Flash Photography : As it relates to skateboarding
Photography from my own experience
To introduce myself, My name is Max Williams. I am a Chicagoland Videographer / Photographer who has been pointing a camera for roughly 12 years now, and have learned a lot since through school and friends.
I began taking skateboarding photos out of pure interest in skateboarding and being inspired by my friends who took some very professional photos of us skating at my local park. I felt the mentality of "if they can do it, I can do it". By that I mean you can do it too, and hopefully what I am about to say helps you out as well. I am going to talk specifically about flash photography to create those skate photos that pop. It takes proper lighting, the right angle, and timing.
As far as lighting goes, I personally own three Bower TT560 flashes, with three CowboyStudio NPT-04 4 Channel Wireless Triggers. This is nothing crazy, it's a very beginner level flash setup that you can find at a very affordable price on Amazon. It does the job, if you set them up right. In the photo above, I used two of these flashes on stands. You want to make sure that you are pointing these flashes at each other. What I mean by that is this; You need to pick two spots directly across from each other, but on an angle from your subject in order for the light to balance properly. In a perfect world, the flashes are pointing directly at each other, and both perfectly at the subject. Depending on your setup, most flashes will have a power setting that you can pick according to your lighting situation. As I shot the photo above at night, I had my flashes on full power since it was night time. That allowed me to have more control over the distance of the flashes since no other lighting was available.
To talk a little bit about the "right angle" I have some points that I think I can offer here to help you out. My first point on choosing the right angle, is about knowing where your flashes are in relevance to your camera. This might sound really obvious. Often times you might find that angle you "like" but your flash is in the shot. Some might say you can "photoshop" the flash out, which you can. However I do not suggest that route, as I believe the natural photo will give you the best results. You want to pick an angle that you can shoot, and not see your flash but still getting the "good" side of your subject. The flashes often times provide dimension to the photo itself. You may find yourself shooting from an angle that you dont like, but that is totally okay. Your best work might come out that way and you could be pleasantly surprised. What you want to avoid is being in the shot as far as the angle you pick. You might think "How could I be in the shot if I am the one taking the photo?" Well, your shadow could be casted in the shot if you are standing in the striking zone of your flash. Trust me, this has happened to me several times, it still does. It's a simple mistake that can be fixed easily just by switching to the opposite side, or shooting at an angle between the striking zone of both flashes. You can adjust too, by moving forward or backward and that would take you out of the shot.
Timing is another extremely important factor here when shooting skateboarding with flashes. Depending on your setup, you either have one or a couple opportunities to capture this moment. It's skateboarding, the trick cannot be done that many times until you capture the "right" one. You want to make sure you grab the right one as soon as possible. What helps me most, is being familiarized with the skater who I am shooting. If you know their style, you can have a rough assumption of how they will skate and get a feel of whats a comfortable spot for you to shoot from. You want to be as comfortable as possible, and be able to capture the peak of the trick so that the energy is captured in that one moment. Your flashes will only strike once, if you have a setup like mine, before they'll have to do the trick again. Often times, you'll be taking a skate photo of a pretty difficult trick, so you wouldn't want them to do it again so they don't get hurt over your lack of timing. You really want to know what trick it is, and maybe even ask them what the moment is, if you are unsure. This photo above was a tough one for me as I had no idea how far up that ball he was going to go, and where he was at a peak. I had to ask him, and figure out the spot he will go. I had my shutter at 1/60 which is also still a relatively fast setting that allowed the most light in with the most speed so that I can still capture the exact moment. You need to have your finger hovering that shutter button so you can click at that perfect moment.
If you guys have any questions about this, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have!
Hope this article is useful to any of you looking to step up your skateboarding photography game.
Yours truly,
Willmax
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