Lincsdna

South Bank Flyer

The undercroft of the Southbank Centre has pretty much been the beating heart of London skateboarding for around 40 plus years now. With a love hate relationshi...
Read more

The undercroft of the Southbank Centre has pretty much been the beating heart of London skateboarding for around 40 plus years now. With a love hate relationship between the building’s owners and skateboarders (Brilliantly documented in the documentary “Rollin Through The Decades” by Winstan Whitter). The area set aside for skateboarders comprises of a variety of ledges, banks and a set of stairs. There is also a railing to stop tourists from wandering a bit too close and getting in the way too.
Read less

Canon EOS 650D

settings

Aperture f/3.5 ISO 100 Shutter 1/250

upload_date

May, 2014

Views

1176

Likes

+102

Awards

People's Choice in Active City Photo Challenge

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Superior Skill

Magnificent Capture

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

All Star

Peer Award

Genius

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

South Bank at any time is a hive of activity, whether it be the street performer's and music busker's or one of many event hall's providing a show or exhibition to entertain the masses. Let's not forget The London Eye, London Aquarium and the list goes on and on! Many of my images in my gallery have been taken at South Bank, including this shot at the Undercroft below the centre. 40 plus years of rolling with the times, this place has been a magnet for those with four small wheels attached to a piece of board and let's say they’re not shy at showing off their moves and shapes. A great place to see cool people doing their thing, plus you get the chance to practice your motion capture with your camera.

Time

This shot was taken around mid-afternoon, however any time of day to watch the skateboarder's is good. But the weekends tend to be when it gets very populated down there.

Lighting

The lighting is pretty good down there, however with this winter light it can get a bit tricky if you need to use flash! Why? Because the skateboarder's will not appreciate an eyeful of light when they are busting a move!!

Equipment

My equipment at the time was nothing special, just good shutter speed and panning or planning where the skateboarder is going to reach his/hers highest peak and being ready click at that time like in this capture. However, I used my trusty Canon EOS 650D, 18-55mm (kit lens) at f/3.5 and shutter speed of 1/250 and ISO 100. The shot was hand-held leaning on the surrounding railings.

Inspiration

Over many years I have watched the skateboarder's rolling around in the Undercroft and it occurred to me this day that I hadn't taken a single shot of them before! Luckily there was not too many of them down there, so it made it easy to pick out the best ones to follow. I probably took about 50-60 shots in total and was happy with most, however this one stood out in my opinion to have been the best I captured that day :)

Editing

In this shot I desaturated the skateboarder to black and white and also slightly reduced the colouring of the graffiti, I wanted a slightly more grime feel to the shot as it seemed too bright and colourful! Personally I was pleased with the outcome.

In my camera bag

My Canon telephoto 55-250mm lens, reversing rings, JESSOPS 360AFD C flashgun, Tiffen Polarizing filter, 3 spare and charged batteries, cleaning cloth and blower, remote control, at least 4 SD cards from 16GB to 32GB, hand sized mini tripod and my trusty Monopod. It is very rare that I do not use all the equipment in an outing! I was a boy scout when I was a kid, so some things die hard :)

Feedback

Like I mentioned earlier, is to watch your chosen subject, follow their movements and depending if you want a panning shot to get background blur or to freeze the moment like in this shot, a bucket load of patience and perhaps a monopod as they give more freedom of movement than a tripod. You only have to watch any major sporting event to see the photographer's using monopod's as their preferred steadying device. Good luck and happy shooting :)

See more amazing photos, follow Lincsdna

Lincsdna

Lincsdna

South Bank Flyer

The undercroft of the Southbank Centre has pretty much been the beating heart of London skateboarding for around 40 plus years now. With a love hate relationshi... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Lincsdna

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

The undercroft of the Southbank Centre has pretty much been the beating heart of London skateboarding for around 40 plus years now. With a love hate relationshi...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.