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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Swimming Advice
Jeff Bennett, Student/Intern
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Livermore | CA | USA | Posted: 6:47 PM on 02.13.11 |
->> Just posted some images from my first swim event to my members page.
Was hoping to get some feedback, both positive and negative, on what I've posted and what I should try and do different next time. |
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Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 7:05 PM on 02.13.11 |
->> Overall, pretty good for a first time shooter. I do swimming a lot as my son is in the sport and on a college scholarship for it.
The backlit shot is a bit hard to read. Crop tighter and use Photoshop to work on the contrast.
The shadow on the butterfly swimmer's face needs to be lightened up and the background darkened a touch. For both the butterfly and breaststroke events try shooting from on your belly looking at the swimmers straight on. It can make a big difference. It's like shooting babies crawling on the floor. Everybody looks down on them. But being at the same level gives a whole new point of view. To achieve this, I made my own monopod from a wooden broom handle that I screwed a quarter-20 bolt into one end and cut the head off to screw into my lens mount. The handle is only six inches long, thereby putting me just above the waterline. The short handle also gives me a unique perspective when shooting football and soccer too. It's an angle people don't normally associate with and therefore grabs their attention.
As to the freestyle side shots, crop tighter to focus more on the faces unless you have a really cool water drop spray. |
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Angus Mordant, Student/Intern
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Sydney | NSW Australia | Australia | Posted: 1:15 AM on 02.14.11 |
->> Having not shot swimming until last week myself you seem to have done well for indoor conditions. I have updated my member page with some images from my second ever swimming carnival shoot. The first happened to be the day before!
I was lucky that mine was outdoors being Summer here in Australia. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 1:56 AM on 02.14.11 |
| ->> I was due for an update, so I added recent swimming photos to my page. If memory serves, all but the last were done with strobe added. |
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Nick LoVerde, Photographer
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Buffalo | NY | USA | Posted: 3:29 PM on 02.14.11 |
| ->> I have found that shooting events like the Freestyle, I get better results shooting from a bit higher up. I use the lifeguard chairs here since it get me out of the way of officials and gets me a great angle to the swimmers face. Fly and breast stroke.. you need to get low and I usually shoot a slower shutter speed to get water cascading over a swimmers face.. but Stopping the water splash is very dramatic.. Practice is what works best... |
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Ethan Magoc, Student/Intern
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Erie | PA | United States | Posted: 3:37 PM on 02.14.11 |
->> Jeff,
Is this, in fact, indoor? It looks like morning or early evening sun, not the grain of indoor natatorium lighting conditions. If so, try to take better advantage of that California sun. Get outside the typical swimming action shot. You're on the right track with that first image, I think. |
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Jeff Bennett, Student/Intern
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Livermore | CA | USA | Posted: 4:22 PM on 02.14.11 |
->> Ethan,
I'm shooting outdoors with the meets starting at about 3 p.m. The problem is there is a huge wind guard on the opposite side of the starting blocks that cast a bit of the shadow over a third to half of the pool.
I'm planning on spending more time this week messing with the light and trying stuff outside the typical action shots. |
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Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 5:50 PM on 02.14.11 |
->> As a former competitive swimmer myself, I can tell you that swimmers are among the most competitive people on Earth and also work and train harder than most other athletes. We also spend an unbelievable amount of time with our teammates.
I say all that to say, swimming is a highly emotional sport. If you're going for action shots, then well done. But there is a TON of detail, emotions, and team interaction that you missed. If you want to get noticed for your swimming photos, you're going to have to look outside the box. Unlike football, soccer, and almost every other sport, swimming pretty much looks the same no matter who is swimming it. From me doing butterfly, to Michael Phelps winning the gold medal in the same stroke. Freestyle is freestyle. Breaststroke is breaststroke.
We've all pretty much seen and done it all with swimming photos. So look for something we haven't seen. There is good stuff to be shot. Just gotta look outside the box for it.
Looks like you're on the right track though! Well done. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 7:26 PM on 02.14.11 |
->> The wind block isn't an a problem, it's an opportunity. Look for the unusual shot.
I am not that good at swimming and all of it has been indoors.
So here's some simple advice - indoor or out - look for the light - or control it. Find a way to make the mundane compelling. For me, if it's just the backlighting of the water - it's something the average person doesn't see... or shoot.
M |
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Matthew Bush, Photographer
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Hattiesburg | MS | USA | Posted: 12:37 AM on 02.15.11 |
| ->> I am with Michael. That would be the shot I would be looking for next time I went out. The sport is already colorful so you will have a nice contrast of light/dark the blue of the pool and the colors of the swimmers. If there was a highdive or point of elevation to shoot down on the pool with a wide it would be worth it to rig a remote JUST for that shot. |
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Dennis Montgomery, Photographer, Assistant
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Ogden | UT | United States | Posted: 1:08 AM on 02.15.11 |
->> Check out Trent Nelson's blog and his swimming shots for this month. Every one is different and is an attention-getter. Just looking at them should give you an idea of what is possible if you shoot creatively.
http://tribblogs.com/fly/ |
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