Parkour

Full Circle

After I was gifted with a GoPro Fusion by my friends at GoPro Japan, I soon discovered how unique and fun it is to shoot using a 360 camera for Parkour. I’d seen athletes with them before to make instagram content such as selfie stick parkour or extremely distorted wide angle videos. I felt like the camera could be better applied as a combination of the POV videos that I initially pioneered, and the classic viewpoint of parkour videos. Through a 360 camera, I can do extreme camera movements and reframe the video later. With this I wanted to make a video that would go back to one of Ampisound’s very first styles of parkour video, getting as close as possible.

World Chase Tag

I’ve been loosely following World Chase Tag for the last few years, watching it grow from its initial format into a more and more professional project. When I visit my friends in Tokyo, they have a Chase Tag arena set up at their gym. It seems the Japanese TV shows are really interested, so after learning more about it I have since been paying closer attention.

It was then I found out that my friends at Breach, a Parkour clothing brand and athlete team, were entering for the upcoming qualifiers in London. I was invited to join them on the day and chose to shoot the event for my own portfolio and to test out some new autofocus settings I’ve been playing with, considering I felt the low light may be a challenge.

What follow are a generally ‘ordered by team’ set of my images from the event. I shot about half of the matches, and spent time with the athletes watching during the others. The WTC team gave me an athlete pass which meant I could enjoy the event to its fullest and capture some nice images along the way.

Movement in March

After a cold and soggy few winter months, finally things started picking up through March & April. I’ve been meaning to try to feature more of the northern parkour scene, and Liverpool and Chester have lots of excellent spots and a fairly active community. We were visited by the guys from Marrero Gang, and I also of course am still frequently shooting around Cambridge.  I’ve been working on a lot of GoPro content recently, plus have a new Ampisound video thats now done but has been totally under the radar. I also shot a few images for the new MRG joggers that Marrero have coming out soon, so they are included here too.  We had such a hot easter weekend and I have a load of new content on the way, so enjoy the stuff below and keep an eye out for more soon!

Parkour Photos
with a GoPro

Throughout my time shooting parkour I have used various different cameras to capture movement. Ranging from point-and-shoot to professional grade but always an ‘actual camera’ and not an ‘action cam’ such as a GoPro. In the last couple of months however I have found myself with a GoPro in my pocket more and more!

In my initial years shooting parkour I relied heavily on the fisheye lens to give my images a sense of dynamism, however in recent years I found the look a bit cliche and moved away from it. Of course the GoPro only comes with a fisheye lens, and while there are some in camera options for linear generally the best results from a GoPro in photography come from embracing the fisheye.

I transfer the images using the GoPro app and then edit them on my phone. Previously if someone asked me what camera to get to start shooting parkour I would’ve said a Canon DSLR but now my recommendation is it GoPro for sure. Here is a collection of images I shot, mostly using the burst mode on the camera, which shoots up to 30 images in one second. Seriously its such a blessing to use because I can pick the exact perfect moment I want instead of having to try to onebang capture it like how I previously do.

Rowley Way

The Alexandra Road Estate, more commonly referred to as ‘Rowley Way’ is one of the most visually interesting estates in London. Built in the late 1970s and designed by Neave Brown, the estate is renowned for its grand curving nature and unique architectural elements. I visited the estate with parkour athlete and friend, George Mayfield to capture this series of images, where we were given a tour by Rowley way resident and architect, Hamish Hertford. It was was enlightening to have Hamish providing us with explanation of the features of the construction and design on the estate, and I hope to do more architecture focused stuff in the future!

Jumps in June

There are so many parkour images in my hometown that I’ve shot, sometimes I forget what I have and haven’t captured. My ideas have had to get more and more creative, and in a way, being put in the box of a place I know so well just forces me to adapt and commit to bigger and bigger photographic ideas. This June, I decided I wanted to tick off two big photos I’d always wanted to get, so here they are.

Jessie Graff in London

Jessie Graff is probably the most accomplished female Ninja Warrior competitor in the world. I was recently offered an opportunity to shoot with her while she is in London working on a movie. We met at the Southbank along with my friend and Ninja Warrior course tester, Shane Griffin, with the goal of capturing some images featuring iconic London scenes as a backdrop. Shooting a new athlete can be challenging sometimes, especially considering that opportunities for movement are not as common when specifically looking for iconic scenes, but we had a spot of luck with a London bus and I think the final results are great!

Rooftop Parkour POV

This year, I’ve made a commitment to post one video a month on the Ampisound Youtube Channel. Thus far, I’ve published three videos, with our Rooftop Parkour POV achieving success at almost 200,000 views at time of writing.

The Parkour POV features athlete Connor Walker, moving across various new locations and spots. I wanted to make sure that all the lines in the video had never been seen on the Ampisound channel before, so we visited new places to shoot, which I think is key to creating interesting POV videos. I’m always keen for them to feel cohesive in terms of lighting and colour, and I did a lot of colour work to make sure the transitions and cuts felt smooth.

Cambridge Toehang

In this new blog post format ‘behind the image’ I’m going to be looking at a photo I have taken with an interesting story, and sharing what went into its capture. To start things off, we’re looking at a photo I took eight years ago when Phil Doyle hung by his feet off the edge of a rooftop in Cambridge…

Lorena Abreu

Lorena Abreu has been on my radar as one of the upcoming female American athletes to keep an eye on. I finally got to meet her in person a few years ago at the 4 The Love of Movement jam in Holland, and recently saw her again at this years 2017 edition. After, she hit me up and suggested we shoot together while she was in the UK, so we got together one evening to capture a few images.

Lorena was so passionate with each setup we captured, which made for images which translate well to her energy and character.

Shot with Canon 5D mk3, 16-35 & 24-70 f/2.8 or 85 f/1.4. Natural Light & 1x Yongnuo LED panel for fill & catchlights.

On Set: Dying Light Parkour POV

Now that the Dying Light project is out, I can also release a few images from the production. We shot over three days in Cambridge, last november, and had to battle the english weather a little bit. Its been one of my favourite projects for a few reasons. It was a lot of fun working with athletes I have known for years, and their commitment and confidence in the project allowed me to get the results I wanted usually in the first or second take of a sequence. Here are a few images from the shoot!

FH2T London Jam

Those chaps from across the pond are back in the UK capital again, screening the feature length documentary of their world tour, From Here to There. Jesse La Flair and Corey DeMeyers are two US athletes who have been pushing hard on the media this year and making big things happen. I went to London to hang out with them for the day and shot a couple of photos during the jam.