Gabe L’Heureux: Shaun Gregoire — Encinitas, California

The Image

Skater:
Shaun Gregoire

Photographer:
Gabe L’Heureux

Location:
Encinitas, CA

Time / Date:
6:19pm /March 10, 2013

The Technical

Gear:
Camera Body: Canon 1D Mark IV
Lens: Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye

Camera Settings:
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 15mm

The Story

Background: 

I spend most of my time shooting snowboarding and the athletes lives surrounding snowboarding. However I’m always looking for a great shot. I noticed that the construction crews put this giant culvert thing down my street last spring and instantly knew that I had to shoot it, quickly, before they moved it. Its not often that you find something like this, basically made for skateboarding and photography, on a bluff right next to the ocean.

The Scene: 

I called my friend Shaun Gregoire, a pro skateboarder that I knew from growing up in Washington, DC. I actually hadn’t shot with Shaun before but knew his abilities and knew he was the right person for this kind of feature. He rode his motorcycle down from Long Beach where he was living and we decided to try to shoot it as the sun was setting.

Gear: 

Initially I wanted to shoot this image with a long lens and did so. I was really happy with how the images came out but decided I might as well put the fisheye on and see how that looked. The fisheye seemed to give it a crazy sort of tunnel vision perspective and that seemed a little out of the ordinary.

Making the Shot:

To get this shot how I wanted it, I needed to correct lighting for sure. The sun needed to be directly behind the tube. I also needed there to not be a car parked right in front of it so you could still see the ocean. Lastly, it wasn’t easy to skate. The ribs of the culvert made it a challenge to get any sort of height on the wall so it took Shaun a bunch of tries before he got it figured out. A lot of times when I shoot into the sun I actually have the camera on live mode so its easier to focus without burning out the retina’s. I can’t remember if I used live mode to get this shot dialed or not.

Editing & Processing:

All I really did in post was bring down the blacks a little. That really made the orange light stand out on the ribs of the tube.

Looking Back:

It’s not easy choosing an image for a site like this that contains so many great images. Its always hard picking only one. I guess I chose this one because it was different that anything else featured on the site. I think it expresses my style in photography for sure. Everyone loves an artsy color filled image. This just happened to be involving skateboarding which is something I am passionate about.

Advice:

Always keep your eyes open. You never know what you are going to come across. Maybe your next good shot will be in your front yard. In this case I shot this because I knew it would make a good photo. Regardless of if I thought it would get published etc.

Inspiration:

I just like shooting photos and seeing what you can come up with. Its really fun accomplishing goals and seeing what comes out of ideas. Its also great seeing people stoked on the images that you shoot.

About the Photographer

My name is Gabe L’Heureux. Im a photographer and cinematographer for Burton Snowboards. I spend most of the year traveling around and documenting some of the worlds best snowboarders. In addition to shooting action I try to focus as much as possible on documentary and lifestyle photography. These genres are what I enjoy shooting the most. If you have a second check out my website, blog, and instragram feed.

Website: www.GLHbrandvisuals.com
Blog: www.outoftherain.blogspot.com
Instagram: @gabe_lheureux