And I can tell you this, straight away we're starting with natural light and as I look at the window light pouring in you know, I'm seeing it come and go but as a photographer I can't help but look at this light and think I want to figure out what Corey can do in these rectangles of light because it's really, really cool looking. Hey Corey when you're ready maybe roll over and we'll introduce you to Cameron. Figure out what we're doing. It's very rare that I get to work with another Corey. Hey man thanks for coming out yeah it's really a treat. So Corey I was just explaining to everyone that's watching online that this is not my wheelhouse. I'm not a guy, you know years ago I did one multi day BMX shoot for Sport Illustrated and it was with one of the greats in the BMX world, Dave Mira who sadly is- Oh God, yeah a legend. Who is no longer with us. Rest in peace. But I learned a ton on that shoot. I mean I watched him, I sort of went in totally naive and he sort of educated me a...

nd schooled me on what's possible and what's cool and but it's been a few years and now I'm gonna rely on you to kind of explain the same thing. Hopefully you don't have the same expectation levels. Aw come on, give me a break. Maybe one thing you can explain is and I'm sort of doing this dialogue one because I need to know but two I think it's important for anyone that's watching. You know all ideally Corey and I would have met up yesterday and had coffee or drinks or dinner and we would have actually sat and talked for a few hours where I get to understand who he is, he understands who I am and what we're trying to accomplish. And part of that is just it's just the comfort of the more time you spend with anyone the more comfortable you both become. Absolutely and that's totally true because you spend time with your photographers you know, throughout my career I've gotten a lot more comfortable with certain people that go on certain trips versus a new photographer coming on a trip and you're like, a little eerie about shooting something versus like I know this guy's gonna get it. I'm zoned in, I'm confident you know? And I think you make a really great point. In my world you know, turns out many of the athletes I've grown up with we've become best of friends and we've traveled the globe together repeatedly and it's that mutual comfort. You know as a photographer your responsibility is you better bring back the goods. Bring back the pictures or it doesn't matter how nice you are but if you can bring back the goods and the athlete likes you and there's a relationship it's sort of the winning combination. It's sort of you want to work with the people that you enjoy. Guarantee to get more work. For sure. Yeah partnership. So tell me, give me the top level view. You specialize in BMX street which means? Correct. I guess like technically that's what I'm labeled as as like a professional street rider. I grew up riding a lot of ramp stuff. Mostly smaller things like this and transferred into all street kind of thing roughly like eight years ago. That's just been my niche since then. I have a passion for filming so when I go out with friends and teams generally just collect footage and work on video projects and then we have a photographer along the way as well to capture the moments and behind the scenes and portraits and things like that. So normally I don't ride stuff like this but I enjoy riding it. Got it. You're sort of the normal days you're out in an urban environment and you're looking for cool features, man made features or natural features combined with man made features and figuring out what you can do, what's possible. Yeah like you know, what's possible. Correct. So for me, it's like I'm a street rider so I generally look for specific setups with handrails, stairs, wall rides, if you go to Europe a lot times you look at the architect there they just build things completely different. A lot of transitions. So I don't ride tranny that much to whatever compete and all that but I do enjoy riding a nice transition setup if you find one particular for you that you can be creative with. That's kind of what I do. I like to do that stuff but just rails, ledges I have fun on all that stuff even more urban street stuff. Cool. That's great.

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Action Sport Photography Gear List

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Corey Rich

Corey Rich has built a life and career around his passions for travel, adventure, and telling stories with his camera. With a background in rock climbing and photojournalism, Corey’s work spans a range of genres, from iconic still imagery for leading editorial publications, to television spots and films, to directing high-production-value commercial projects for Fortune 100 companies. 

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topics covered in this class

Commercial Adventure & Sports Digital Photography Digital Photography Digital Photography

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!

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Building a Rapport with the Athlete: BMX Rider

Building a Rapport with the Athlete: BMX Rider

Lesson Info

32. Building a Rapport with the Athlete: BMX Rider

Lessons

Class Introduction

What Makes A Great Action Photo

Conceptualize the Shoot

Research Location / Wardrobe / Props for Action Shoot

Safety Tips for Action Photographers

What Gear Do I Need? Packing and Prep

Workflow and Asset Management

Ingesting and Organizing Files

Editing Down Your Selects

Post Processing Overview

Working with Clients to Select Finals

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 1

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 2

Retouching & Post Processing: Image 3

Final Client Delivery

Introduction to Snow Athletes

Setting up the Shot: Using Natural Light

Getting that First Action Shot: Snow Park

Scouting Location for Action Shot: Snow Park

Capturing Variation of Snow Park Action Shot

Refining the Snow Park Action Shot

Action Shot with Strobes Overview

Shoot: Action Shot with Strobes

How to Light Using Strobes

Action Shoot: Snow Park with Strobes

Refining the Snow Park Action Shoot: Using Strobes

Capturing Variation with Snow Park Athletes

Capturing Portraits: Snowboarder

Capturing Portrait: Skier

Shoot: Feature Jump Action Shot Afternoon Natural Light

Introduction to Today's Shoot