Snowboarding in detail. Basics of action photography

Photography is an integral part of action sports culture. In our new section “In Detail” iconic extreme photographers will reveal all the magic of non-accidental shots.

Often, when we see an unusual photo at an exhibition, we are interested to learn more about how it was created. In the section “In Details” we have collected answers to all the main questions for you. The world’s best photographers surrender location coordinates, angles and the most photogenic tricks.

Category: snowboarding

Photographer: Dasha Nosova

Photographer Dasha Nosova. Self-portrait

On the photo: the rider’s name is Sebbe de Buck. He is originally from Belgium. In fact, the shoot was with the Monster Energy team, which also included American Sage Kotsenburg (2014 Olympic gold medalist) and Swedes Sven Torgen, Thor Lundstorm and Kevin Bekstorm. And this photo became my favorite because of the light and lucky weather conditions, which were changing literally every minute and Sebba was lucky to jump into the right “window”.

Sebbe de Buck

Location Features

This is Norway, Folgefonna. The peculiarity of this location is that it is a glacier and you can ski there from mid-May. Plus, this resort is located in the fjords, which makes it possible not only to enjoy an incredible picture on the way to the mountains, but also to take memorable pictures against the background of all this beauty. The weather conditions are also very pleasant for riding, you can ride in just a hoodie and if you want you can go sunbathing and swimming in one of the lakes.

When were the photos taken?

These photos were taken in the second half of June 2016. As I said, you can only ride there in summer, from mid-May to mid-September to be exact. In winter time it’s very cold and you can’t even get there because of the snow. In my opinion, the most favorable time for shooting is late May/early June. The snow is still white and there is no rain yet. I was there twice that summer, in late May we had good weather all days, and the second time (just when this picture was taken) we only had 2 sunny days out of 7 days.

Technical side of the question

The camera and optics are Canon, the light is Elinchrom. I would emphasize other features of this shot – it was taken around 11-12 at night. This is the approximate time of sunset, for which, by the way, we gathered there, but because of the clouds it was not really visible, but the light still turned out to be bombastic.

The trick in the photo

Backside 180 is not the most complicated but stylish trick. However, it is difficult to do it on big jumps, as the rotation is short and you have to be able to stretch it nicely for the duration of the flight. Personally, I have many favorite tricks for photos, mostly small spins within 720 degrees with different grabs, which is what I focus on.

How to make a photo look perfect. The right angle

Try not to take “guy in the sky” style photos where you can’t see where the rider is jumping from and where he’s flying to. This not only ruins your reputation, but can also humiliate the rider. Imagine, for example, that someone in the halfpipe flies up 10 meters or jumps 50-meter trampoline, and the photo shows just a silhouette against the sky, no one will not guess about the length of the flight or the amplitude of the flight. And always talk to riders so you know what tricks they want to do so you can choose the right angle, and where they will start from and where they will land so you don’t accidentally interfere with them and get under their feet.