Photos of Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) on the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky
Stand up paddleboarding is booming in popularity these days, as both casual and avid outdoor enthusiasts seem to enjoy the calm, relatively easy looking way experience some adventure on the water. In response to this growth, companies like Endless Summer Paddle Company are staying busy every weekend with classes and paddle trips. This summer, I worked with ESPC to craft some new photography for their digital marketing and social media.
Our first shoot was out at Taylorsville Lake. A SUP yoga class was set to paddle out about a mile, away from boats and the commotion of a busy dock, and spend some time practicing yoga poses. Stand up paddleboards already require a bit of balance, but throw in some tricky yoga poses and it seemed to be quite the challenge.
Our next shoot would be on the Ohio River in Louisville, where Endless Summer often does paddle trips. This is a neat, scenic spot just up river from several bridges. The shoot on this day wasn't an actual class or trip, so I had a bit more control to stage and pose some shots. I captured photos from nearby docks but also jumped into my personal kayak and was able to get some varied perspectives and angles.
Everything was going well at first, but unfortunately mother nature had other ideas. About 30 minutes after we started, rain starting pouring down on us. It got so intense that we had to paddle back to the dock, hoping it subsided. After another 20-30 minutes passed, the rain finally slowed down enough to where we could keep shooting, but two of the talent had to leave. So with just the one paddler, I got back to work! We did some posed shots on the dock, then paddled back out to the bridge area. The lighting was constantly changing, but made for vastly different looks of the same scenery.
