Parkour Running Photography Lighting Techniques

Lighting  •  Photography Tips

Parkour is the art of moving from one place to another most efficiently. It has been widely popularized via YouTube videos and video games using the fluid movement techniques for characters. Parkour also gives photographers an opportunity to capture compelling action shots and experiment with motion control. In the following video, photographer Benjamin Von Wong demonstrates lighting techniques for parkour photography:

Because so many models were involved in each shot, Von Wong shot each photo keeping in mind that he may use them to create composite images in post-processing. This meant that each photo that was meant for a composite image had to include the same types of lighting. Once he had captured photos of each subject with the same camera and lighting positions, he moved the camera and lighting for a new set up and potential composite image.

The alleyway in which the images were shot didn’t have much natural light, so light sources were positioned to illuminate the subjects from multiple directions. To ensure proper lighting, two Elinchrom Ranger RXs were placed on either side of the models, with two Elinchrom Ranger Quadras lighting them from above. Elinchrom Rotalux Octa and Deep Octa softboxes were used to evenly distribute the lighting. Having the subjects illuminated from all three directions freed the photographer to focus on the composition and timing of each photograph.