Sports

When it comes to getting the shot, I can’t think of many genres of photography where more guts are required than that of climbing photography. Not only do the climbers have to scale seemingly impossible routes, but the photographers are more often than not right on the wall with the climbers, lugging DSLRs and a few lenses up with them too. Check out some jaw-dropping photos after the jump.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to take the best sports images in the world? You know, those photos that become posters and magazine covers? Well recently we caught up with four of the photographers from Sports Illustrated during the biggest game in college football and asked them what makes a great sports image. Click the full post to read about our experience and hear from the masters themselves.

This picture may look fake but I have video proof that it is 100% real. Alex Thomson really is standing on the keel of a speeding sailboat leaning violently on it’s side. This image took multiple attempts all caught on video. Check out the full post to see this BTSV and 5 images taken from the stunt.

In this video, Photographer Tyler Oxendine takes us behind the scenes on his shoot for the 2012 D1 Combine Class. In the first lighting setup, he’s using two Alienbee B800′s with a PLM Umbrella and a yellow gel attached. In the second setup, Tyler dropped down to using just one of the Alienbee B800′s with a PLM Umbrella. In his third and final setup, he used a simple Canon 580ex speedlight inside of a Photoflex LiteDome.

In this behind the scenes video from Vimeo (say that five times fast!), we get a look at the wide variety of gear that is used to capture the action at Winter X. From freelance photographers and videographers to full-scale production efforts, this video has a little bit of everything. See the video, which displays a staggering amount of gear, in the full post.

Chris Burkard spends his days traveling to some of the planet’s most magnificent beaches, where he navigates all sorts of technical complications in search of the perfect surfing shot. Despite obstacles such as drunk Chilean boat captains, salt water corrosion, and even being thrown in a Russian prison, Burkard continually manages to capture the moment, the beauty of the landscape, and create timeless photographs. The Surfer magazine staff photographer has traveled the globe, won the Red Bull illume photo competition, and released photo book The California Surf Project… and he’s only 25 years old. Fstoppers catches up with the globe-trotting youngster to ask about his gear, craziest stories, and the technical aspects of shooting in the water. Hear Chris talk about his work in the video below, and then read the full FS Spotlight interview.

Few photographers can nonchalantly say, “Yeah, I’ve had blood splashed on my camera.” But for sports photographer Joshua Hedges, 12 year veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, it’s just another day in the office.

The West Texas native has been become known for his mixed martial arts photography, and his work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA Today, Time magazine, The New York Times, and The LA Times. Fstoppers catches up with Hedges to hear about his favorite fight, why shooting the UFC is different from other sports, and staying focused while two guys pummel each other. Check out the full FS Spotlight interview!

A few days ago we showed you what it’s like to be a Sport Illustrated Editor. The NFL Conference Championship games are about kick off in a few hours so it seems fitting to bring you San Francisco 49ers team photographer Michael Zagaris as he talks about capturing the two key plays of the ’9ers Division Championship game. Enjoy!

The filmmakers at Louder Than 11 shot this documentary in Yosemite Valley and have made it freely available for anyone. While most of this visually-rich film shows bouldering, it’s all about the stories of the climbers, including the filmmakers themselves, who talk about balancing their passions for climbing and filmmaking. This has arguably some of the best graphics and editing I’ve seen in a rock climbing video. Shot on an AF100.

If you are a sports fan, you are going to love this interview. Grover over at Photoshelter recently interviewed Sports Illustrated Director of Photography Steve Fine. Steve’s job is to pick out the absolute best “super selects” from a handful of sports photographers and publish those photos in record time (sometimes within hours).

I recently met Steve and what I found interesting about his job is not only the insane amount of work that goes into finding the absolute cream of the crop photos but also how important Steve’s eye has to be to tell the story of each game in only a handful of frames. With SI, their photo team winds up with dozens if not hundreds of great images but only a very select few can be published to represent the final theme of the game. The following interview is pretty long but definitely worth checking out, especially if you are interested in knowing how sports photography or wired images are used to create the magazines we see on newsstands daily. Enjoy!

“The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water. Kelly Slater described the day by saying “witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people’s lives all day long, it’s life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life.”"

Check out this beautifully shot video made by Corey Rich of Lake Tahoe, CA. The video shows off not only the incredible capabilities of the Nikon D4 (be sure to watch it in HD and full screen), but also offers inspiring footage of three athletes in action: Alex Honnold, a free-solo climber, Dane Jackson, kayaker, and Rebecca Rusch, an ultra-endurance athlete. The final product combines both time lapse footage and video footage, which according to Corey was recorded directly to CF, and all of the interview audio came directly off the camera. Now that I mention it, you might want to grab your headphones while you watch this video.

If you’ve watched an american football game, you’ve seen those cool shots from high up in the air. They come from a camera called the Skycam which was actually invented by the same people who designed the Steadicam used in movie productions. It’s basically a remote camera controlled by four computer driven suspension cables. But what happens when everything goes wrong and the camera comes crashing to the ground? Well that’s exactly what happened during the 2011 Insight College Bowl Game featuring Iowa and Oklahoma. Luckily the camera missed landing on any of the players but it sure did come close. Check out the full post to see a behind the scenes video on how the Skycam works.

Hey guys, my name is Lauren and I’m the newest addition to the Fstoppers team. Having lived in Charleston for a while, I have many friends who are huge surfers. This campaign video is super creative and it has really sparked my imagination. Even if you’re not the least bit interested in surfing, the use of these portable neon lights can be used for all sorts of photo projects. This glow-in-the-dark surf session was part of the cider company Strongbow’s “Welcome to Summer” campaign. Click the full post to watch a second video explaining how they used Electroluminescent wire (EL Wire) to light up their suits and boards. Maybe this will spark some imagination for those of you who still need to create a video for our Behind the Scenes Contest.

If you are from the US, then chances are every Monday night your television is tuned into football. Monday Night Football is a cultural staple in North America and one of the largest traveling media productions around. ESPN sports announcer Mike Tirico (surely you recognize his voice) gives a great commentary to this slideshow of behind the scenes images as you get a tour throughout the entire Monday Night Football experience. Everything from the meetings, the cue cards, the commentary booth, the cameras, and the production trailers are included in this fun look into one of my own favorite sports (not sure what happened to the audio guys though). It’s pretty incredible to see this circus of technology and then realize this whole team travels the entire country week in and week out.