Flatland athlete Terry Adams gets his close-up at sports photography workshop

When the last-minute call came to attend the Red Bull Illume Sports Photography Workshop with award-winning adventure sports photographer Lucas Gilman, I grabbed my gear and headed out to The Grove at Discovery Green. Let’s face it, I would’ve walked out on dinner with George Clooney for the opportunity to see Gilman in action and learn some new techniques to help me up my game in the über-competitive field of sports photography. Red Bull provided 20 local photographers the opportunity to participate in the workshop with Red Bull BMX flatland athlete Terry Adams as the focus of attention.

Here are some ways different photographers snapped Adams in action.

After seeing an inspiring slideshow of Lucas’s action and travel images for clients ranging from Sports Illustrated and National Geographic to Nikon and Apple, everyone headed out to Root Memorial Square across from the Toyota Center to get some on-location action and portrait shooting experience.

As any photographer knows, willingness to adapt to your surroundings is key. Upon arrival at the pre-scouted location, we found a full-court basketball game in progress so we moved to a semi-vacant parking lot with a nice silhouette of downtown in the background. 

Adams displayed some unique BMX skills while a multitude of flashes blinded him at close range. 

Adams exhibited amazing control, providing the photographer’s an unbelievably up-close opportunity to catch him in action without riding into anyone or their equipment. 

After surviving the elbows and competitiveness of the photographer’s pit at Fashion Houston week, it was refreshing to witness and experience the cooperative and mentoring spirit from a world-renowned professional. While most professions are competitive, photography – like most art forms – is judged by the ability and experience to translate creativity to a final product. Each person at this workshop viewed the exact same subject and events as they played out, yet the final results could not have been more diverse. 

The creativity of photographer Matt Adams was in full force (or seriously affected by the Red Bull provided to attendees upon arrival) when he asked Terry to jump over him as he clicked away frames from a completely different perspective.

As the count of photographers lying on the ground progressed from one to three, I wondered just how many photographers could this BMX rider jump over at once. Unfortunately, or fortunately for the other photographers present, the workshop moved on to the portrait lighting shoot in front of the Heritage Lanterns back at the square where Lucas continued to answer questions and provide pointers on lighting from his vast experience of on-location photo shoots.

The Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour featuring the world's greatest collection of action and adventure sports photography is currently illuminating Discovery Green nightly through Jan.17. The photo exhibition is open to the public between 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Admission is free.