DLC blog

More fun than a barrel full of flying monkeys, Longboarding and photography go together like decks and grip tape. Wherever you find Longboarders, you’ll find an array of camera gear that would put most red-carpet events to shame.  But what makes a good Longboarding photo? How do you capture the speed, skill and style of the riders? I make no claims about my own skill level but here are a few things I’ve picked up from a year photographing the DLC. There’re just general ideas and I’ve left the camera-nerd stuff about F-Stops and shutter speeds for another day.

Capturing motion

Longboarding can be fast. Very fast. Using fast lenses and shutter speeds make it easy to freeze action but can make the rider look like they are just standing around on their board. The photo will be fine but if you want to capture the essence of Longboarding then you’re going to have to get creative. 

Learning to shoot at a low shutter speed while tracking and panning has a high miss rate but can give spectacular results when you get it right. Speed of around 1/90th of a second work best and focussing on the ground just below a subject rather than on the subject themselves help improve your hit rate.

At the most basic level, just getting low and shooting on a level with the rider will almost always guarantee a usable photo that captures some sense of speed. If you go high it tends to slow things down so compensate by using an unusual angle.

If you’re comfortable with Photoshop then shooting in bursts and stitching the shots together can achieve results you can’t replicate in real time.  Even the most basic DSLR’s will generally accommodate bursts up to 3-5 frames per second with GoPro’s going as high as 30+. Rather than multiple shots of the same person, this is a great way to get group composites.

Setting the scene

Longboarding, by its nature, is most fun on winding scenic routes. Don’t limit yourself to close ups of riders pulling 40ft standies (as cool as they are) and make sure you take in some of the fabulous scenery around you. Some of the best photos out there feature the rider only as a small part of an epic landscape. Step back, take in the scene and try to show the rider in the context of the overall landscape.

You can also use natural elements, like the rain, to your advantage when trying to convey the feeling of speed.

Pick your spot with care

Getting too close to the action can be awesome for photos but bad for your health. Ideally you should make sure there is enough distance between you and the rider to allow time to duck and cover. Watch a few runs first, see where the riders start their pre-drifts, where they slide best and where they slide out!

Talk to people

Most of the time, people will be happy to have their photo taken but make sure you check first, especially if you’re new to the scene. Like anyone else, people are more comfortable having their photo taken if they know you’re not going to make them look like a twat, blast them with a flash or (capital crime)….stand in the middle of the F**king road while they’re going sideways at 80kph…..Talk to people, show them your shots and you may even find that they’ll change things up to get a better picture. Everyone likes a nice profile pic, right?

Watch the background / foreground

Sometimes speed and action is conveyed, not by the rider themselves, but by what’s going on in the background and by how those watching react to the action. Try shooting from an angle that will work in the spectators as well as the rider.

Candid camera

Finally, the Longboarding life is a good one. Friends meeting up, shredding, freeriding, comparing injuries and telling tall tales. Hang back a bit, grab a long lens and shoot the back-story, the lifestyle. Some of the best photos are taken when people are goofing around between runs. Longboarding is full of lunatics great characters so tell their story too.

 

Oh, and make sure to get some shots of the set-up’s too. Longboarders invest a lot in their decks so it’s nice to be able to show them a picture of their loved one.