Action photo on a sunday stroll

Photographer Marc Weiler explains the magic that happened during a performance of a BMX rider on an impressive iron “sculptured take-off ramp.”

Recently, when walking on Sunday, an iron sculpture with a big sickle in Rapperswil (Switzerland) caught my eyes.

On one side, it had a nearly perfect take-off ramp, so I pulled out my smartphone, called Corrado Squasi, a BMX rider, and two hours later we were ready for the shoot just before sunset, including equipment at the location.

I positioned my two Elinchrom flashe units ELB 1200 and ELB 400. I aimed the ELB 1200 at the main subject – the action while the ELB 400 served to illuminate the sculpture. I worked with a 1/1000s of shutter speed at aperture 4 (Canon 11-24 mm).

The sunset did the rest for a perfect lighting mood.

As a photographer, you should always have your eyes open!

When the sun had already set, we changed the side of the sculpture. On the back, I tried to make the “wall ride” by Corrado as attractive as possible in the context of the sculpture. When it was almost dark, I finally shot a portrait of Corrado.

My tip: Even on a Sunday walk you should always have your eyes open as a photographer!