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amlsml Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #1 · HS Swim meet, could use some help first time shooting swim. camera set to 6240, 2.8 needed 5k iso to 6400. Wasn't sure I needed a fast shutter so moved it around as low as 320 and got some blur.Sat at end of pool and tried to get some action. other than the takeoff and the guys doing the breast stroke and the butterfly, no faces! As they did the other strokes I went to the sides and tried to capture faces, very hard. So quick questions. What is optimal shutter to stop swimmers? Where do you place yourself? Can you use flash? Optimal focal length. I used a 300 2.8 for most, probably could have used the 400! There is a raised viewing platform above the swimmers I was also going to try. thanks for the feedback. These are for parent sales. 1 better form not so sharp   NIKON D3S    300 mm    f/2.8    1/320 sec    5000 ISO    0.0 EV   2   NIKON D3S    300 mm    f/2.8    1/320 sec    5000 ISO    0.0 EV   3   NIKON D3S    300 mm    f/2.8    1/320 sec    5000 ISO    0.0 EV   No face, do these normally work?   NIKON D3S    300 mm    f/2.8    1/500 sec    5000 ISO    0.0 EV   Jan 08, 2013 at 04:10 PM

BillP57 Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #2 · HS Swim meet, could use some help I haven't shot any swimming, so I'll leave the shooting recommendations to someone that has. I think the first 2 are good but could use a little PP work. I made a quick curves adjustment to the first for comparison. The angle and timing of the 3rd makes it look more like someone running on the bottom than swimming. The last shot with the head down I'm not sure a parent would recognize. I think earlier in the start and maybe even still on the block with the head up would be better. Parent sales are always difficult to judge though, as I had a football parent buy a photo of her son on the ground after the play with his back to the camera. Hope these comments help and I'll take down the re-edit if you want. Bill #1 with a PS curves adjustment Jan 09, 2013 at 02:33 PM

Dave17 Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #3 · HS Swim meet, could use some help Only tired a few swimming meets. Used the 300mm and the 70-200mm. I would think the 400 would be too long. 1) Positioned on the side of the pool for the freestyle and tried to get the face as they swam past me and they were taking a breath. 1) End of the pool for breast stoke, backstroke and butterfly. At the few meets I have been to in Mass I have been told no flash because the flash can interfere with the timing mechanisms that they use. --Dave Jan 09, 2013 at 04:43 PM

ShirleyP Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #4 · HS Swim meet, could use some help I'm no expert, but use a similar strategy to Dave. Usually my 70-200mm, no shutter speed slower than 500sec. Indoor pools are more difficult due to lighting. I used flash only one time. The only restriction was that I couldn't fire the flash until after the start due to the timing mechanism. But, I noticed that the flash bothered the swimmers especially on the freestyle as everytime they breathed, they got a flash in their face - I stopped pretty quickly. Also, get really low when shooting. Laying on the pool deck, if you can, will give you a nice angle. Good Luck. Jan 09, 2013 at 09:39 PM

Tasha4 Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #5 · HS Swim meet, could use some help Hi Bill, I use the 24-70 for free style, starts off the block from the side and from behind the starting block hoping to capture a face before they enter the water. Get the arm and elbow at 90 degrees where the hand is just above there head from the side, that way you will get a face. For the back stroke I try and capture them just after surfacing on a flip turn and at the start of the race using either the 24-70 or 70-200. For breast stroke I will try and get them just under the water with their hands pointed forward as if they are praying and when rise up for air using the 24-70 or 70-200. As for shutter speed I try and stay above 320 for everything but will at times go to 40 to 80 for freestyle and pan for some a different perspective and motion blur using and f-stop around 5.6 or 8. Last I have found that the girls are more interested in seeing themselves with their friends having fun versus them competing in the pool. I have more requests for these type of fun pictures of the girls interacting on the pool deck versus action shots. Hope this helps. As for flash it is forbidden during meets here in Minnesota. Brian Jan 09, 2013 at 10:45 PM

amlsml Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #6 · HS Swim meet, could use some help Bill thanks for the curve edit, please leave it, I appreciate you taking the time. I didn't edit these too much because I wasn't sure how to shoot swim at all. Number 3 was in the only spot the window actually shone thru! I will try some of these suggestions, next week is their T and I, any creative ideas for individual shots? team? thanks Jan 10, 2013 at 04:25 AM

Deborah Kolt Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #7 · HS Swim meet, could use some help On the straight on shots (fly and breast), take a moment to position yourself precisely in front of the swimmer. A small detail, but it makes a huge difference. You are a little off to the right and it completely destroys the symmetry of the stroke. If you are shooting from the side (free and, for variety, breast and fly), make it as close to 45 degrees as you can. And as another poster noted, you need to get lower. Too high and you get no strong eye contact or expression. Once you have the positions nailed, swimming is just about timing. Freestyle is probably the trickiest because the arm can confuse autofocus on some cameras, but when you catch the arm high with water streaming off the fingers, it is one of the most dramatic. Practice on the long races, when they settle into a smooth rhythm of stroke and breathing. Except for really young swimmers, short free races are hopeless: too much splash and the older swimmers don't have to breathe except at the turn. Longer lenses will give you better facial expression and blur the junk on the deck. I love the 300 for swim. Jan 10, 2013 at 03:24 PM

sic0048 Offline • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #8 · HS Swim meet, could use some help Deborah is right on. I was just about to post the fact that trying to get a shot of a typical freestyle event at ages 14 and up is certainly going to be hard. The splashing will cause the autofocus to miss a majority of the time and the swimmers tend to go the entire length of the pool on just one or two breaths. A swimmer may breathe more on the longer events, but the splashing is still an issue. Of course you can use small apertures for a lot of DOF and try prefocusing, etc, etc, to try and get better images. You definitely want to position yourself on the side of the pool for those shots, and ideally wait for the swimmer to pass you because they tend to keep their chin tucked in when breathing which means they are looking back rather than forward. With smaller kids, you'll probably have one or two breaths you can shoot per lap before they get two far away that it isn't worth trying to shoot them. Again, older kids will typically only offer one breath you'll be able to shoot (obviously there are swimmers that will take more breaths) Keep practicing! It takes experience before things will become 2nd nature. Jan 10, 2013 at 05:25 PM

amlsml Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #9 · HS Swim meet, could use some help Deborah, thanks i will try that. the coach is really cool and invited me to practice to gt some shots of the kids. i will work on my timing and position. Jan 11, 2013 at 04:08 AM

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