Back Breaking at Fort Canning!!

Gosu_John · 21st July 2005

Hello all, after dslang's successful kung fu fighting post, my friend and I got interested in parkour and we decided to hit Fort Canning for a first time attempt at some basic moves.

I find it very hard to capture sharp images of fast moving people as the pre-focussing is very hard to determine where exactly the person will fly. Had to try many times before a certain composition was reached but then the focus would be off and vice versa.

Anyway, hope you guys like it and all comments/opinions are more than welcome!

Ah Pao · 23rd July 2005

Originally Posted by Gosu_John

Liked this best. Gives a very "kung-fu" feeling.
So possible improvements:

Maybe can ask your model to take off his hat so that we can see his facial expression...that will add to the picture and 'talk' more to the viewers.
Select maybe 1/2 or 1-stop shutter speed slower to induce more movement blur to give a greaters sense of movement.
You mentioned difficulty in getting sharp pics; maybe can try a smaller aperture so that you have a deeper DOF.

yanyewkay · 24th July 2005

i would have preferred frozen shots with shutters at 1/500 or faster even.

one way to pre-focus is to rehearse. get your subject to execute his movement at the same spot everytime. Then you can just prefocus at this point. Else there's always AI-servo or AF-C

dslang · 24th July 2005

hey. wow, i've inspired work *shock*

anyway, prefocusing just takes practise really... a good way is ask your model to stand at the spot where he's going to be, prefocus, then get him to do his thing. i almost always shoot at very low F-stops to get the background blurred out nicely and so i'm able to use fast shutters.

the other thing you could do is find more creative angles. take steps back and not focus on the person only but also his surroundings and how he interacts with them. a good example is the handstand one, it's just him doing a handstand. but if you took a few steps back and shot the scenery with him somewhere along the rule of thirds, you'd have a guy doing a handstand and also the scenery around him and how he's reacting with his environment.

http://urbanfreeflow.com/urban_graff...n_graffiti.htm is a good start, although i'm not so fond of kiell's inability to hold his horizon's flat in his pics, but it creates a very dynamic effect.

good try tho. go shoot some urban too! natural pk is impossible to shoot, to say the least

Drudkh · 24th July 2005

Great shots, then you must like Banlieue 13.

Cheesecake · 28th July 2005

wow... missed this series!

good stuff! wonder how it'll look like crossed process?

wrx_sti_22b · 30th July 2005

Maybe get the camera to be at single point focus & aim at that spot where the guy will jump, like tat pre focus will be faster right? Hence image will be more likely sharp? Correct me if i'm wrong, coz i'm quite a newbie myself...

21st July 2005	#1
Gosu_John Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 499	Back Breaking at Fort Canning!! Hello all, after dslang's successful kung fu fighting post, my friend and I got interested in parkour and we decided to hit Fort Canning for a first time attempt at some basic moves. I find it very hard to capture sharp images of fast moving people as the pre-focussing is very hard to determine where exactly the person will fly. Had to try many times before a certain composition was reached but then the focus would be off and vice versa. Anyway, hope you guys like it and all comments/opinions are more than welcome! __________________ in praise of shadows

24th July 2005	#3
yanyewkay Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Cons digger. Posts: 4,046	i would have preferred frozen shots with shutters at 1/500 or faster even. one way to pre-focus is to rehearse. get your subject to execute his movement at the same spot everytime. Then you can just prefocus at this point. Else there's always AI-servo or AF-C __________________ “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.” - Adolf Hitler

28th July 2005	#6
Cheesecake Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: I live in a haunted house!!!!! Posts: 12,835	wow... missed this series! good stuff! wonder how it'll look like crossed process? __________________ You'll Never Walk Alone! 初恋的感觉杀很大!

24th July 2005	#4
dslang Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 289	hey. wow, i've inspired work shock anyway, prefocusing just takes practise really... a good way is ask your model to stand at the spot where he's going to be, prefocus, then get him to do his thing. i almost always shoot at very low F-stops to get the background blurred out nicely and so i'm able to use fast shutters. the other thing you could do is find more creative angles. take steps back and not focus on the person only but also his surroundings and how he interacts with them. a good example is the handstand one, it's just him doing a handstand. but if you took a few steps back and shot the scenery with him somewhere along the rule of thirds, you'd have a guy doing a handstand and also the scenery around him and how he's reacting with his environment. http://urbanfreeflow.com/urban_graff...n_graffiti.htm is a good start, although i'm not so fond of kiell's inability to hold his horizon's flat in his pics, but it creates a very dynamic effect. good try tho. go shoot some urban too! natural pk is impossible to shoot, to say the least

24th July 2005	#5
Drudkh Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,019	Great shots, then you must like Banlieue 13.

30th July 2005	#7
wrx_sti_22b Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: where Bill is... Posts: 3,627	Maybe get the camera to be at single point focus & aim at that spot where the guy will jump, like tat pre focus will be faster right? Hence image will be more likely sharp? Correct me if i'm wrong, coz i'm quite a newbie myself...