Tip & Tricks For Filming Skate Lines At Night

Filming anything at night is no easy task – never mind getting a banger skate line shot. But the cover of darkness affords many opportunities that would otherwise go uncaptured and with a bit of planning and the right tools it is possible to nail the shot, so here's some tips and tricks from a real pro.

As part of the Ride Channel's "In Focus" series, skate cinematographer Mike Manzoori lays out what he considers to be the most important factors while shooting at night in the video above.

Tired of lugging around $15,000 worth of huge lighting equipment, Manzoori's number one tip is to get a few LED lights to shoot with. These babies are small, light and much cheaper than traditional lighting rigs.

Pro Tip #1:

Create a multi-LED lighting rig that creates a more spread out light pattern – especially important when filming widescreen. This will help avoid a giant hotspot in the middle of your shots and keep things illuminated evenly. Check out the photo below to see how Mike rigs up his lights.

Source:In Focus – Ride Channel

Pro Tip #2

Dial in those setting to reflect the reduced natural light your camera is working with. Open that aperture right up and boost your iso/sensitivy as high as your camera will allow with decent quality.

Source:In Focus – Ride Channel

3- Pay attention to your White Balance as this is especially important in night shots.

4- Get up close to the action to ensure proper lighting and attention is payed to your main subject, the skater.

5- Get your athletes to wear bright clothes

6- Get to know proper color correction workflow in your favourite editing program so you can brighten up those shots as much as you can afterwards as well.

And of course … practice, practice, practice! There's just no substitute for getting to know your gear and how to best use it.

Now get out there and have fun shooting!