I have been shooting wakeboarding for a few years and wanted to create an image that was unique to the sport. The idea for this image came up when I was looking for a way to incorporate both photographer and athlete into a single image. Many athletes in 2013 were blasting POV shots of their riding from GoPros. So I thought, what better way can it be done than showing the photographer’s point of view?
I always keep my grandfather’s old camera with a waist level viewfinder in my office, and it was perfect for the job. There were a lot of variables going into the shot. A very long (and techy) story short, this image was shot completely on my own and with zero Photoshop.
I used a Nikon D4 with a 24-70mm lens to create the main image. It was a live action shot from water level. It was lit by four Elinchrom Ranger Speed AS at full power. I had two mounted to the athletes’ riding boat and two mounted to a chase boat behind the athlete. The camera in the photo is a manual Hobiflex. It was set up to look at a 27 inch screen in my office. My D3S was then mounted on a tripod and put on timer mode so I could put my hands in frame.
The final image brings together two of the greatest sides of action sports photography for me; the sacred bond between athlete and photographer, and the history and present day of photography.