Utah completed its fourth of five home meets of this season last night, narrowly defeating Stanford in a Pac-12 showdown of two top-10 teams. The meet was nationally televised (Pac-12 Network) live, and there must have been lights added to the arena because the lighting was HARSH and white balance is virtually impossible to manage. Posting a few of my favorites. The highlight of the night was in the final rotation, with Utah on floor, trying to hang on to a very slim lead as Stanford was absolutely killing it on beam. Second in the rotation was a sophomore who had only begun competing on floor a few weeks ago following the season-ending injury of one of her teammates. Her routine looked perfect, and the judges agreed. Her score of 10 brought the house down and served to seal the win for Utah. The final two photos show some of the reaction. [Here's the gallery on the U's website.]
1. This freshman just has that 'stunning' quality about her. Lots of fun to photograph.
Not only is the season too short but so are the athletic careers of these gymnasts. They are very lucky to have you documenting these moments (as are you in having such superb models).
I also like the way you framed the coach and it's got me thinking about how many other ways that this could be accomplished. Great stuff all around and congrats on the exciting victory.
Larry
P.S. On behalf of all of us other aspiring gym photographers who have never and will never experience your plight, we're very sorry to hear that you had too much light.
Beautiful shots, Russ and it looks like you dealt very well with the WB. Working in dungeons myself, I have trouble understanding the harsh light comment.
Thank you, Larry. And okay, I'll stop complaining. Actually, it was more a matter of sharing my perception of the experience of shooting the event. Wasn't the amount of light (I still was at ISOs between 3200-6400), just something about it that seemed to affect dynamic range in a way that made it much less smooth than usual. Argh! there I go again.
I love them all, but #3 is my favorite also.
I know everybody wants color, but with Utah having black uni's I think they all would be better in B&W. But then again I think boxing should all be B&W, just seems right. Once again GREAT captures!!!
re: #4, i like the idea but i think the perspective needs to be either head on or from a slightly higher vantage point or lower than you already are. clearly the forward bar is the "problem" and i think you vantage point needs to compensate for it. just my 2 cents.
Hey Russ: Really like 1, 3, 5 & 7. They're all good but these stood out for me. How do they set up the arena for gymnastics? It doesn't appear their are many other apparatus in your shots. Do you have the ability to roam anywhere or are you restricted to certain spots? They seem to fill the place up pretty well at Utah. I wonder if other venues are as successful? Thanks for posting.
Thanks, Mike! There's a lot to be said for the B&W, not only because of the unis, but also the obvious light fall-off into the background. You may have something there...
Kevin: Thanks for your feedback. I got a head-on shot of #4 in the last meet that didn't work because it was too revealing. It's just an awkward move to capture.
Hey thanks, Ben. Glad you liked 'em. I'm posting a photo of the arena. The four events are spread out and I have full access to the floor, so I can go pretty much anywhere I want. Once backgrounds and best-angle options are taken into consideration, though, there aren't many different good spots for shooting any of the events. It's another one of those areas where I can't complain because I'm a lot better off than many others at different venues. Still.... As for attendance, this was a crowd of 13,357.....in the middle of a significant snow storm. There's one womens basketball program, I think it's Tennessee, that consistently betters Utah gymnastics for the annual NCAA attendance record. No other gymnastics program comes close (most are lucky to draw 2,000 per meet).
Russ,
Regarding your quest for number 4. I see what you are going for. I think the only way to get there is to either figure out what angle you need to be at to make the opening between the two bars wide enough to frame the gymnast coming through, or Maybe the angle to position the lower bar cross her body yet leaving the face,and hands/upper bar unobstructed.
Try scoping it out ahead of time since you are obviously wanting to capture it and only have one more home meet. Looking forward to you nailing it, I have faith in ya.
Thanks, Guy. I'm not sure the potential is worth what you are suggesting, though I appreciate the suggestion. I was pretty happy with my capture from the previous meet, though as you pointed out, it might have been flawed.
Russ, think on 4 you need to be elevated a little more... That way the low bar seems farther away from the high bar. I'll be thinking of you this weekend when I am shooting the Nastia Liukin Cup and American Cup in my neck of the woods. Figure American Cup is on NBC and it looks like they are bringing in lights... Guess we'll see.
Thanks, Geoffrey. Could be that just standing (rather than sitting) while shooting this portion of the routine would do the trick. Might give that a try. Sounds like you're in for some intense shooting and I have to believe there will be some great athletes. Enjoy! and good luck.
Actually, it was more a matter of sharing my perception of the experience of shooting the event. Wasn't the amount of light (I still was at ISOs between 3200-6400), just something about it that seemed to affect dynamic range in a way that made it much less smooth than usual. Argh! there I go again. 
but if you look at the raccoon eyes in #6, you'll see what I'm talking about.