JonathanDurandPhoto

Daaang, son!

Awesome shoot at the Shred skatepark in Cape Town South Africa.

Awesome shoot at the Shred skatepark in Cape Town South Africa.
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Mar, 2018

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Awards

Runner Up in Two Wheels Photo Contest

Top Shot Award

Contest Finalist in Bicycle Lovers Photo Contest

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Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken at "The Shred" indoor skatepark in Cape Town. It's one of my favorite spots to shoot.

Time

This was taken around 19:30 in the evening. The guys usually get there around 5, but seeing as I still have a full-time job, I'm generally there around 6 and this photo was taken a little later in the session. The guys start building the confidence and they hit the bowl a little later during the day.

Lighting

This was a tough one concerning lighting as it was quite dark that day. The problem is that I like to be mobile, I don't like staying in one spot, so I set up my lights in a way that I will still have light no matter where I go in the bowl. As I don't have the most incredible equipment, this was a tough one, but luckily I got this one right.

Equipment

I used my Canon 7D with two 430EX-II Speedlites and a trigger. This was taken with the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 Lens. I'm a huge fan of the wider lenses for extreme sport.

Inspiration

This particular angle and photo have been in my mind for quite a while, but I've had very bad luck with this particular athlete. I felt like we're not working very well together. Every time I went to the other side, he was pulling his sick tricks on the side that I wasn't, so it was quite frustrating. I decided to just approach the guy and he was super willing to pose. Luckily I could quickly set up the equipment and get in place. This was actually the first take of him, but his friends gave me a few test shots before he came a long.

Editing

When it comes to the skating, I feel like this is my art and not my job, so it leaves me to be creative. I don't have a precise method to edit these as it will depend on how I feel, but I'll start in lightroom with a simple edit and tweaks and then will do any cleanup (if necessary) in Photoshop.

In my camera bag

These days I'm rocking a Sony a6500 and still have my Canon lenses (one of these days I'll be ready for the upgraded Sony lenses). As a backup, I still have the Canon 7D. My lenses include a Canon 70-200mm f4 (The non-IS version), a Canon 50mm f1.4 USM and Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 Lens. For flash photography, I'll use the Canon 430EX-II speedlites with the Canon 7D (As I don't have lights for the Sony at this stage). Then there are Filters, triggers, and other accessories as well.

Feedback

My advice would be to really look at your angles. I want the action to show how high and crazy this stunt is, I do this by choosing a low angle so that the subject looks higher and I looked at my exposure. On this particular shot I could have exposed the skater a little more, but I liked what I saw and kept it that way.

See more amazing photos, follow JonathanDurandPhoto

JonathanDurandPhoto

JonathanDurandPhoto

Daaang, son!

Awesome shoot at the Shred skatepark in Cape Town South Africa.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow JonathanDurandPhoto

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