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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Some Ultrawide (12mm) Film Shots of Parkour

I recently shared a slideshow of parkour images, made with the Nikon Df. (Click Here) to see that post.

 

Today, I'll post some images I made at the same event, but these were all shot on the Zeiss SW film camera, with the Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 (LTM) ultra wide angle lens. These were all shot on Ilford HP5+ black and white film. I processed them myself.

 

I loved shooting parkour with this oddball lens. I have also done some fisheye shooting with parkour. (Click Here) to see that. In both cases, the wide angle of view is great for including a lot of the context for the sport. But, it also means that I have to get very close. So close, in fact, that there's a risk of interfering with the practitioner's concentration. That did happen once; thankfully, he thought it was funny. The last thing I want to do is interfere.

 

I think what I'm learning about shooting parkour is that variety is key. These wide angle shots tell a lot about the setting, but have relatively little detail of what the person is putting into the effort.

 

Approaching this with the standard photojournalistic search for a combination of wide, normal, and close up detail shots seems to be in order. I'm about to get a great opportunity to pull together a group of parkour practitioners, specifically to photograph them. My plan will be to get that variety, and to experiment with some ideas with flash, showing motion, etc. I've got some thinking to do.

 

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Parkour Slideshow

 

I'm really starting to enjoy shooting parkour. Last weekend, I shot a jam in Herndon, Virginia, with both my Nikon Df and Zeiss SW (film camera) with Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 ultra wide angle lens.

 

(Click Here) to see my short (1.5 minute) slideshow of images I took with the Nikon Df and 35-70 f2.8 AF-D and 20mm f2.8 AF-D lenses.

 

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Parkour - By Maik Scharfscheer, Leica Photographer

 

Parkour, by Reed A. George

Nikon F2SB

 

I've recently gotten into photographing the sport of parkour. These urban acrobats are excellent photographic subjects, and I've just started to scratch the surface.

 

I found an interesting post on the Leica Camera Blog about photographer Maik Scharfscheer, who made a series of photographs of a parkour practitioner in the city of Marrakesh. (Click Here) to see the post.

 

As you can see above, my first session shooting parkour was with a manual Nikon film SLR. My inclination, as with most photographers I'm sure, is to use a fast camera for this subject, something like a DSLR. In fact, I have now used my Nikon Df for that purpose. But, I've also been playing with Micro 4/3 (using a fisheye lens), and most recently with a Zeiss SW 35mm camera with a Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 lens. This sport works so well with wide angle lenses.

 

So, in some ways, I'm taking an approach similar to Scharfscheer, who chose to shoot parkour with a Leica, carefully selecting his moments rather than capturing high speed sequences with a DSLR.

 

That said, I captured some pretty cool sequences today at a parkour event with my Nikon Df. As I said, I'm trying a variety of approaches to develop my own look at this exciting sport. I'll share more parkour images in the near future.

 

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My Second Shot at Parkour Photography

Back in March, I had the opportunity to photograph some local practitioners of parkour, which is basically acrobatics in public places. (Click Here) to see that post, in which I used my Nikon F2SB and black and white film. I enjoyed it immensely, and they appreciated seeing the photos.

 

Last night, I went to one of the practice sessions for a larger group of DC Metro Parkour members. Here are some of the shots.

Parkour, by Reed A. George

 

While I shot a few of these images with my Nikon Df, most were made with my Micro 4/3 Lumix DMC-GX1 and Bower fisheye lens. All used flash to freeze the motion.

 

I recently came very close to selling off my Micro 4/3 gear, since I just have not been using it much. That, and the fact that the new Lumix LX100 (which also uses a Micro 4/3 sensor) is so capable, it replaces much of my interchangeable lens Micro 4/3 gear on travel, made me consider selling all of it. I did sell several pieces of gear, but decided to keep a smaller set of Micro 4/3 bodies and lenses. Specifically, I kept the most compact lenses, and the ones that are special in some way. The Bower fisheye is an example of that - I don't have a fisheye lens for any other camera system, so I kept it. It sure came in handy last night!

 

I'm planning to continue to work on creative techniques for photographing this exciting sport.

 

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A Nice Candid With the Nikkor 135mm f3.5 Non-AI Lens and Nikon F2SB

Juan and David, by Reed A. George

Nikon F2SB, Nikkor 135mm f3.5 Non-AI Lens

Ilford HP5+ Film

 

Not much to say here. Just a shot I happen to really like a lot. I captured it while Juan and David took a little breather from practicing parkour.

 

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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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