How To Set Up Action Shots
By Aaron Schultz
So, you are the guy in the crew with the camera and the photographer’s itch. Here are a few tips on how to set up an action shoot, get some killer shots and scratch that itch.
Shoot prep (the night before)
- Make sure all your gear is clean, working and batteries are charged.
- Coordinate with the athlete – The night before plan an overview of the shoot so you both have an idea of how the day will go and what you want to accomplish.
- If it’s an outside shoot check the forecast – Noaa.gov or weather.com and click on the hourly breakdown.
Day of the shoot
- Get there early so you can:
- Asses the light conditions, shot location and dial in camera settings
- Envision the trick or shot or sequence – Walk around the feature. Even if I’ve been to a location a 1000 times as a rider it always looks totally different when I look at it with a photography eye.
- Pay attention to the background. It should subtly enhance your shots and give locational info (i.e. graffiti in NYC or jaw dropping Teton backdrop)
- Compose the background and features with Rule of Thirds
- Make sure athlete and feature are framed properly – not to big or small (also see butt-shots below) and try to avoid “guy in the sky”
- Use different lenses – this adds another element of interest to the photos
- Think about post-production – Do you want the option to stitch together the sequence? (I’ll cover how to make a sequence in Photoshop later)
- Usually, the photographer needs to warm up as well as the rider so shoot the rider warm-ups
Safety
- Think about your safety and the rider’s.
- Always post up in a place where other riders can see you, or
- if your model bails you can avoid injuring your self, gear or model.
- Save the safety meeting (cough) for after the shoot (see git some below)
During the The Shoot
- Coordinate with rider before each shot – Ask the rider what he’s doing so:
- You can set up the best angle for a sequence or shot
- The model faces the camera. Seeing an athlete’s face creates a connection with the viewer. (Nobody else cares what your buddy’s butt looks like even if you think it’s the steeziest)
- Both will avoid injury
- You get a variety of shots and angles
- Leave time so you can go shred without your gear
- The love of shred is, after all, why we all got into this. So, git some for yourself. You know it’ll be yummy.
I know this is a lot of info so, just take a few points at a time and work with them until they become second nature.
Aaron Schultz is a photographer, writer, chronic snowboarder and compulsive wander. He lives in Portland, OR with his fiancé and dog and is the photo director for SNS. Visit Aaron Schultz Photography to learn more about photography and view more of Aaron’s images.
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Thanks for all the info man! keep on rockin’! stoked to shred with ya this winter!
Hi Aaron my name is Kyle Forder. I would consider my self to be a amature Photographer. I live in Whistler Bc and just finished a really good winter of shooting. I have a few photos that I would like to stitch but I’m still a little unfamiliar with the process in how to do it in Photoshop.
I read all the information on how to set up action shots. Verry well done. You wrote that you would show how to creat a stitched sequence, but I could not find where that part was posted.
Do you think it would be too much to ask about how you stitch a sequence together.
If it is too much that’s ok but seeing your expertice in action Photography I thought I would ask you.
Thank you for your time Kyle Forder
Hi Kyle. Thanks for checking out our posts. Please keep your eye open for more photo tips. Also, there’s a lot of great advice at Action Photo School. They may have something about making sequence shots.