Skateboarding Photos

Boxerman08

What's up everyone. I noticed that there wasn't a skateboarding thread, and that's what I'm mainly into and I felt like sharing a couple of them, mainly to get some feedback from people that know their stuff lol. I just started shooting photos approx. 2 weeks ago, ever since I bought the rebel t2i. I shot a couple of photos and put them up on my flickr, but I haven't received any feedback whatsoever.

Anyways, here are 3 shots that I personally like:







Feedback/constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm an amature, so I definitely have A LOT of room for improvement.

If anyone has taken skateboarding photos before, feel free to share them here as well! I'd love to see other people's stuff.

Paintguy

Can not see your pictures.

Boxerman08

oh damn! sorry about that... I'll try posting my pictures again.


9 by jboxerman, on Flickr


10 by jboxerman, on Flickr


13 by jboxerman, on Flickr

Hope this works this time... sorry about that!

Molotov Everything

I think for the grinds, it would be better to get lower and shooting at an upward angle, like get the camera level with the bench. The upwards perspective makes it more dramatic. Also, for those I would suggest holding the camera portrait orientation and zooming in a little more. In the third photo, you cut off part of his head but there's plenty of space on the left and right of the frame just filled with trees, if you flipped the camera you could get all of him in there and cut the trees out.

One of the nice things about skateboarding is the tricks are kind of 'planned out' so you can really pick your spot and set up a shot before the skater even does anything. I bring that up because the second shot is a f/s smith grind, which means he was heading away from the camera when you shot it. Would have been better with you on the other side of the ramp with him coming towards you. From that side, at first glance it actually looked more like a sloppy nose grind than a smith grind. I think just as a general guideline, it's better to have them coming towards you than moving away.

Boxerman08

Fair enough. I originally wanted to shoot lower for the grinds, but there's a gap that you have to grind over, that I wanted to get in the photo as well. If it was just a straight grind on a curb, I would've tried to shoot a little lower. Now that you point it out, I should have shot the the grinding pictures holding the camera in a portrait orientation, eliminating the background and getting the action shot better.

For the Fs Smith, I personally really like it, but then again, I can't really make the difference between a good photo and an excellent photo, yet. I guess I'll learn this through experience. I've been flipping through skateboarding magazines for the past 10+ years though, and I've seen a couple of shots where the skater is going away from the photographer.

I'll definitely take this as constructive criticism, as I'm just a beginner. One things I have to point out is that those 3 pictures were taken the same week I bought my camera, so I definitely have TONS of room for improvement. But thanks a lot for the feedback

Molotov Everything

Yea having them coming towards you isn't a set in stone commandment of photography, I think it's just a good guideline to follow. Especially since in this case with the smith grind, you can't see his face at all and facial expressions can be a huge factor in the difference between OK, Good and Excellent.

FlyNavy

Boxer, I would try to open up your lens to throw out some of the distracting background?

Paintguy

yes.. smallest f-stop you can get away with will keep the focus on the person. Looks like you are in an area with great weather and have some talent to shoot. Looks like fun.

Boxerman08

@ Molotov: I get what you mean. Facial expressions can definitely be a factor for making a photo better, especially in sports photography in general (imo).

@ Flynavy & Paintguy: Those pictures were the first time I've ever taken skateboarding pictures I for sure have to improve on so much stuff in terms of angle, composition, and so much more, and I don't know the technicalities of f-stop/aperture/ISO/etc, yet, as I am still learning all this stuff. I will definitely take it into consideration next time I shoot skateboarding though. Thanks a lot! And by the way, the weather is great most of the time during summer. Sometimes its bad, just like everywhere else, but that day was just perfect.