Shooting skateboarding again

After not doing so for a while, I've been banging out some cool stuff. Below is what I believe is my best to date, especially because it fits the "magazine mold," that is, its sharp, perfectly leveled (in print anyway not on your or mine or his screen exactly) and most importantly, clearly shows the person and the sponsors (red bull, zoo york, and dvs)

Word up to myself, now rip it apart folks!!

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I like this shot alot, great angle... only thing that would make it better IMO if it were shot during the golden hour...

I like, but could use a little saturation. IMHO

yeah, looks like it could use some external flashes, to give it more pop, also shooting in better conditions would have been good. the sky is a little blown out, and if you shot on a blue skied day, with a few external flashes, this would be sooo prime. Anyways, i'm just being picky, looks great nonetheless!

tennski19 wrote in post #5688912
yeah, looks like it could use some external flashes, to give it more pop, also shooting in better conditions would have been good. the sky is a little blown out, and if you shot on a blue skied day, with a few external flashes, this would be sooo prime. Anyways, i'm just being picky, looks great nonetheless!

Agreed, the cloudy sky takes away from this, would've been a lot better with 2 or 3 flashes used (one right, one left, one to rim light). good timing though, and that looks like a fun ass ramp to skate.

The time of day was uncontrollable, obviously. The flashes is my part, and I own one, and syncing at 1/250 sec wouldn't have cut it.

gregpphoto wrote in post #5689998
The time of day was uncontrollable, obviously. The flashes is my part, and I own one, and syncing at 1/250 sec wouldn't have cut it.

Buy more and become a flashaholic... like me...

hahaha. No way could I afford it, or even want to. Thats just too many variables for me at the moment.

clone out the lurker....

pretty good shot but chill a bit on the self accolades. it's a good shot for sure but I don't think you'll see it in the mags soon for the reasons already mentioned. you say you can't control the lighting??? actually it's really simple, shoot at a different time of day or underexpose the ambient and use flash. that's what the mags are going to want to see. don't take it too personally, I just don't think I'd be giving myself big ups unless the you had already gotten the cover shot with it.

gregpphoto wrote in post #5690347
hahaha. No way could I afford it, or even want to. Thats just too many variables for me at the moment.

theyre a necessity for skate photog

First, I'll preface my comments by saying this is nice. But, I do have two criticisms:
#1: As has been stated, I wish that this had been shot around the "golden hour", and that a flash or two (or three) had been used to give the shot a pop.
#2: Really nitpicky, but the man in the left background really shouldn't be there. Also there is something that seems to be a power line above the trees that could be cloned out.

A well timed capture ...

Dunno, I reckon leave him in. Is it a crop? If so, crop it again & leave all of his right leg in the picture. There'd be people watching him. You look at the image, are drawn to the skater then your eyes are allowed to wonder down to the lone spectator.

Makes sense but it obviously wasn't a "setup" shot. You took the opportunity when it presented itself.

For sure. You could even try "replacing the sky" in Photoshop!

and also, post the image a big larger next time. It's a bit small.

cheers,
J&D

@jaysee: No crop on this one. And yea, the demo happened to be taking place at this one time on one day, so the lighting was not in my hands. Unless you find skaters who will skate when you tell them to (or work for a mag), you gotta be willing to shoot when they want to skate. It's like I'm the publisher and they are the author: I can tell them to write all I want but only when they want to write will it be good.

@manuntd101: Yea he bothers me too but I left him in there, not sure why, probably cuz I figured hey, I didnt crop it, so dont clone it haha.

@all: Great feedback, I would love to be using more lighting and this photo showed me that. As great as I believe it is there is always something that could be improved. Thanks folks

Lurkers really dont bother me.... most "real" skate photos will have them... but it seems kids these days are into the whole "staging" there skate photos... its kinda like how they skate now... its all show,.. "look at me , look at me"... more about "stunts", they have no flow... I'll get flamed for saying all that... but if they think about it, they know its true.... all my skate shots are taken during "skate sessions".. on the fly, kinda like how this was shot during a demo... I do use 2 remote flashes but its a guessing game if there in the correct spots.... oh , and you damn kids better say off my lawn....lol

gregpphoto wrote in post #5693206
@jaysee: No crop on this one. And yea, the demo happened to be taking place at this one time on one day, so the lighting was not in my hands. Unless you find skaters who will skate when you tell them to (or work for a mag), you gotta be willing to shoot when they want to skate. It's like I'm the publisher and they are the author: I can tell them to write all I want but only when they want to write will it be good.

@manuntd101: Yea he bothers me too but I left him in there, not sure why, probably cuz I figured hey, I didnt crop it, so dont clone it haha.

@all: Great feedback, I would love to be using more lighting and this photo showed me that. As great as I believe it is there is always something that could be improved. Thanks folks

A lot of contest/demo photogs usually use one off-camera that's hand held, usually a 555 or a 544. You can still get some good lighting with it, I suggest you play around with that.