John McDermott is an experienced sports photographer, so when he arrived at the Potrero Skate Park in San Francisco’s Mission District to shoot, his agenda was relatively simple: Find a safe yet strategic spot and wait for the right moment. “It was just a question of watching the athletes and anticipating the action,” he says.

That moment came when this subject rounded the bowl in front of the photographer. “He seems to be defying gravity in this brief moment,” McDermott says. Plus, what makes the photo pop are the bright colors—the subject’s shirt and board and the graffiti in the background—against the grey concrete. Says the photographer, “It all works together!”

(Captured using a Canon 1Dx and a EF70-200mm f/2.8L II lens.)

© John McDermott

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