Action Sports, Serious Chill Factors and Benjamin Grunow

1/27/2014

Intro by Skip Cohen

It's a new Luminary Corner guest post with outdoor photographer Benjamin Grunow and another point that makes this new feature on the SCU site so much fun...the diversity of the work being shared by some of the industry's most talented photographers.

Actually, it goes a lot deeper, because Panasonic's mirrorless LUMIX system is giving these artists the ability to photograph in so many different ways with lighter, easy to carry gear, giving them top shelf quality and results.

Check out more of Ben's work on Facebook andon his Vimeo page. You might not be an action sports photographer, but if Ben can capture images like these, just think what you can do shooting at your next event!

Watch the two videos below and it'll all make sense!

In addition to landscape photography I work in the action sports industry.

Let's just start by saying capturing images and video of skiers and snowboarders in negative degree weather makes it a little bit harder than it seems. This winter in the Northeast has been either raining or -30 degree weather with little bits of snow here and there. This makes it a bit difficult to capture all those "blue bird shots" you envision in your head.

Capturing with my Lumix GH3, all its pre-customizing presets and a Camtrol rig I have found many ways to make imaging a whole lot easier. If you have never heard of a Camtrol check them out www.camtrol.com. Camtrol is a rig that suspends the weight of you camera making it way easier to maneuver. It's especially easier for me while flying down the slopes and following athletes at speeds 40+ mph while they preform flips, spins, rails and etc. This rig does a whole lot more than that, but you can do some research on your own to check out all the other ways you can adjust it.

On the other hand the GH3 has been taking my action sports photography and videography to a whole new level. I now head up the ski lift with numerous light weight lenses. Having way less weight, I am able to maneuver more freely, not to mention a lot less back pain after a 8 hour day! :-)

I carry an additional battery grip to keep me charged all day long, even in minus degree weather. Often I can still continue shooting the next day. Remember with this mirrorless camera, I am able to capture the exact photographs to go along with the video in any sort of work that's being captured for my own team of athletes or any client.

Please take a look at some of the following videos I have put together.