Cocoa Beach, FL, November of last year at the Grind for Life, "Helping People with Cancer". With a little Nikon SB800 help.

this shot leaves me asking for some context
skateboarding and other action sports don't necessarily lend themselves to super tight crops.
Where is he coming from? Where is he going? Is he 2 feet of the ground or 12?

Im guessing he's about 3 feet out of a pool

pbjunkiee wrote:
Im guessing he's about 3 feet out of a pool

You nailed it. And he almost nailed me in the process. I also prefer more distance, so you can see the edge of the pool, and also down into the bowl, but in this case it was shoot and hope skateboard doesn't meet lens.

Yeah you need to move back and get some environment in so that you can understand what he is skating. The light is super flat too, you need 2 or 3 flashes to give more depth and to gently light the bowl which he is skating. Looks very much like a passer bys shot, not a fellow skater. Skating and Bmx shots are hard, they take composition, lighting and a decent background to pull off

Yeah, context and environment is the name of the game with action sports (skate, bmx, etc)...

R.Young wrote:
Yeah you need to move back and get some environment in so that you can understand what he is skating. The light is super flat too, you need 2 or 3 flashes to give more depth and to gently light the bowl which he is skating. Looks very much like a passer bys shot, not a fellow skater. Skating and Bmx shots are hard, they take composition, lighting and a decent background to pull off

I agree with the comp. and bg comment, but since I rarely use flash...one sb800 on camera in this one...I don't know how "flat" lighting is defined in general. I'd say it's a little harsh on the bottom of the board too. As always, I'm open to being educated.

I've shot some BMX and you always want off camera flash, and at least 2 or three to layer the skater or rider in light. But this takes time to setup, and you usually need to check with the rider what they are going to do so you can work out the flash setup, best angle etc. If you don't know the rider this would usually mean that all you are able to do is try not to get in the way and get what you can, the best shots are taken by fellow riders or friends, as then you can check what trick they are going to do and setup up lights for the shot without getting in their way