Skateboarding photo

FilmaTroy · Sep 2, 2011

Just got some new wireless flash transmitters so i went and tested them out the other night. I really hate that flash at the top of the stair. how did i do other than that crappy placement?

carolina john bs feeble Columbia sc by filmatroymedia, on Flickr

dxqcanada · Sep 2, 2011

You need to diffuse the light ... too harsh ... or use the harsh shadow and project it higher in the scene, like on the ceiling more above the skater.

FilmaTroy · Sep 5, 2011

Just got these flashes in the other day and havent been able to scoop up some diffusers yet! thanks for the input!

newb · Sep 5, 2011

Actually, this seems to be right on par with what Ive been seein in skate and bmx magazines. I like it.

imagemaker46 · Sep 5, 2011

Maybe it's just me but the majority of skateboard photos posted on this forum all look the same. Busy backgrounds and shot way too loose, either too light or too dark. I don't shoot this stuff so maybe it's the way it's done, but from a pure photo standpoint they don't work for me at all.

newb · Sep 5, 2011

This is true. By most standards, they dont work. But, magazines and readers who participate in these sports like em. When the veiwers like the photos, thats what matters.

PatrickJamesYu · Sep 6, 2011

Most of these subjects like skateboarding, cars, and bands really really love the overly artificial lighting look.
Hardly defused, and they like very dramatic lighting, light placement, and angles.
I think this shot fits very well.

It shows how many stairs, it shows the rail, and it shows what he is wearing (big in skateboard features)
It also clearly shows what trick he is doing

I think if you were angled a bit more 'from the base of the stairs' rather than the side, I'd like it a bit more
But I wasn't there so I'm not sure.

Goodjob.

imagemaker46 · Sep 6, 2011

newb said:
This is true. By most standards, they dont work. But, magazines and readers who participate in these sports like em. When the veiwers like the photos, thats what matters.

So then by photographic standards the magazines aren't concerned about the quality of the photographs. Which is pretty much the way photography has devolved into. I suppose if it sells the magazines it doesn't really matter what the photos look like.

FilmaTroy · Sep 8, 2011

thanks for all te compliments guys

@Imagemaker46: skateboarding photography and any other action sports photography as you can tell is really different from landscape or portrait photography. most fisheye lens shots are simlar to this on, but long lens shots are shot just like any other photographer would shoot them which is journalistic. Skateboarding photography looks best when using multiple flashes as shown to be able to freeze the subject without motion blur. Im sure if you went out and tried to shoot skateboarding you would find out it is a lot harder than it seems.

imagemaker46 · Sep 8, 2011

I don't think I'f have too much trouble shooting skateboarding, I know how difficult it is shooting sports. I've been shooting sports worldwide for over 35 years. I was just saying that the quality of the skateboarding images I have seen, and not talking specifically about this forum, but in any magazines I've looked though are too loose for my liking. I understand now that showing the rails, steps and more background is the acceptable norm for this sport. I just think you can still shoot this sport with a cleaner background and tighter without losing the quality of the image. Just because it is the accepted method of shooting a sport, does it always make it the visually best way of shooting. If everyone shoots it the same way, they all look the same. Variety in shooting any sport is what separates the great photos from the average. On the other side, if it is what people want to see and accept it, then why shoot it any different.