Skateboarding mightn’t be an obvious one when it comes to capturing awesome GoPro/Insta360 action cam shots. Unlike, say windsurfing, where there’s a tubular element to attach your Flymount (the sail’s mast) skateboarding doesn’t have this. It’s just the rider and board. And yet, as with everything in life, where there’s a will there’s a way. Proving again that Flymount GoPro/Insta360 action cam mounts have incredible versatility and range of use.
This article covers the following –
Types of skateboarding – GoPro/Insta360 shot choices.
Skateboarding these days isn’t just about lobbing yourself down multiple flights of stairs or ollieing huge gaps. There’s a whole plethora of skaters who choose to ride on the flat. Longboards and surf skates have been growing in popularity with the average age of skateboarders rising in the last few years. It’s not uncommon to find 60+yr old skaters at your local park.
Flymount Aero-40 Ultralight Action Camera Mount
Depending what type of skating you err towards will dictate the type of shot you’re after in a lot of cases. Flatland carving photos, skate park bowl riding images, downhill shredding, slide shots, or anything else you can think of. Whatever your goal a Flymount action camera mount will help you achieve it.
Mounting options.
You may be surprised to learn that some GoPro/Insta360 skateboarders do use their boards as mounting points. A Flymount action camera mount will clamp to either the tail or nose of a skateboard. The rider has to then adjust the cam’s angle. But we’ll admit, this can often result in shots of legs/ankles or no depth. AKA: not the best results.
Using a variety of ‘tools’ skaters can mount their action cams in all kinds of places. For flat land longboarding you may fancy using a selfie stick. Extending away from the action your camera will pick up your antics just fine. In this guise we know of some who use a SUP paddle for additional reach. There’s a whole fringe skate movement surrounding land paddling. A type of hybrid skateboard. paddle board land based discipline the rider will automatically have a ‘paddle’ (stick/pole) with which a GoPro or Insta360 can mounted. Any surface with a static, tubular object is also ripe for a Flymount being clamped to it. This allows skaters to slide past and nail that all-important action.
Flymount skate park shots.
Perhaps some of the most dynamic POV skateboarding photos you can achieve with a Flymount and action cam are in the park. Skate parks tend to have plenty of solid mounting points, such as the coping running around the top of vert obstacles.
Securing to the coping skaters can then angle their action cam accordingly and capture all sorts of shenanigans. In particular, one of the most fun shots is when your cam is pointing parallel along the top of the coping as the skater in question 50/50s, axle stalls or stomps whatever other top turn trick they fancy. Being close enough, yet far enough away gives a good depth of field. And with good weather this can yield some awesome results! If you have any high points in your local park, that a Flymount can be affixed to then this also gives a unique angle as the rider skates beneath.
Other points to consider when shooting skateboarding.
As with all types of riding – whether on water or land – you should consider a few points in order to nail those awesome GoPro/Insta 360 action cam shots.
- Sunny days are golden days. Bluebird skies are ideal but brighter is always better than dull and overcast.
- Dynamic skating is preferred. You need to exaggerate your movements when shooting POV style. Just don’t over-egg it to the point you sustain an injury.
- Ride as close as possible. Action cams don’t like far-away shots. You need to get up close and personal with your action cam.
- Make sure your action camera is charged and you have enough room on your SD card.
- Set your camera to time lapse mode. This means you can leave it snapping at 1-second intervals while you concentrate on riding.
- Experiment with different angles if you can. This will make for even more interesting photos.
Don’t forget to edit your shots!
We mentioned above how skateboarding action camera shooting best practice requires the rider to set their cam to time lapse mode. With a big enough SD card that’ll result in a lot of pics. Especially if you have the shutter speed at 1 sec intervals. But it’ll be worth it for the results. Over the session’s length, you should be able to nail a handful of decent images. But you’ll have to sift through it all once back home. And also edit where necessary.
It’s been said before in other Flymount how tos but to reiterate: editing your GoPro/Insta360 photos can often lead to gold. You may spot potential with a particular shot. But only once you’ve cropped in, or altered the exposure, will the true nature of the photo be revealed. We’re not suggesting go all out Photoshop style and fake it. Only small edits will be needed. And you want the shot to be credible. A couple of tweaks, however, will often be worth it to end up a with few keepers.
Shooting other skateboarders with a Flymount and action cam.
Flymount Original Action Camera Mount
Shooting other skaters is possible with a Flymount and action camera. Mounting your Flymount and GoPro/Insta360 on some form of pole is the first step. Next up is riding, running and positioning yourself as close to the skater as possible (without smashing into them of course). Don’t do yourself or the skater an injury!
If you’re aux fait with the skater’s riding style, and have outlined the planned shot beforehand, snapping manually could work. As with all types of action cam shots, however, we’d recommend using the time lapse feature to not miss any action. Inspecting the evidence after, and editing accordingly, is the best practice.
Summing up how to nail skateboarding action cam shots.
With a little thought, there’s plenty of reason to use a Flymount and action camera for shooting skateboarding. Being able to set up the shot beforehand gives a little more time than when shooting on the water – as with windsurfing or wing foiling (which is often in the moment).
Being prepared gives the opportunity to nail some great skate shots and shows just how much versatility a Flymount action camera mount has.
Recent Comments