Skateboarding - DPChallenge Forums

08/21/2006 11:44:38 PM · #1

Well, I quite enjoy shooting skaters, and they usually soak it up. I have uploaded a few. Please, tell me what you think. Critiques are encouraged! (All shots were taken using my friend's D100 with his 18-70.)

Skateboarding Gallery

Is there anyone else on this site shoot skateboarders on a REGULAR BASIS? If so I would love to talk.

Message edited by author 2006-08-21 23:45:27.

robshookphoto

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM

08/22/2006 12:07:34 AM · #2

yeah, i used to skate and now take lots of photos of friends of mine. My best friend is an avid skater.

this is the only skate image that i have uploaded to my portfolio.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

08/22/2006 12:19:11 AM · #3

Originally posted by Mo:

yeah, i used to skate and now take lots of photos of friends of mine. My best friend is an avid skater. this is the only skate image that i have uploaded to my portfolio.

Very nice. That must have taken forever to piece together. I'm tryin to save up for a D200, the 5 fps will be excellent for skateboarding.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

08/22/2006 12:23:33 AM · #4

I had a couple dozen on-site, but made room for ~~better~~ newer junk.
Only one I still have in my portfolio:

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

08/22/2006 12:27:22 AM · #5

The problems I find most with shooting skaters is lighting. I can never seem to get their faces illuminated. I have no access to a flash powerful enough to fill in the middle of the day. Any answers?

robshookphoto

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM

08/22/2006 12:30:38 AM · #6

my sigma 500 is very powerful, but i set it at about 1/10 power and strobe it along with my 5fps for fill.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

08/22/2006 12:31:50 AM · #7

Only way I have found that works without a flash, is to manually meter through a series of test shots, or meter the concrete (close to grey card btw) and set the camera in manual exposure. Fill flash can be added, and in daylight, will generally have more effect if the ISO is bumped up as well and/or flash exposure bumped an EV notch or two positive.

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

08/22/2006 12:46:46 AM · #8

I don't usually have a problem metering, but trying to expose the person as well as the sky I find is hard. Maybe it's just the layout of the park I go to.

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

08/22/2006 02:07:25 AM · #9

I've shot some skaters at the park a few times, but I ride BMX and I bring my bike instead of my camera most of the time. I just don't know any other riders who can do anything worth taking pictures of, so I don't bother even though I do have an external flash I can use.

A couple of mine:

Curious

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

08/22/2006 03:09:48 AM · #10

Hey there's some real nice work in your folio there. Good solid action shots that are well composed. I started shooting at the local skate park and ended up with so many kids on the doorstep wanting to see the photos that I decided to make a website (I make them for a living) so I could upload the images and they could view them from home.

Now I get asked to shoot the local comps etc. Here's a link to my site. Alot of the local kids use it now to see each others photos.
Skate & BMX Photos
The best stuff is in the non-competition galleries. When shooting comps I've got to get what I can from where I can but when its just casual I can get better angles.

As for fill flash I find the metering on the Canon speedlite is great but also the shadow/highlight filter in PS can bring things back to life quite well sometimes. If you don't have TTL metering on the flash perhaps an 80/20 bouncer from omnibounce would cut out some of the light from the flash. To get the sky exposed well I sometimes shoot round dusk with fill flash, that makes for some nice dramatic skys.

Originally posted by AlphaTrooper: