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INTRODUCING RICKARD CROY!
What can you say other then a rising talent set to search and destroy. Hailing from Sweden carrying an impressive portfolio Rickard is as good hitting 60ft kickers as he is taking pictures of them. We are super privileged to have Rickard join our shooter team and looking forwards to future fun times.
Keep reading below for our exclusive interview then fill your boots with Rickard’s work at rickardcroymedia or stalk him on facebook and instagram.
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“It’s more about shooting the right person” “If you don’t count you-tube as formally trained”
Can you give us some background about yourself; what you do, where you’re based, and how you became a photographer?
I’m based in Sundsvall (Sweden) to study at the moment, the reason I chose this town so far north is that I can study and still go snowboarding.
I think my photography actually started with filming. Me and my brother would film ourselves and we actually had a name for ourselves. We called ourselves “the Nightmare brothers”, haha. We had a small video camera and stuff.
I remember In my 3rd season snowboarding down in Austria I had seen some videos filmed with a DSLR so I bought a cannon 550d as that could also film, it looked really cool, short depth of field and that, I then created Croy’s video bog.
I started taking pictures afterwards, when It was summer and I had nothing to film, its another way to express yourself. But I still do both and I enjoy doing both.
What inspired me actually was that I have a Cousin that works as a professional ski photographer, so yeah it started from snowboarding.
How do you get around the mountain with your gear?
Ah yeah, I Snowboard with gear on my back.
That’s true, I’ve actually seen you hitting kickers with all your camera gear strapped on, haha.
Yeah, its good training for your legs. The bags super heavy so once you let go of that bag your so light and you feel like you can do anything. That always a struggle, I Enjoy riding really much that I sometimes want to just ride and leave the bag at home. But always when I bring the bag and shoot something and get some good material I am always so happy that I actually brought the bag.
Are you formally trained or self-taught or both?
No I’m self taught, totally self taught. If you don’t count you-tube as formally trained haha
What gear do you usually bring on a shoot?
Do you have a preferred lens when shooting action sports, switch up lenses or mainly stay with the one?
I have a bunch of lenses, I like to vary the pictures. But I think, it also depends on if I go to take photos or go to filming.
I’m usually shooting with a 70-300 or I also love the fixed 30mm with fixed focal length, I focus more on the composition then on the subject, like they are always different to the other pictures.
Do you protect your gear from the elements and the cold?
No. Not at all. My camera house is weather sealed, and some of my lenses are as well. It’s been through some rough shit.
Like some heavy rain and snow but still works alright, but when I get back I make sure I dry the lenses so they don’t get moisture inside.
Where are your favorite places to shoot?
Well I really like shooting in Hintertux, there are a lot of cool rollers and stuff that creates some really nice shadows.
I prefer to shoot in the mountains off-piste instead of in the park, I think the park is like, ah its not, Its unnatural it’s, man made.
What are some of the Photos and places you have had published
From a season in japan a few years back I have a picture published on Transition, a big page there of a guy I shot, Adam Falk. Pretty cool dude on ski’s. Also a lot of pictures published from Röjk. Catalog shoot for Rocky Mountain underground ski’s.
What are some tips for getting photos published?
It’s more about shooting the right person, not taking the best picture unfortunately. Of course the picture has to be pretty good, but I have way better photos not published then I do have of the ones that have been published. So try to get in contact with people that are a bit famous haha.
Would you say you were into the music scene as well? you have some music videos produced and the like.
Yeah I guess you could say I like the music scene. Its just super hard to get paid for that, I also do some club photography and festivals etc, trying to make all the drunk people look sober and happy, hahaha.
I have a few music videos I have created as well. Another time I followed these Two girls from Riksgransen, DJ girls trying to make it, and I had some shots published in a DJ Magazine for that.
Are you a manual shooter or do you shoot in a priority mode?
Always shoot manual, actually most of the time I shoot manual focus as well. Because there was the one time I really wanted the shot and the auto focus missed it, so the shot was all soft and a bit blurry. Now I set up the focus befor hand, I know where the rider is going to be at the point where I want the shot so I can zoom in digitally and get the image super sharp.
But perhaps when I get some more money I can get some better lenses that are better with auto focuses, not that I have bad lenses I just don’t have the super expensive action lenses
Well buddy, thanks for the chat and welcome to the team!
