At The Skate Park

Saturday afternoon I went to the local skate Park for a couple of hours. I'd never been before, what a great well used place. The youngsters were happy for me to snap away. The light wasn't great and when I got home and looked at the images I was struggling to see much good in my efforts to be truthful. Tuesday evening I had the thought about converting them to black and white. I think it has made all the difference, here's a little selection for any observations and comments you might have.

Excellent action shots those Nigel...i'd be delighted with them if they were mine.

Have to say though those skateparks look lethal to me...must keep the local A&E going!

Regards

Karlo

B+W suits them very well. It's difficult I guess with the background cutting through the subject, and I think b+w makes this less noticeable. 2; 4; and 7 are great but 9 is the fave for me.

Well done good looking shots, and exhibitionists....lol

Such a shame Pentax can't capture action

Great little set, and yes the choice of B&W really does suit (IMO)

Cheers Karlo. I'd have to agree about looking lethal, all that concrete and steel edging!

Thank you Peter, I couldn't believe my luck when the lad in No.9 came up and asked me to photograph him and went straight into pose.

Cheers Stuart, there was a much friendlier vibe than I'd expected, I did wonder if some of them put in a bit of extra effort for the camera.

That's what's wrong with them! If only I had a Canikon!

What a super set,
Bw definitely suits these.
You've captured the action perfectly, loads going on in the background too, so there's more to see than you see at first glance.
Did you chat to them before you started shooting or just shoot ?
Great idea well executed 👏👏👏

Well photographed and most suitable post processing.

Best regards

Cheers Gary and Derek. Derek I did talk to a couple of them when I first arrived and they didn't think anyone would mind me taking photographs. Once I'd started a couple of others came over and asked why I was photographing them out of curiosity rather than there being a problem. After a while a couple of others approached me and actually requested I photograph them, all very friendly, great to see so many youngsters enjoying the facility.

These are great Nigel and very different from what we normally see. I agree that black and white is the way to go, it suits the theme perfectly.

Regards
David

Love these Nigel... great set... great action shots, but also lots more... great studies in concentration, and has been said elsewhere, plenty going on in the background too... really like no6 for that in particular, for the couple back of shot, really nicely framed beneath the boarders arm... vnice set all round...

Best

Lovely set, different from most skate photos I've seen - rather than going for the spectacular, the emphasis on concentration and effort, as well as the inclusion of context, as others have said, keeps us within a humanist approach that works wonders.