A Few friends failing at skateboarding

I just picked up a flash and is just learning how to use it, tonight came an occasion. my friends refused to face me because they are camera shy.

1

#1. boring
2. to static
3. ok
4. boring
5. no comment
6. what's the difference if he just put the board there and stood on it and you took the photo.
7. ok
8. no comment

Not the best place to shoot either. Also if you have control of the situation then i would say shoot them face on, not back side. But otherwise keep practicing. i would say outdoors. What you need to learn about your flash is how to use it off camera. OCF is harder with action too.

Canon4L wrote in post #7622606
#1. boring
2. to static
3. ok
4. boring
5. no comment
6. what's the difference if he just put the board there and stood on it and you took the photo.
7. ok
8. no comment

Not the best place to shoot either. Also if you have control of the situation then i would say shoot them face on, not back side. But otherwise keep practicing. i would say outdoors. What you need to learn about your flash is how to use it off camera. OCF is harder with action too.

it's been raining here for the past 3 days so nothing outside. but thanks for the tip

Yeah, off camera flash would be nice. If you don't have the equipment, I would say bounce it off the ceiling since it is so low.

Most of them are too boring IMO.Like everyone else said, off camera flash would be nice.

BrodyBeahan wrote in post #7625054
Most of them are too boring IMO.Like everyone else said, off camera flash would be nice.

soon as i pay off this L and the 430

its also very boring because they blow at skating.

Tip:
Don't waste time shooting flatground skateboarding in a parking garage with on camera flash.

Well, he shot with what he had at the time: on-camera flash, a parking garage, and unwilling subjects. Kinda hard to make that work.

Anyway, try some different angles. Lay down on the ground and shoot up, etc. Also, if you can, try slightly slower shutter speeds to add a tiny bit of motion blur. A few suggestions to maybe spice up a tough situation?

don't shoot people backs unless absolutely necessary, your timing is really off on mostly all of them, and you really need to work on composition

jbergdoll wrote in post #7642657
Tip:
Don't waste time shooting flatground skateboarding in a parking garage with on camera flash.

That's not critical advise just destructive. Practicing anything will help you get better.

Use what you got:
Bounce that flash off the ceiling. Bouncing eliminates crappy shadows.
Direct on Cam flash is nasty, If you cannot bounce then only blast direct light for documenting something important if ambient will not suffice.

Sometimes you gotta make do with what you got in terms of gear and people I would also change up your angles (looks like you might be shooting off your kness?) That's good since it's getting in low to the action but depending on what they're doing lying down or even finding something to stand on so you're higher might produce something cool. (or completely awful but it'll give you an idea on whether it'll work in the future) Also watch your surroundings looks like the garage has some nice white walls to bounce off of. Try and coax those guys closer to one next time. (also keep your eyes open for white panel/work trucks sometimes those are gold) Since they're trying to make it difficult by not facing you and such I would hold back showing them your work until you get a stellar shot of one of them. Nothing makes your friends more co-operative then getting a shot they love and knowing that if you do get a goofy pic of them it doesn't leave your comp at least for now muhahahaha! What was your f-stop at drop it down to 4 and see if you can start throwing out the background more.

You did a great job not getting Red Eye