Tumble Time!

I am currently in the midst of shooting my major folio for RMIT. My photographic life has gone from ‘one day it would be neat to do this’ to “ok, lets actually do this and I only have 2 hours to do it in – don’t screw it up”

I have always wanted to shoot a gymnast doing a tumble pass. The tricky part was to get fast enough lights to freeze the movement of the gymnast. I hired out the Broncolor Scoro from the friendly bunch at Sun Studios in Melbourne. If there is ever a lighting kit on steroids, trust me, this is it!

Second step – add gymnast.

I put a casting out for an exceptional gymnast – Emily Atherton, a talented level 5 cheerleader and ex gymnast at Outlaw All Stars in Melbourne messaged me. She was as excited as I was about the shoot, and had level 5 tumbling skills – a perfect mix!

As tumbling is hard on the body, I needed a gym with a sprung floor to shoot in – Royal All Stars in Narre Warren helped me out with this (they also helped me out with my book – you can check that out here)

With the help of my two assistants, Cameron Cooke, and Daniel Campbell, set up and shooting was a breeze. I thank them very much for giving me a hand and putting up with my small car on the drive to the location.

Also big props to Emily for being a great model/athlete to work with.

All images © www.michelletaraphotography.com