Opening Day at Louisville Skatepark

This is my first attempt to take skateboarding pictures.

Look carefully at this photo. It is a great photo of a skateboarders rear end. It is unfortunate that the composition is poor, because otherwise it is a good action photo. Well structured, well exposed, captured at the peak of motion, with both implied and captured conflict. Now imagine this same photo with the skateboarder flying the same way, but with his face visible with the look of concentration, determination, and ecstacy of accomplishment!

I have a mate who is widely published with his skateboarding shots. He loves this type of shoy - not easy to capture with balance and you have done it

Why is he in the middle? There's a lot of sky above him. I'd like to see less sky and maybe angle the lens downward a bit to show where he's just come from. You'll fill the fram with more of the action going on, it will also make the skater appear to be higher than he is.

 

Good job, but play with the angles next time and kill the wasted space on the top.

I agree with the first comment, your subject isn't fully captured because of the positioning of their face/body.

I disagree with the last statement. The moment of suspension is illustrated by the ethereal quality of the sky. To change the view and drop your angle down would crowd the skater into the mass of people below. It would give the image a completely different feeling, one much more anxious and less placid. This image, despite the view of the skater, is effective because it seems to capture the perfect moment of the rise, it seems calm... this is a result of the composition (as well as timing).