Going to a sports based festival has been on my list for a while, I love to watch extreme sports, its awesome, maybe I wish I could be cool enough participate! I rounded up a few friends and off we went for a day at Boardmasters in Newquay. Surfing, BMX and skate.
I wanted to write this post to illustrate it is possble to shoot quality images without having an area access accredited pass. Yes, having one does make it easier but not having the access makes me think more about where I can put myself to get a good shot. It makes you more resourceful.
First up we came to the wave rider (man made surf wave machine - pretty cool!) big crowd stood infront of it, a photographer and a video guy stood up on the actual platform inside the railings and a gaggle of people crammed onto the steps. Fairly easily jostled a place onto the steps (I was too short to see over the edge without being on the steps!) I spent the competiton hanging off the railing/on the step dodging the splashes. Heres a few shots, I was able to crop in to isolate the branding on the board behind the surfer, which makes a nice clean background.
Next, to the ramps for bmx and skate. This was somewhat more restricted, there were barriers to keep the crowds at a distance and a net that stretched the entire side of the ramps to catch any stray skateboards/ riders from hitting the audience. I tried shooting through it but it was still too noticeable.
I had a look around, lots of people were sat up on the sand dunes to one side and there was quite a few marquees (big white backgrounds) I picked a spot and waited for the shot when the bikes went for a big trick and were high in the air.
These don't quite work, something doesn't look quite right about them, maybe they need a little more processing to tidy them or maybe it just looks odd having a white background, I cant quite decide.
I also spotted a gap which gave a view to the air space the bikes were in from the biggest of the 3 ramps. Stood next to the security guard and the 'back stage' area of the ramps (outside the fence) and waited for the bikes to come into shot with a clean background of the sky.
from this...
...to this when they got enough air
Same ramps, different wheels - the skateboarders. This was slightly tricky as they don't get as much air when they jump meaning they didn't really get higher than the netting.
I had a look for a spot to be able to get close enough to avoid the netting, the only spot I could see was next to the gap in the fence where the riders were going in and out of. A quick scan of the people stood about just inside the fence and I could see hardly any of them had a wristband of any description. I sauntered in and poked my camera under the corner of the netting and started shooting with a wide lens because I couldn't look through the viewfinder. I stayed for a good 15 minutes before I was politely informed wasn't supposed to be stood there! Yes, its a bit cheeky to mosey into spots where you aren't meant to be but remember, you don't want to distract any competitors, get hit or get your kit broken so you really need to keeps your wits about you if you're going to.
