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Action Shot with Strobes Overview

Lesson 22 from: Action Sport Photography with Red Bull Photographer Corey Rich

Corey Rich

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Lesson Info

22. Action Shot with Strobes Overview

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

14:35
2

What Makes A Great Action Photo

1:14:37
3

Conceptualize the Shoot

08:52
4

Research Location / Wardrobe / Props for Action Shoot

17:01
5

Safety Tips for Action Photographers

05:35
6

What Gear Do I Need? Packing and Prep

31:42
7

Workflow and Asset Management

31:45
8

Ingesting and Organizing Files

42:00
9

Editing Down Your Selects

15:34
10

Post Processing Overview

08:15
11

Working with Clients to Select Finals

21:36
12

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 1

23:59
13

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 2

07:06
14

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 3

09:15
15

Final Client Delivery

07:41
16

Introduction to Snow Athletes

05:28
17

Setting up the Shot: Using Natural Light

12:36
18

Getting that First Action Shot: Snow Park

15:30
19

Scouting Location for Action Shot: Snow Park

16:45
20

Capturing Variation of Snow Park Action Shot

07:52
21

Refining the Snow Park Action Shot

13:16
22

Action Shot with Strobes Overview

02:51
23

Shoot: Action Shot with Strobes

06:50
24

How to Light Using Strobes

08:12
25

Action Shoot: Snow Park with Strobes

13:59
26

Refining the Snow Park Action Shoot: Using Strobes

09:31
27

Capturing Variation with Snow Park Athletes

32:03
28

Capturing Portraits: Snowboarder

24:05
29

Capturing Portrait: Skier

38:36
30

Shoot: Feature Jump Action Shot Afternoon Natural Light

10:11
31

Introduction to Today's Shoot

04:09
32

Building a Rapport with the Athlete: BMX Rider

04:03
33

Scouting Location for Action Shot: Indoor BMX Park & Natural Light

06:50
34

Getting the First Action Shot: BMX

06:40
35

Conceptualizing the Action Shot: BMX

11:02
36

Prepping Gear & Refining the Action Shot: BMX

06:04
37

Action Shoot: BMX Athlete with Natural Light

04:37
38

Setting up Remote Cameras

24:27
39

Capturing BMX Action Shots: Remote Cameras

16:53
40

Conceptualizing the Shot: Using Strobes in Indoor BMX Park

13:25
41

Lighting with Strobes: Indoor BMX Park

10:57
42

Action Shoot: BMX Athlete with Strobes

19:38
43

Capturing Variations of BMX Athlete

09:20
44

Shoot High Angle Action Shot: BMX Rider

22:34
45

Directing an Athlete Portrait: Indoors

11:18
46

Lighting a Portrait: Indoor BMX Athlete

17:04
47

Portrait Demo: Indoors BMX Athlete

21:30
48

Portrait Demo: Adding Atmosphere

13:13
49

Transmitting Live from the Field

12:26
50

Panel Q&A

49:41

Lesson Info

Action Shot with Strobes Overview

We shot Cody LaPlante and Dylan Zellers this morning, two incredible stewards of being great athletes. Not only are they great athletes, they're also good people, which goes a long way. They leave their attitude behind; they're all about being out here, pushing the limits, having fun. Today's less about pushing the limits for them; it's more about just making pictures and really teaching the process, learning the process of, how do we as action-adventure sports photographers make images in an outdoor-adventure environment or in the park today? So, we shot on a 35-foot jump this morning. I shot a couple of successful frames, moved to three positions. I failed; I went in my second position, didn't work. Framed up through the trees, never saw the athlete, or too low in the frame. Second position, or my kind of alternate position, on the other side of the jump: as I was fumbling, changed the exposure, blew it. That's the nature of the beast. You just have to kind of understand where you ar...

e, and try to correct with your next shot. Now we've moved across the park, and we're at a pretty cool rail. And the plan is to illustrate how we use strobes. So, of course we're using pro photos. And I thought what I would do is actually start by shooting available light. So Dylan and Cody, they've already taken a couple of practice runs on the rail. We're gonna go ahead and shoot available light; I'll show you what the challenges of available light are, and we'll analyze that photograph, and then we'll actually start adding strobes to the scene so that we can see what's possible with strobes. I'm gonna give kind of a disclaimer, and this is really important: this is not when I would typically choose to go out and shoot with strobes. When you look at some of the best action-adventure photographs out there today, they typically happen early in the morning, and they happen late in the evening when the sun is low in the sky; you have beautiful light. And the reason for that is we're gonna be using high-speed sync. I'm shooting at a thousandth of a second, two thousandths of a second. And you need a lot of power, and it works to be low-light, so low ambient exposure, and then that high-speed sync really works. So, let's actually, I'm gonna grab my D5. We're gonna shoot some natural light first; I'll show you what that looks like, and then we'll illustrate what does it look like when we add some strobe to that same situation? So, everything won't be perfect, you're gonna see us fumbling, trying to get it to work. I like to create the illusion it's always perfect, straight outta the gate. That's not how it normally works. You just only see the final product. Here, you're seeing how the sausage is made. All right.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Action Sport Photography Gear List

Ratings and Reviews

Zoe Heimdal
 

I really enjoyed this class! I am not an "action sports photographer" -- just an avid photo enthusiast, and I found this class highly informative/interesting. Corey has a very down-to-earth quality in the way he presents information... a regular guy, who knows a ton, and is sharing his wisdom. Clearly many topics/tips were off-the-cuff as he ran into situations during his shoots -- it just felt very "real" -- like I was there with him, getting a private lesson. There was quite a bit of info dealing with camera cards/photos/apps that was ubiquitous to any photographer. And then it was interesting to hear about his travel bags and what he brings to shoots (a ridiculous amount of gear, but everything with a purpose). There are hours of on-site filming for an outdoor ski and an indoor bmx shot... with Cory trying/failing/succeeding in many attempts at things -- just like a real photo shoot would happen. His advice for capturing a good/workable shot from the get-go and then spending the time on the riskier/more-creative shots, was solid -- as far as keeping your clients happy no matter what. I was genuinely surprised at how interesting/useful I found this class (being that I rarely take action shots) -- and I'd encourage any photo enthusiast, or person in the earlier stages of any professional photography career, to check out this class. My one piece of constructive criticism for Cory/CreativeLive -- try to represent women? This class only had the briefest of inclusion of females, and left me with the impression (I'm hoping incorrectly), that the world of action sports photography, is a man's world.

a Creativelive Student
 

If you're looking to learn from one of the greats of action photography who also happens to be an incredible instructor, look no further! Corey Rich and his fantastic team will show you every facet of being a great action photographer and they share all of their insights from A to Z. Their instruction is heartfelt and they laid it all out there for everyone's benefit. A huge thank you to Creative Live and Red Bull Photography for bringing this to the world. This is a must have class in your library!

Student Work

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