ing
SHO
112AM 6AM
TUES&THUR
There are a million angles that a
skate scene can be shot from. Beauty,
excitement, intensity, comedy and
emotion are all in the eyes of the
beholder. In other words, one person's
masterpiece is another's doormat.
You can talk about all the latest cam-
era equipment, accessories, carrying
cases and Nikon ballcaps, but until
you get out there, lay in the gutter
and start burning film you won't get
anything at all. Here's a beginning
photo guide for the clueless.
EQUIPMENT
Cameras There are more cameras on the market than you can ever
see in a lifetime. From totally automatic focus and film speed to dispos
able snappers where the film is the camera. The most important detail
about your first camera is that it should use 35mm film. Don't waste time
with those 110 cartridge jobs. A good place to get started is a hand-me-
down junker from dad or uncle. Scour garage sales and thrift shops and
you can usually find a serviceable manual function 35 mm SLR (Single
Lens Reflex) for next to nothing.
Lenses Cheaper cameras usually have a fixed focus or non-removable
50mm lens which gives you a human eye perspective of your subject. A
50 mm lens will take good portraits and scenic vistas, but it lacks the wide
angle perspective for close-in action. Still, you should master the tech-
niques of composition and stopping the action with the basic 50mm before
you move on to anything else. Fisheye lenses (15mm) allow you to get
within two or three feet of your subject yet still fit them and the background
into the frame. Telephoto lenses (anything over 100mm) bring the action
close but require a steady hand, if not a tripod, and precise focus to get a
crisp shot. Special lenses like fisheyes, zooms and telephotos also cost
more than the normal 50 mm..
Flash in dark or low light conditions, a flash will freeze the action by
bouncing light off your subject and back into your camera. In most cases,
a flash is only good to a distance of 15-20 feet. You can use faster film
like 400 ASA to maximize this distance and also get more background
definition from the natural/available light. A slave is a device triggered by
the flash on that sets off a second off-camera flash and is used to get
more dramatic back-lit effects and more light for longer lenses.
EXPRESS MA
NEXT DAY SERVIC
34 TH
Wade Speyer is dually
exposed on the streets
of San Francisco.
Photos respectively
by Bryce Kanights
and Chris Ortiz.