Parkour is a beautiful art form that is very often captured with pictures or video. We do it all the time so we minds well learn how to get the best pictures and video we can. That is what I will be covering in this article.
Foreword
This article will give you tips that can be used for both taking pictures as well as video capture. Camera
First off get a good camera, nobody likes shoddy quality. A reasonable camera will cost you about $400 so start saving up. Once you have acquired your camera, take some time to get to know how it works. Learn all the fancy jargon such as "Aperture" and "shutter speed".
Camera position
Find interesting angles. Use your environment to your advantage. Perhaps you could climb a tree for a better shot of a certain move. Try to keep the horizon flat in the shot as a reference point, by turning your camera sideways or diagonally you distract the audience from the action (Bad). It is also important to keep the camera steady, shaky shots equal less than ideal final product. It is good to note that when filming it is better to be closer to the traceur in order to fill the screen with what’s going on. But when taking pictures it is better to be far away to show the magnitude of the move being performed.
Lighting
Make sure you have proper lighting in your shot, if you are lacking lighting it will be difficult to tell what's going on in the picture. The same goes for too much lighting. You can change the lighting of a picture by adjusting your camera's exposure. If you are trying to have a serious video, use lower exposure, Happy videos should use more vivid colors perhaps with higher exposure.
Background
Try to have a clear backdrop in your shots, such as the sky or a wall. If there is too much clutter in a shot, it will be confusing. But then again, confusing can be a filming strategy, it could be used in a chaotic video.
Tracking
This is very important! I see many people who forget this and it makes their videos quite hard to watch. Try to keep the Traceur in the center of the shot while they are running, then inch the camera ahead of them to show the obstacle they are approaching (make sure not to let the Traceur out of the shot).
Movement
The type of movement you want to show is really up to you. If you want to convey the true raw nature of parkour, have the traceur forget about the camera and just train as they usually would, capture him doing his own thing, do not intrude. Videos like this are usually less exciting but they are much more genuine to the parkour spirit. However if you want to portray a stunning version of parkour, make your moves look pretty, develop your own unique style and perfect it until you have it exactly where you want it. Film yourself constantly and look back at the footage for ways in which you could improve. Most importantly: move for yourself, not the camera. Don’t do a jump just because the camera is pointed your way, doing so goes against the basic morals of parkour.
Location
Find an Interesting place to film, with fun scenery and unique obstacles. People can sometimes get bored if you show only shots from one area, mix it up, be creative. If you have the option to travel the world , go for it and film in all sorts of exotic locations.
Conclusion
The above is what I have learned over time through both experience and research. There are many more guides to capturing Parkour and I recommend you search around and check those out as soon as possible. I would like to remind you all that these are not all rules to live by, experiment and find what works best for you. Until next time.