a little skate from 2006 lg world championship

this was my first time to see pro skaters, and it was magical! it was also my first time shooting with a flash. i literally got home, opened the box, and drove to the arena, so i feel good to have gotten anything at all. i also shot some without a flash, and those came out surprisingly well, but i give all the credit to my sigma 70-200 f2.8. great lens!

andy mcdonald, going all intense and stuff....

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Crops are too tight...but the Tony H shot is great for a close up. Its either u keep tight to get close ups of faces and such...or you crop lose to get the whole dynamics of the action. I dont think there is an inbetween (if you focus on the action/trick, the crop needs to be lose so as to give a sense of dynamics and terrain reference; if you focus on the skater/rider, the crop should be very tight to show detail). Both BMX and skate sports are not ment for portrait style shots (ie the way you would shoot a family portrait - try to get the whole person and nothing but the person in the shot).
Thats my 2 cents anyway...