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hi guys
i'm new to this forum. first post as well. yayy !
anyway, i am getting into skateboarding photography. and i need help on doing it the right way to get the best results. i will be using my rebel xti for this.

i will purchase these in the next 3 weeks. paychecks are in by then . yeaa
- 1 main hot shoe speedlite that can trigger slave flashes
- 2 slave speedlites
- an 8mm fisheye. due to the 1.6crop.
- a wide-zoom lens for long shots.

and that's about it i think. let me know wat else i neeed. orr suggest wat to get as well. brandwise. make it cheap but also decent.

i do have adobe photoshop CS2.

thanks alot,
Jet.

Hi Jet, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

I quite fancied doing a bit of skateboarding photography myself, and have dabbled at the sides of rails as snowboarders have whizzed past - see http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon ... age5.shtml.

All the pro photographers I've spotted at these events seem to rely on multiple flash guns, some mounted on the end of monopods held high over their heads... They also use wide angle lenses and get very close to the action, often also liasing with the boarders to find out where they (hope) to go.

So from my limited experience, it sounds like you're already getting all the right kit, so it could just be a case of finding the right spots and taking lots of shots. I'm sure you're already doing this, but you should also check out the kit which other serious board photographers are using at parks and asking if they're happy with their setup, although again your list looks pretty much like what I've seen being used. Does anyone else have any suggestions or tips? Let us know how you get on!

Gordon

thanks for the input gordon !

anyways.
i'm on the verge of deciding which brands/models to buy.
and so far.
i'm debating between the sigma ef500super or the canon 580ex , as my main hot shoe flash. the "boss" flash. and then 2 cheap sunpak slaves.

i ordered my peleng 8mm fisheye from ebay yesterday. it should be here in 2 weeks. mannn. it's all the way from russia.





oh how i wish i have an mkII 1d. ughh. mannn. i'll get there soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !

oh and here are some shots i've taken a week and a half ago. with the xti and the ef 50mm/1.8

Cool photos Jet!

Looking forward to seeing what you can do with the multiple flash setup!

Gordon

Cool photo's but they're not very sharp.
I read that you were using the EF 50mm f/1.8 , normally this is a sharp lens but after I took a look in the exif I saw that the aperature you used for the photos was f/1.8. I think that's the main reason why the photo's aren't sharp. I recommend that you use an aperature of f4 or 5.6 then the photo's will be noticabley sharper and you will still have enough shutterspeed if not you can raise the iso a bit more.

Bart

On the other hand, Bart, JT101 would have ruined the nice focus on the skateboarder in his first pic, when stopping down, as the depth of field would have increased considerably.

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D800+assorted lenses

Hey Jet,

Cool shots! I saw this guy Mike O'Meally give a talk at a design conference a month or two ago. .He's a great skate photographer.

Check out his site it might give you some inspiration!

www.mikeomeally.com

Cheers,
Kat.

Hi Kat, nice website - that Mike O'Meally has some pretty cool shots!

What tips did he give at the talk? It'd be interesting to hear what kind of gear he uses.

Whenever I've seen pro skate or snowboard photographers, they always seem to have big flashguns to freeze the action. I've also often seen them place the flash close to the subject, but actually stand back and trigger it remotely. So the flash still freezes the subject, but the photographer can stand back and get a bigger view - a bit like that one on his website with a NY backdrop.

It's certainly good fun - I'm looking forward to the ski season starting in a few weeks in Queenstown and hope to get some more practice in. Erm, both on the slopes and behind the camera!

Gordon

JT101, How's it going?

My friend and I was once also interested in something similar, BMX bikes so we take some pictures with my Nikon D70s (over my D50 because of a slighty fast shutter speed) but it wasn't that since where I live the sun is very bright in the day so I have to use Hoya neutral density filters, which means I can use slow shutter speeds in bright light (which is awesome for making cool blur trails in the biker). When keep me posted on how things turn out

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