Friend Skateboarding

[Evolutiondemon]

Had one of my friends dust off his skateboard so I could shoot him. This is my first time shooting something like this. C&C welcome

1.
http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/photos/177718027-O.jpg

2.
http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/photos/177718043-O.jpg

3.
http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/photos/177718191-O.jpg

4.
http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/photos/177718133-O.jpg

5.
http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/photos/177718210-O.jpg

The rest can be found here:

http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/gallery/3219377#177718210 (http://evolutiondemon.smugmug.com/gallery/3219377#177718210)

[leitch]

really like number 3! the skater looks a bit dark (could be my laptop i guess), but i like it a lot

[Evolutiondemon]

really like number 3! the skater looks a bit dark (could be my laptop i guess), but i like it a lot

It was kinda hard finding the right angle cause the sun was backlighting everything.

for #3 I used an off camera 430ex and a 580ex II on camera. thanks for the comment. I'm still new at shooting this kinda thing so any comment I get really helps out a lot

[Burton8787]

number three is the best i think...the blue background makes him pop!

[Suicidenote]

Amazing series. Great shots, love #3

[ironbelle]

I like #5.

[Mike Harrison]

pick up an issue of transworld skateboarding. study the pictures. get more creative with the comps. i cant even really critique these casue pretty much theyre all bad, last one kinda had potential without the sequence... keep trying.

[corterlifecrisis]

i like em, good start. i think with timing skateboarding you're supposed to snap when they're catching the board, so maybe shoot later in the trick? good pictures though, the last one is cool

[drewr]

Number 3 does it for me too. Great angle, highlighted the skater well, but not overly, great colours, and the board gives nice contrast. onya.

[justincase724]

I'll second what some others said - timing of the shot needs some work. Another thing to look at is distractions in the background. You can't always get away from it, but in shot #3 and #4 for example, you could probably get a lower perspective putting nothing but sky behind the skater. Stick your cheeck to the ground if you have to (I have many times) or prefocus and jut hold your camera to the ground.

[Evolutiondemon]

I'll second what some others said - timing of the shot needs some work. Another thing to look at is distractions in the background. You can't always get away from it, but in shot #3 and #4 for example, you could probably get a lower perspective putting nothing but sky behind the skater. Stick your cheeck to the ground if you have to (I have many times) or prefocus and jut hold your camera to the ground.

thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. as for the timing, as soon as I heard the tail hit the ground I hit the shutter about a half second after. My question is how can you tell the timing is off in these shots?

[justincase724]

thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. as for the timing, as soon as I heard the tail hit the ground I hit the shutter about a half second after. My question is how can you tell the timing is off in these shots?

By the position of the skater and the board. For example, in the first one, he's not even on the rail yet. Second one, timing is good (in the middle of the rail), but then you've got the sun issue. Third one, you can tell that he made it down the bank but not his skateboard just by the positioning of him over the board.

Now, were you actually looking through the viewfinder when you took these? Because for me, I found that it was a lot harder to get the timing right if I was shooting while looking through the viewfinder.

[jcw122]

About the timing, yeah I guess I can agree what others said. But for most of the lighting (especially #3), it looks great.

The "sun" shots could have been a ton better IMO if you would have just put the sun behind his back...so it would have silhouetted him, I think that would look sweet!

Overall, Nice job though.

I'll second what some others said - timing of the shot needs some work. Another thing to look at is distractions in the background. You can't always get away from it, but in shot #3 and #4 for example, you could probably get a lower perspective putting nothing but sky behind the skater. Stick your cheeck to the ground if you have to (I have many times) or prefocus and jut hold your camera to the ground.

If he wants his photos to look like many other skate photos...sure.

I really enjoy #3 because of the background and having the skater not centered, as well as seeing exactly what he's jumping and where he's going. The concrete park looks beautiful.

[CanonPhotographer]

#3 is sick, nice work!!

[CanonPhotographer]

i meant that #5 was sick, i put the wrong number in and i cant edit the post, sorry

[Big WIll]

another vote for number 3! like the effect on last one, although this could be a bit better imo!