How to be a Skateboarding Photographer
Much like the tormenting and uncomfortable profession of music photography, skate photography is high-risk and physically demanding.
Where concert photographers risk getting beers poured on their equipment, skate photographers often risk taking a board to the face. You will be in the sun, sweating and contorted beneath a handrail, splayed across a stair set, in the soggy pit of a drainage ditch, or lying on the cold hard ground for however long it may take them to get this manny sequence (fucking hours).
It is a thankless, underpaid, underappreciated, unglorified, deeply uncomfortable profession to enter, so we spoke to some professionals who have been torturing themselves with it for years, to find out what piece of equipment they deem indispensable, and what single piece of advice they’d give to the younger generation of skateboarding photographer masochists.
‘This photo has become a kind of a joke between my buddy Mikey and i. We were skating at les one morning and he was backside tailsliding this bar over and over again, so i went to shoot a photo of it. I kneeled down to focus and he came over and said, ‘oh, you should see what it looks like with the reflection in the puddle.’ i replied, ‘no, that’s whack,’ and walked over to the other side of the puddle to prove him wrong. I only shot one frame of this tailside and when i looked at the back of my camera, I instantly knew this was my new favourite photo. Always be open to critique and suggestions!’
Rob Collins @robcollinsphoto
What is the most important thing to have (besides a camera)?
I would say two things. First, extra batteries. There have been so many times I have thought the batteries in my flashes were charged and then they die right as I set them up. The other would be wax in a plastic bag. Most skaters have wax with them, but sometimes it’s left in the car far away or not easy to get to. I started putting my wax in Altoid containers so when the wax melts in the summertime, it doesn’t melt all over my bag.
What piece of advice would you give to beginner/future skate photographers?
Two things here as well. When I was younger, I used to email or DM my favourite photographers and ask them to critique my photos and tell me everything that I was doing wrong in them. I was lucky enough to have most of them respond and give me some feedback on what was working or not working. So that was the fastest way for me to improve. The other thing I think is super important is to keep skating yourself. Shooting skating can get pretty boring if you are there only shooting and not skating. It’s important for you to understand the struggle some skaters are going through when trying a trick for hours and hours firsthand.
‘I love this photo of my homie Tremain. This photo is a reminder to not shoot fisheye all the time—I love fisheye but in this scenario, the flowers added such a beautiful touch to the photo. Sometimes it’s good to step back, look around and found those little details that can make a photo even better.’
Norma Ibarra @lapir0
What is the most important thing to have (besides a camera)?
For me, it is the little fabric to clean the lenses. Gear-wise, since adding lighting to my photography things changed drastically; started with a flash then invested in a bigger strobe. Lastly, having wax is always useful.
What piece of advice would you give to beginner/future skate photographers?
My recommendation is to volunteer as much as you can and show up at events you care for. In my case, there was a need for people documenting my community, but there is still a need for more non-traditional photographers documenting our scene. So yeah, so show up for your favourite organisation, volunteer and submit your work to zines that are open to look at your work, and also finding a mentor who can be there to answer questions is super helpful. Hit me up on Instagram, I try to answer all my messages!
‘Here is a photograph of my friend, Wes Tonascia, doing a backside smith grind at Big Jesse’s ramp in San Jose, California. The reason I love this photo is that there was a small branch that was laying over the coping and when Wes did the grind, it snapped off and is floating in the air. And yes, there is a tree in the middle of the ramp.’
Jai Tanju @iajujnat
What is the most important thing to have (besides a camera)?
The piece of skateboarding photography equipment that is indispensable to me is my hard case. It can withstand a ton of boards being thrown on top of it in the back of the van and doubles as a chair when I want to sit down.
What piece of advice would you give to beginner/future skate photographers?
The piece of advice I would give is to learn how to use your camera by playing and experimenting with it. There is so much it can do if given the chance… Be a kid, have ideas, shoot your friends and see what happens. Also, don’t be afraid to talk to and befriend other photographers, because you can always learn more.
‘This photo of Bobby Worrest has always been a favourite of mine. Shooting photos at ledge spots can be a challenge, but I was able to find this cool metal grate to shoot through from a walkway above the spot to make this back tail look a little bit different.’
Alex Papke @alex_papke
What is the most important thing to have (besides a camera)?
When I first started shooting skate photos 11 years ago, I always thought I had to have the nicest camera, lenses, lights, etcetera to get shots like the pros. It took damn near 10 years to realise that while those things are definitely important, the little things are the icing on the cake. A ladder, extra batteries, sandbags, loads of steel stick, high visibility, and spare socks are just a few of my favourite things to keep in the back of my car when I’m out shooting to make my life that much more stress-free. The newest addition to the back seat is the Igloo Kooltunes. It keeps all of my bevs ice-cold while bumping music to keep the good vibes going when you’re sweating it out in a 100-degree ditch—a skate photographer’s dream! More impressively, all of this somehow fits in the trunk of a Honda Civic.
What piece of advice would you give to beginner/future skate photographers?
My number one piece of advice is to shoot loads of things that aren’t skateboarding. Branch out and get comfortable shooting photos that aren’t all vertical fisheye photos from the bottom of a set of stairs, that will help you in the long run. Besides that, just make your shit look a little bit different than everyone else, so it can stand out. If you’re trying to pitch your work for editorial use, work on conceptualising your photos. If you send a batch of photos to someone like Burnett, they would rather hear a good story than ‘here’s 10 photos, what can you do with them?’
Chima Ferguson, 2022, for the cover of Monster Children #70.
Andrew Peters @andrewjamespeters
What is the most important thing to have (besides a camera)?
An excuse to leave the session. When the team manager or filmer says ‘Just jump in the van,’ say, ‘Oh, I got too much gear in my car.’ Who knows what could happen? You could be held hostage while some dude tries a trick for seven hours. You need a solid excuse to get out of there and a mode of transport. Do not get in the van, at any expense.
What piece of advice would you give to beginner/future skate photographers?
Go out skating and shoot everything, not just the tricks but the culture around it, all the portraits, travel photos etcetera. There is no money in it, so you gotta be in it just because you love it. There’s money in photography, just not skate photography.