Comments on: 8 Tips for SkateBoard Shooting

By: JayBird

JayBird — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:11:20 +0000

you gotta skate if your going to take good skateboarding pics so you know whats up and whats going down!

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:34:15 +0000

Awsome article.

I’m very new to action photography and my biggest issue is getting the focus correctly. I allways end up with some kind of blur or out of focus that ruins the picture. How do you guys handle the focusing?

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:11:55 +0000

One thing that I have always noticed that makes a great still of a skateboarder is to compose your photo based around the object that the skater is doing the trick on (the curb, rail, ramp, stairs, gap, ect ect…) and NOT the skater. In fact, you rarely see a photo in a skateboard magazine that makes the skateboarder the focal point of the photograph (unless it is an interview or something like that, in which there is a portrait-type picture most of the time).

Try setting your shot up to focus on what the skater is attempting their trick on, see what happens.

By: dvd

dvd — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:31:08 +0000

Great shot,
I like to shot macro details of skaters, not much fan of jumping photos and all

By: dvd

dvd — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:27:08 +0000

Hi all... what about mines? [eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvdfranco/3979918481/' title='Girls on Wheels - SOS da Vida 2009 - 13' url='http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2540/3979918481_cba22c0b1a.jpg'] [eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvdfranco/3979870509/' title='Girls on Wheels - SOS da Vida 2009 - 4' url='http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3979870509_aec1a2db5e.jpg'] http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvdfranco

By: Bob Russo

Bob Russo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:04:49 +0000

I owned and operated a skate park for 7 years, and I can tell you the skaters LOVE to have their pictures taken. They are a subculture with big egos, believing, as most young teenagers do, that they will live forever and never get injured. I took some really interesting pictures during the time. The absolute best were candid when the kids did not know they were being photographed. Talk to them. They are great kids. Offer them some prints and you will see the world of skateboarding open up to you.

By: Oringwall

Oringwall — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:23:03 +0000

As a skateboarder/snowboarder first and a photographer secondly it is clear the people who commented on this post no more about skateboard photography then the poster herself. The most important tip that has been left out so far is about going to the park in the first place. Go with someone you know, or go and develop a relationship and come back another time. Get to know the people you are working with before you even turn your camera on. You don’t want to be that guy lurking in the corner taking photos that no one knows. Also maybe even more importantly is observe the skatepark AND DONT GET IN THE WAY. A good skatepark has flow, kids will skate fast and continuously from one element to another, often trying new ways to gap and get from one bank to the next. I can not count the number of times I have either been at a skatepark shooting, or skating and seen clueless people get in the way of a skater. Not only is it extremely dangerous, but you will most definitely extend your welcome for taking pictures.

Also on a more technical aspect, Bring a strobe with you at all times (even in the middle of the day!)! Switch your camera onto manual, and speed up your shutter and meter yourself down one or two stops, then use your exposure compensation on the strobe and shoot away. Your under exposed background mixed with the correctly exposed foreground will add a lot of character to your shot while at the same time increase your saturation and reduce the need for any post production. Goodluck!

By: D. Mac

D. Mac — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:36:03 +0000

Snapped this one on a walkabout of Sydney. I’m pretty sure a comp had finished somewhere in the CBD and these guys had come spilling out completely psyched and dying to attempt tricks of their own.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dafuriousd/3469139241/

By: T Schulz

T Schulz — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:20:24 +0000

I just recently entered my first photography contest. It happened to be open to residents city-wide so there were a lot of entries. Each person could submit two photos. I took 3rd place in the general photography category but I took 1st place in Sports with a picture I took of a kid “riding the pipe” at a local skating park.

It’s the last picture in the second row.
http://www.ci.neenah.wi.us/departments/parks-and-recreation/special-events/2009-summer-photo-contest.html

While hanging out at the park taking pictures a few skater dudes came up and asked what I was doing. I told them i was just trying to build a portfolio. I asked them if they could do some really wild stuff. So they went to town flipping up and over off the ramps with their skateboards and their bikes. They were all really nice and very accomodating.

This was a whole lot of fun and I learned a lot in the process.

By: Michael Brown

Michael Brown — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:05:25 +0000

Well, I beg to differ emphatically on one of your points.

Regarding the tip “Set for Multiple Shots’ – your tip is 100% innacurate! I was a motorsports photojournalist for 8 years, and I only used a motor drive to steady the camera, and shot only single frame.

When you are shooting action, at any particular spot there is only one moment that is peak action. When you try to shoot with a burst, the odds are very high that you will just miss that perfect moment, either just before or after a frame. You must watch carefully to see when and where the perfect moment of action occurs, and then practice panning to catch that moment with a single planned shot

I have had many, many people say the same thing, but you really need to know your subject, watch for the right spot and perfect moment for the peak action, anticipate when the subject will hit that point, and then get it with one shot.