As It Is

Most of the waterslide shots I see are done with a long lens from a dry vantage point. Models go by, shoot a couple frames, reset, and repeat.

Long lenses have their place but for a shot like this I prefer a slight wide angle. I used a  35mm with the DSLR system because it is more in your face, gave me more background information, and allowed me to shoot in the tube all the way down the slide.

The problems? Maintaining the spacing, enough stability to frame things properly, and avoiding the inevitable run over at the bottom. 

Picking a slide that was middle of the road in terms of speed and turns allowed enough stability to shoot and tying two tubes together maintained spacing. Riding backwards, I propped the camera housing on my chest to enhance stability and rolled off the tube at the end to avoid getting creamed by the models.

The finished picture is pretty much as shot with the exception of retouching to remove the webbing used to tie the tubes. I left the legs in my version to enhance POV.

Love the big complicated stuff but there really is nothing like the rush of shooting something like this in the moment as it happens.