#2 – The Almighty Fisheye

A staple of action sports photography. The go to piece of equipment for any and all filmers. With its almost 180 degree field of view, the fisheye lens is perfect for capturing close up action shots. Suited perfectly for following a rider on a long line or capturing the scope of a gnarly setup. I’d recommend one of the cheaper Korean made fisheye lenses such as the Samyang 8mm, which can be picked up for under £200. Cheap, sharp and built like a tank.

#3 – The 50mm Lens

In contrast to the fisheye this lens will provide a narrower field of view. The focal length of 50mm is what’s called standard length. This will provide a better magnification factor, with relatively flat perspective, much like human vision. This will give your shots a more true-to-life look and enable you to shoot the action from a little further away. The Canon 50mm f1.8 lens pictured above seems a bit flimsy when compared to the bulky mechanical fisheye but it makes nice sharp images, it’s great in low light conditions and it’s damn cheap too. These can be bought new for under £100 but it’s easy to find a good used one on eBay for about £50.

#6 – Learn Techniques

Getting started is by far the most difficult part. Exposure, aperture, shutter speeds, resolutions, codecs, white balance and on and on and on… There’s a lot to take in and it can be overwhelming at first.

Luckily, we are living in the future and via the power of YouTube you can learn practically anything for free. Sit down and watch videos that cover the basic setup and use of your camera. It might seem boring but we’ve all gotta start somewhere.

#7 – Tripod

It’s got 3 legs and just sits there… Well, yeah, pretty much.

Nobody likes to watch shaky and unstable footage. It makes you feel queasy and looks shitty. Using a tripod will take your production value up a notch – it really is an invaluable tool for shooting video. Be it for panning a shot to follow a rider or planted to capture a static angle, it will make all your shots that much better looking.

Budget options will be fine for static shots but if you want smooth panning it’s worth investing in a fluid tripod head, which has sealed fluid cartridges to ensure smooth movement.

#8 – Camera Bag

After dropping bare cash on all this camera gear, are you just going to throw it into your bag with that block of wax and can of beer? Of course not! With a little care, camera gear can last you a lifetime. Really heavy duty bags can cost hundreds but you can pick up a decent enough little camera backpack from Amazon for around £20. It would be rude not to.

#10 – Practice

Practice makes perfect – the golden rule of life. Forget what you heard in school, this part actually matters. Just like riding a bike, the more you do it the better you will become. Practice shooting whenever possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s filming a mate or even something non-BMX related. The more you use your camera, the more confident you’ll feel with it. You’ll start to get the hang of exposing a scene and how to compose each shot. Both come with time. Then, when it matters, you’ll be prepared.

Filming a self shot video (shout out to Dan Foley and Tim Knoll) is a great way to learn. Not only do you have to think about camera exposure but you have to be mindful of angles and composing the shot. This is by far one of the best ways to learn basic techniques. Go find a spot and get to it!