Skateboarding Photography/Videography?

Patm1313 · Sep 21, 2008

I live in suburbia, and there's not a lot to take pictures of around here. So I contacted some friends who skateboard, and I would like to do some photography and/or videography for them

Some questions I have:

1. What's that lens they use to create the bowl type effect on pictures and videos? It's that one where the subject seems to get closer towards you as it moves by you.

2. As far as pictures go, what's the best way to get continuous photos within half-seconds of each other? I'm using a Nikon D40 by the way.

I might have some other questions, so I'll post them on this thread. Thanks to any who can help me out.

jcolman · Sep 21, 2008

An ultra wide angle lens (often called a "fisheye lens") will give you the "bowl" effect. To get continuous pictures you need to shoot with a camera that has a continuous shooting mode of xx frames per second. The fastest cameras on the market today can shoot around 9-10 frames per second.

chrisburke · Sep 21, 2008

the nikon d40 is NOT good for sequence shots, as it only does 3 FPS.. the lens is a fisheye, as jcol said, but they arent cheap, at all...

Patm1313 · Sep 21, 2008

chrisburke said:
the nikon d40 is NOT good for sequence shots, as it only does 3 FPS.. the lens is a fisheye, as jcol said, but they arent cheap, at all...

It's all I have, so I'll have to make do. Got any tips on how I can keep my FPS up with the D40? Also, does it have a specific mode for sequence shots or do I have to keep hitting the shutter?

chrisburke · Sep 21, 2008

you put it on sequence mode.. (under menu theres "shooting mode" and you want the one that looks like a bunch of pictures... ) and then you just hold it down.. it works best on manual focus in manual mode.. (so the motor doesnt need to take time to focus) as someone who takes pics of skateboarding, I strongly urge you (if using th d40) to not focus on getting sequence shots, but rather "the pefect shot" i.e coming down a rail, the perfect shot is right in the middle, or in a pop shove tail grab, the perfect shot is the grab.. if you spend time trying to get the sequence, you will (guarenteed) miss the opportunity for the "perfect shot".. thats just advice from someone who has a d40 (as a back up)

Kegger · Sep 21, 2008

Actually in my experience with skate photography, 3 FPS is perfect. It allows you to catch the trick but doesn't give you too many frames to have to pick through.

Patm1313 · Sep 21, 2008

chrisburke said:
you put it on sequence mode.. (under menu theres "shooting mode" and you want the one that looks like a bunch of pictures... ) and then you just hold it down.. it works best on manual focus in manual mode.. (so the motor doesnt need to take time to focus) as someone who takes pics of skateboarding, I strongly urge you (if using th d40) to not focus on getting sequence shots, but rather "the pefect shot" i.e coming down a rail, the perfect shot is right in the middle, or in a pop shove tail grab, the perfect shot is the grab.. if you spend time trying to get the sequence, you will (guarenteed) miss the opportunity for the "perfect shot".. thats just advice from someone who has a d40 (as a back up)

This is what I knew I was going to have to embrace when using the D40. I knew it didn't have a fast enough rate to get great sequence shots. So I guess I'll try to work more on single shots.