More Parkour - Fisheye Shots

Here are some fisheye images I made with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 and Bower fisheye lens. These were taken at the same parkour workout that I wrote about yesterday.

 

 

I shot these at the end of the workout, choosing to use high iso and no flash. I really need to try some fisheye images with rear curtain, slow shutter flash. That will be cool.

 

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Parkour Photography - Indoors

Last Friday night, I got invited to Urban Evolution in Manassas, Virginia, to photograph an indoor parkour workout. (Click Here) to see what Urban Evolution is all about.

 

Here is a shot where I got the chance to set up multiple wireless flashes. I didn't get it just right, as you can see the backdrop flash at the bottom of the image, but otherwise this one worked well:

 

I shot the entire evening with my Nikon D700, with the exception of a few fisheye shots I made with a Lumix DMC-GX7.

 

The workout was not particularly organized, so after making the shot above, I had to just move around amongst the raconteurs and do my best. Most of these were made with a single flash (SB-800) mounted on the camera hotshoe.

This final shot was made with rear curtain shutter, at 1/15 second exposure. I like the combination of motion blur and sharp image captured when the flash fired.

 

I am encouraged by the first shot, which shows that I can light a scene well with planning. I will try to work with this group again in a more organized fashion, where I work with them to set up a few scenes and light them very carefully.

 

I also figured out that shooting up close with wide angle lenses works very well in this situation. Here I used my Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S and my 20mm f2.8 AF-D lenses quite a lot.

 

I learn something every time I get out to photograph.

 

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More Parkour, Again With the Nikon F2SB

Here are my favorites from the second roll of HP5 that I shot of Juan, Garrett, and David practicing parkour in DC:

 

 

As with the first roll, these were all shot with my Nikon F2SB. This could become a habit for me...

 

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Parkour! The Benefits of Simply Getting Out to Shoot

It has been a long winter. Last weekend, cabin fever got the best of me, and I drove into DC with my Nikon F2SB (loaded up with HP5+), 50mm f1.4 AI, 28mm f3.5 pre-AI, and 135mm f3.5 pre-AI lenses. Having literally no idea what I was going to photograph, I decided to park at L'Enfant Plaza and walk over to the Smithsonian castle.

 

As soon as I got out of my car, I noticed two young men practicing parkour at the Department of Energy building. Don't know what parkour is? (Click Here) to find out.

 

That was all I needed. I wound up following them around for two hours, shooting their acrobatic antics. I've only developed the first of two rolls of HP5 I shot, so there are more to come. Here are some that I liked from the first roll.

 

 

 

I ended up shooting mostly with the 28mm lens, getting as close as possible to the action. I also shot a few with the 50mm f1.4.

 

It took me a little while to get comfortable and find the right angles to shoot from. The first two traceurs, David and Garrett, were joined by Juan. All three of them were extremely friendly and welcoming of a tag-along.

 

This experience reminded me that finding an interesting subject is not always a contemplative exercise. I never would have dreamed up the idea of finding a local parkour group. I had to be out there looking. And now, I'm sure this is something I'll continue to photograph for some time to come.

 

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