Ewan Jaspan takes on the Naish team orders in South Africa to deliver the goods under the shadow of Table Mountain. Find out what it takes to get a video and photoshoot done when the wind is nuking, the riders are frothing, and the sand is destroying everything.

After a year of big changes at Naish, with some long-term team riders on the out and a fresh new look team on the way in, we decided it was time to get the new crew together and meet up in the big air, to shoot some new products. The team at Naish HQ entrusted us with the task of getting some insane content for the new Dash and Boxer kites, so we took on the challenge and found the perfect location, Cape Town, South Africa.

I jetted over the Indian Ocean to meet up with local South African rippers, Stuart Downey and Ross Player as well as Stig Hoefnagel from the Netherlands. Spending the previous five months on the road hitting freestyle locations and kite parks through the Americas, I was well out of tune with my big air riding, and the first few sessions took some getting used to. Still, I was looking forward to the challenge and spending time with the new crew. 

Upon arrival, we met up with Michael Veltman (our videographer) and Alex Kibble (our photographer) to run through the plan for the shoot. Neither Michael nor Alex had ever shot kiteboarding before, which can be very challenging, but it also provided us with a fresh outlook on what we were doing. The two of them were keen to learn and had shot surfing several times before, so it all came quickly. Mike shoots a lot with the top surfers in the world, swimming around in the water capturing epic slow-mo barrel shots and hacks, so the education of what a kite shot needs were essential. 

Kiteboarding is one of, if not THE, hardest board sport to shoot. There are so many variables and challenges you need to overcome to perfect the art of ‘getting the shot’. Even though Cape Town is one of the windiest locations in the world and one of the easiest places to score a session daily, it also proves to be one of the most challenging locations to shoot a good kite shot, especially a ‘product’ shot where the kite is the main focus of the trip.

I will run through some challenges we had to overcome and nail to finish with a successful photoshoot and provide Naish with the content needed to achieve our end goal – SELL KITES.

A few of the challenges the cameraman has to overcome are:

The wind – Cape Town wind is unlike any other place. It’s a dense and cold wind blows for hours on end straight across the beach. The sand is so fine in Cape Town that it whips up to head high as soon as its kite weather and carries half the oceans salt with it. The gear you need to shoot with has to be heavy, stable and weatherproof, and even then, it’s near impossible to keep your eye steady on the shot. You stand in the dunes getting blasted by sand and salt, wiping your lens every second shot, and just praying that you don’t miss that one megaloop! By the end of the day, you’ve wiped a few months off the life span of your camera gear and usually only come away with a few keepers. But these keepers are what makes it all worth it!

The Spots – Cape Town is rugged, rough and untamed. To find the spot to film the camera guys do a lot of hiking, posting up on cold rocks, hills, sand dunes or cold water. At times, they also had to sit near dangerous townships with local gangs and their Pitbull’s eyeing off some expensive camera gear. 

Sharks – This is one thing I don’t envy. Swimming around in South Africa’s cold sharky waters looking like a seal. No thanks!

The Riders – Shooting kiteboarders in Cape Town is slightly different from your classic spots, like as Maui, Hatteras, Hood River etc. Here, we fly. It’s not uncommon for the video man to have to track a rider 200m from where he took off, pan up 20+meters, capture the kite through the kiteloop, keep the horizon in the shot and locked straight and not miss a trick. This takes 100% focus from start to finish through the session and is a highly undervalued skill to be able to pull off. 

A few things the riders have to overcome/perfect to get the shot.

The Wind – For us, as riders, the wind is a blessing in Cape Town, but it’s a wind you have to respect, as you can go from hero-zero real fast. Cape Town will send you higher into the sky than you have ever been before, but one wrong move with the kite or one bad gust or lull in the wind and you can also fall from the sky higher than you ever have before. When we were shooting, we had a lot of windy days, but many of the places we visited in search of the perfect spot were gusty, unpredictable and far away from medical resources. You always want to send it for the camera, but we had to be smart about it and choose our moments wisely. Due to this, we may have scored fewer crazy shots than a ‘balls to the wall’ mentality may have delivered us, but we all came away unscathed and ready for the rest of the season. 

The Framing – You may think of this one as something only the videographer has to work on, but it’s almost a more important task for the rider to complete. You, as the rider, are the mobile part of the solution, and it’s your job during a photoshoot to line yourself up so that you, the kite, the background and foreground are all in a reasonable place for the camera person to work their magic. For example, shooting at Kite Beach in Table view, Cape Town, there are some classic things you want to make happen for your shot to work.

Firstly, you need to be upwind of the videographer, at a distance pre-determined between the camera team and the riders. Secondly, you need to make sure you’re on an angle so that the camera can draw a straight line between the amazing backdrop of Table Mountain, or Lions Head, you (the rider) and the kite (the product). It is impossible for the videographer, which is posted into the ground with a tripod, to change this line, so it’s your duty as a rider to know this setup and stick to it, time and time again. 

Riding for the product – This is a big one for the brands. If you want to nail a product shoot, and have the team at your brands HQ’s stoked, you need to be able to adapt your riding to the kite. For this particular shoot we are trying to shoot extreme riding on the Dash, so being able to go full send was essential. We also shot the new Boxer, which is a foiling/freeride kite, at the total other end of the spectrum to the Dash. We then needed to show our foiling, cruising, having a good time and some chilled twin tip riding, which is what the kite is made for. It’s essential to be able to sell the kite, to show what the customer can imagine themselves doing on the product. There’s no point showing up to a shoot in your boots ready to throw the latest double handlepass if you’re trying to sell a specific product to the weekend warrior who just wants to cruise with ease, save those ones for the hardcore products and your own edits. 

Stay motivated/positive through the whole shoot – This one sounds easy, you’re on a kite shoot, riding the latest product in some of the best locations in the world, how could you not be! Well, for most of the time this is true, we are doing what we love and amped up, but every shoot comes with its ups and downs. We definitely encountered some long drives, waiting for wind in the baking heat of a slum’s stormwater run-off, sitting in the pouring rain for hours on end after a long day of no kiteboarding trying to score one freestyle shot and getting pelted by rocks and sand in the windiest constant conditions I’ve ever seen for hours and hours on end.

Through all these moments, you can encounter frustration and a loss of motivation as you struggle to get the content you so want to deliver back to the brand and share with the world. Still, you have to remember the only way this is going to happen through persistence and a constant attitude that you will give it your all and stay positive. 

By the end of the shoot, we were so thankful to have been able to experience it. We bonded as a group, explored some of the most incredible kite locations we had seen, had laughs, great times and most importantly got plenty of good content. 

The crew put in a massive effort, Mike and Alex, our cameramen, are now highly proficient in the kite world, as you can see by the photos and the video content online, we scored there. Stuart, Stig and Ross all killed it on the water. Stuart was able to perform in every type of condition and is always ready to make the most of whatever we are thrown. I actually don’t think he crashed for the entire shoot, showing control unlike any other and coming out as MVP most days, not only with the kiteboarding, but taking us to all the best spots, knowing the conditions like the back of his hand, and absolutely wrecking his beloved Land Cruiser for the cause. Stig, on his first Naish product shoot, was eager to learn and improved from day 1. I was blown away by his motivation to progress and learn, and coming back later in the season for KOTA, I could instantly see it was paying off. He can ride for plenty of different styles too and will be a valuable team rider for years to come. Ross was also showing his big air prowess and local knowledge throughout the shoot and powering down enough milkshakes for the entire team while doing so! We came away with a sense of achievement and a video that really shows what a team trip should be like. 

Until next time,

Ewan

Videos

S25 Naish Dash
By Ewan Jaspan

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