http://www.pbase.com/kennyvp/image/101571106

 

[SandShots]

good stuff. practice makes better.

knowing the sport youre shooting is a deffinate plus.

in this case skating, if you know when a skater is doing a trick or what trick hes doing you know what to expect. if you see a skater hitting a ramp you know how high he's going and how close to zoom in. at the skatepark position yourself on section where you'll get alot of action. i havent shot skating but if i did. i would either stand back witha telephoto and zoom in on the the skater with a tight crop, or use a wide angle lens to stay low and close to the subject.

your first two picture are pics of a skater but since youre shooting wide youre also shooting trees fences etc.. pic 3-4 are a little better.

 

[rubbertree]

the last one is the best. Try to get closer to get rid of all the distracting background and take pictures of them facing you, not their backs.

 

[STICKMAN]

All good ideas, kinda was a caught alittle off guard, as this is a larger park and people zipping around all off the place...

I shot the kid with the hat on (last pic) the most prob 40 shots I agree knowing what there doign is a big help. This person was trying over and over to perfect a move and was quite welcoming of me being there. I sat at the top of the ramp with a wide lens for such. I found it hard to shoot them with my 55-200 but I am sure with practice it can be done. I kept losing limbs with such.


Please keep the thoughts coming I plan on returning there some more this week...

Thanks Again.......

 

[SandShots]

play around with the 55-200 i think you can capture some good ones.
to help avoid loosing limbs, look at the type of trick theyre trying to achieve, once you learn that youll know wich way the hands are going. factor that into your zooming and when you snap your shot it'll all work out.
i use to have the same problem shooting my daughters softball.

 

[NikonNyc]

good stuff man...

 

[JIP]

All but the last one have backgrounds that are waaay too distracting. You should try and get at an angle wht you can get the people outof the picture. on a couple you can't even tell where the main subject begins and the person in the background ends. If you are not able to get a better angle try and use a little more selective focus and larger apertures to isolate the subject.

 

[table1349]

I would have to concur with what JIP stated. Often the difference between a nice sports photo and an outstanding sports photo is the bokeh. All my sports glass is f2.8 or faster. A large aperture like that makes it much easier to make the subject pop. Even if there are people in the background, (hard not to have at a basket ball game for example) they are just a nice blur.

The last one would be my favorite. I am not a skate board shooter, but I would think that front side action would usually produce the more pleasing shot. Good stuff for the first try.

 

[chrisburke]

i havent read other peoples comments to you, so I appoligize if any of this has been said. I do a LOT of skateboard photography... we have one of the nicest small town skateparks in canada (its been in magazines) so I have an awesome opportunity!!

1. Get closer to your subject.. if you want to do skateboard photography, you NEED a fisheye... these arent cheap... around 500-700 bucks for a decent one... HOWEVER there is a cheap alternative which can be found on ebay something like this is great to start out http://cgi.ebay.ca/Fisheye-Lens-Mac...oryZ3323QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

2.Angles... straight on shots of skateboarding really arent that interesting... try low angles and high angles.. things like just holding your camera at the bottom and to the right of a rail for example makes shots really interesting.

3. lighting... this will make or break your skate shots...