Nawfal Johnson Dance Photography. Photo 2: A Split Second during Ballroom Dancing. Photo 1: Same Ballroom Dancing image but a close-up shows that this decisive moment is a very strange accident where the male dancer’s button has become stuck on the female dancer’s fishnet stockings — they did get it undone without much of anyone else noticing, but I got the shot. Photo 3: This is Pritta, of the Temple of Fine Arts, performing a solo Bharatanatiyam (a form of Classical Indian Dance) piece, and she is captured as if paying tribute to Shiva, which is behind her. Photo 4: This is a Simi-Classical Style, a Manipur Drum Dance, and this photograph, again, was an unexpected twist of good luck for me, because I was able to capture the moment the dancer took flight with his drum — the decisive moment. This shot was especially difficult because this was taken back in the film-days, and in these live dance performances, NO Flash was allowed, and there was NO LCD Screen on the back of the camera (of course); therefore back in the ‘good’ol days’ of film, there was no such thing as ‘Chimping’ to see if you got the shot. As the Official Dance Performance Photographer, being paid by a client, I had to make sure I got the shots, NO – MATTER – WHAT! I know for a fact, that the “Manipur Drum Dance” image was taken using KONICA 800ASA Print Film — that was my preferred film for Dance Photography. As a rule, I ALWAYS anticipated that the Stage Lighting would be relatively horrible, and had to plan shots in my head, anticipating when the dancers would do something cool, and then be ready to press the shutter button.
DANCE & STAGE PERFORMANCES HAS BEEN MY CHOSEN FORMS OF ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY; however, it was the SKATEBOARDING PHOTOGRAPHERS of the 1970s, WHO GOT ME INTERESTED IN ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY and LEARNING TO CAPTURE THE DECISIVE MOMENT (PEAK MOMENTS OF ACTION)
I always loved skateboarding, although I was never that great at it; nevertheless, it was the AMAZING Photographs in each issue of the skateboarding magazines, like SKATEBOARD WORLD, that got me hooked on wanting to learn and master Action Photography, and Capturing the Decisive Moment.
Here are some of the types of photographs that I was mesmerized by, wondering ‘How did the Photographer get that shot?’ Not only did the skateboarding Photographers get the decisive moment shots, but these Pros showed extreme skills in balancing the fill light (on the skaters), with the ambient light of the environment. These guys were also using film and NOT Chimping, to get these cool images. In this post, I will show a few shots from one of my favourite, if not my favourite, Skateboarding Photographer, CRAIG FINEMAN.
COVER of SKATEBOARD WORLD Magazine, October 1977. This is the sort of photograph that got me interested in Skateboarding, and more importantly, Action Photography. I’m not sure who the Photographer was for this cover.
CRAIG FINEMAN
SKATEBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY by CRAIG FINEMAN: Photos 1 & 2: Brad Bowman. Photo 3: Lonnie Toft. Photo 4: The Legindary, late, Jay Adams, an original member of the Z-Boys (The Zephyr Competition Team of Santa Monica, CA). Photo 5: Tony Alva, also an original member of the Z-Boys. Photo 6: Steve Olson candid portrait.
Of all of the 1970s Skateboarding Photographers, Craig Fineman stands out to me, as I remember so many of his iconic skateboarding action images. Who knows how much film was used to get these sorts of great decisive moment shots, but who cares, Fineman delivered the goods all of the time.
Behind the Lens 
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