World Cup Skateboarding Rotterdam

My passion for photography actually started back in my school days. While skateboarding, I'd occasionally take my cheap 3-megapixel Trust camera with me to shoot some action shots of my friends. I ran a website and forum, and it was fun to regularly post photos of our club and report on demos and competitions I attended. With that incredibly slow, low-quality camera, I learned to time myself for action shots. Something that's definitely still useful these days when photographing races and concerts, among other things. When I saw that the World Cup Skateboarding Rotterdam was coming up that weekend, I got the itch. I wanted to give it another try, get back to my roots. With a wealth of experience and some better gear, I set off. That's how I ended up back at the Westblaak skatepark in Rotterdam. By then, it had been completely renovated (and it looked great). The skate shop that once sponsored the occasional competition I organized had changed its name. But people were still skating like they used to! The organizers were kind enough to let me into the park as a photographer. This allowed me to take my photos right in the middle of all the action. (I occasionally ducked aside for oncoming skaters and boards.) The level was high, both for the men and women. The skaters came from all over the world: Argentina, Ukraine, France, Hungary, and, of course, the Netherlands. It was also great to experience the positive atmosphere among the skaters again. Always mutual respect, even though they sometimes knock each other over, no hassle. In the end, I managed to get a nice set of photos. I think there's still room for improvement, but it could have been worse after a hiatus of over 12 years :-) See my photo report below.