My friend skatin

Whoops it seems that it's a little crooked too.

I like the photo but too much information is distracting. Stop the lens at the biggest apperture in order to get less depth of field or maybe even use a longer lens if you have one. Shoot black and white.
Also be careful with the concrete underneath.

Thanks for the help...I try to shoot black and white but the olny place i know that sells it thtat i can develop at home is very far away from my house and i don\'t drive yet.

hi kyle ...

i don\'t mind the dog or the other guy, or even the deep depth of field, but it would be nice to see the guy floating a little bit more within the frame, or even the other way, with the guy cut off by the camera frame. you might also like a different view - or even front on or front-side on, with a slow (1/4s or less) shutter speed so you can see your friends shred. blur (or camera shake ) can be good sometimes.

I think you can do better by recognising what you have right. 1. The important elements nearly fill the format. 2. The figure is caught at a point that describes the activity. 3. The exposure is enough to give usable detail throughout.

I would have stood on the other end of the stairs shooting up. This would have given the photograph a sense of height, would have shown the face of the skater and would have removed all other people/animals from the frame.

If you want to experiment you can try two different things to add "motion" to your pictures, one, put the camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed as the skater goes through, everything will be sharp but the skater, which will be a blur. The other one is to "pan" the camera as the skater goes by, in this case the skater will be sharp and everything else will be blurred.

Finally, if this is what you like to photograph, examine all the pictures in skateboarding magazines and ask yourself "why is this picture good?" you will learn a lot this way.

You have a good start, well exposed and you captured the action, all you need is a little practice, the rest will come.

All I have to say is try to find old Transworld magazines, mid to late ninties is best. Look for stuff by Skin Phillips. To be honest I am not even sure that he still shoots. His stuff was amazing. Your friend seems pretty good so it\'s up to you to look around town and try to find some good achitecture to use as a backdrop for his skating. Those were always the best shots, the ones where the skater was obviously the center of interest, but he was surrounded by really good architecture and lighting. Try shooting faster film and then shoot at and around sunset. The lighting is much more dramatic and imactful at that time. Oh, and people have gone home for the day so you don\'t have to deal with them trying to kick you out. And it has been said before, but Black and White alway gives a sence of art to the photo. I got my start photographing doing the same thing you are doing, just being out there with my Pentax ZX-50 taking photos while all my friends were skating. Good luck.

Thanks agian guys, I do occasionally look through magazines and get ideas...Stephen, Skin is still around and workin for transworld, he's one of my favorites.

You've got some great advice coming your way. i've found that in shooting skateboarding shots it makes a big impact to be under the boarder. i would try to get on the other side of the stairs closer to the ground, give the picture some height, but dont lose the take-off, it gives a sense of direction and depth. you can order some cheap black and white film to start off with online if you've got the resources keep at it!

I like this perspective. It shows the physical forces on, and the resulting torsion of, the front truck.