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Archive 2014 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship

  
 
karrphoto
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


So, at least in Indiana flash is allowed after the start off the blocks (the starter has a strobe that goes off for those that I'm assuming are hearing impaired?)

Anyway, Conference championship today. 8 schools I believe participating. Having shot in this school before I know that the lights cycle and add to that some (not a ton) of natural light coming in from frosted windows at the top of the pool. So to kill that problem, I used flash, specifically 4 flashes. One on each pole of the lane marker flags pointed across to the opposite pole at a 45 degree angle. Flashes were set at 1/8 power, 50mm zoom for the lights down pool, 70mm (to try and reach the finish line/starting block) for the 2 lights facing the blocks. Ended up there was only 1 sweet spot, between the poles, outside of that and looked like crap, which I was hoping the 70mm zoom pointed towards the starting blocks/finish would help, but did not.

Here are my picks that didn't make it to the paper because some moron (me) didn't take the original handout showing lane assignments or what heat (most events had 3 heats) the swimmer won in, only if I happened to annotate than info in my notes was I able to figure it out.

These were all shot, ISO640, 1/250 @ 3.2




































Jan 19, 2014 at 03:33 AM
pplskills
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


I've always wanted to try shooting swimming. Glad to see that at least some places allow flash. These shots came out really good. It pretty hard to get good indoor swimming photos without flash. Thanks for sharing.


Jan 19, 2014 at 06:13 AM
DennisC
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


karrphoto wrote:
So, at least in Indiana flash is allowed after the start off the blocks...



Same down here in Georgia. And NO flash whatsoever during diving events.

That said, I love the look. It's a bummer that you end up with only one sweet spot.

Not that you asked but I crank up the ISO and bounce 2 flashes in AutoFP (HSS), using a D3s. I bet you could do the same with your 'X'. One flash is in the shoe, the other is on a tele-flash bracket. Is it heavy and a pain to carry? Of course, but it's all about getting the shot, right?

Anyhoo, thanks for posting!



Jan 19, 2014 at 08:20 AM
chrisbergmann
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


Nice work. Shooting swimming events can be very difficult but your photos look terrific. Great job!


Jan 19, 2014 at 08:31 AM
kzoockof
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


Maybe it is my monitor, but a lot of these pics look like a lot of sharpening was applied and overexposed. I have never shot swimming, but imagine it would be tough, from both an angle and a lighting situation.


Jan 19, 2014 at 10:32 AM
Aqualung
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


Nice luxury w/ flash...for the 'coming towards you' shots, see if you can get on the deck, i.e. low. Difficult, wet, hard, slippery tile, I know. I wear knee pads - and ear plugs

Chris



Jan 19, 2014 at 10:42 AM
karrphoto
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


I was on the bulkhead at the end of the pool, which separates the pool swim area from the "cooldown" pool. Some shots I was kneeling, even considered laying on my stomach, but some were standing, it's honestly a mix depending on the stroke of the swim. With the backstroke, I doubt I would get anything kneeling because of where they are in the pool when the shot looks good. Same for freestyle, you sometimes have to walk the side of the pool because you never know when a swimmer is going to take a breath. But most of the things like Breaststroke and Butterfly were done kneeling. I'm just a little taller than most so my kneeling isn't so close to the ground. :P Plus the bulkhead is a foot higher than the pool deck, but completely understand where you are coming from. Tried when I could and the stroke allowed it. Trust me, my knee let me know last night, I did a little TOO much. :P


Jan 19, 2014 at 03:22 PM
karrphoto
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


DennisC wrote:
Same down here in Georgia. And NO flash whatsoever during diving events.

That said, I love the look. It's a bummer that you end up with only one sweet spot.

Not that you asked but I crank up the ISO and bounce 2 flashes in AutoFP (HSS), using a D3s. I bet you could do the same with your 'X'. One flash is in the shoe, the other is on a tele-flash bracket. Is it heavy and a pain to carry? Of course, but it's all about getting the shot, right?

Anyhoo, thanks for posting!


Yeah, my thing is, the flashes I'm using, while they are HSS compatible, they suck power like no tomorrow, so I'd have to crank my light power up and that would give me 2 flashes at 1/4 power rather than 4 consecutive (with the camera limited to 8fps and flashes at 1/8) Forgot to mention, we're the same with diving, no flash.

Also, it's also a good thing to talk to the officials if you ever do this, for those that have not. The officials had no issues and just told me to ask the coach of the hosting school if he had a problem, his response, "Hell yeah, anything that will make things look better in the paper, go for it." So be ready for some rejection sometimes.




Jan 19, 2014 at 03:26 PM
kezeka
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


kzoockof wrote:
Maybe it is my monitor, but a lot of these pics look like a lot of sharpening was applied and overexposed. I have never shot swimming, but imagine it would be tough, from both an angle and a lighting situation.


I also wonder how much sharpening was applied to these photos in post or if it is just an illusion from the flash.



Jan 19, 2014 at 03:30 PM
karrphoto
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


kzoockof wrote:
Maybe it is my monitor, but a lot of these pics look like a lot of sharpening was applied and overexposed. I have never shot swimming, but imagine it would be tough, from both an angle and a lighting situation.


Hmm. Odd because I didn't sharpen these at all. In LR where I process them, sharpening is turned off because I prefer, if I do sharpen the image to do it last, or at least with a program other than the built in sharpening of LR. It could be the fact that the clarity and contrast have been increased which will make an image appear sharper, and possibly the resize function in PS as I use BiCubic Sharper when I resize my images down for the web. But there was definitely no sharpening added to the images themselves by me.. And of course, this is linked via ZenFolio, so maybe their reduction of the image sharpens as well? Not sure..



Jan 19, 2014 at 04:47 PM
Fish On
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


A couple look blown out especially the last one.


Jan 19, 2014 at 05:06 PM
P Alesse
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


I just figured that the oversharpening and overexposure was part of the post overprocessed look.


Jan 19, 2014 at 05:17 PM
kezeka
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


karrphoto wrote:
Hmm. Odd because I didn't sharpen these at all. In LR where I process them, sharpening is turned off because I prefer, if I do sharpen the image to do it last, or at least with a program other than the built in sharpening of LR. It could be the fact that the clarity and contrast have been increased which will make an image appear sharper, and possibly the resize function in PS as I use BiCubic Sharper when I resize my images down for the web. But there was definitely no sharpening added to the images themselves by me..
...Show more

Hmm, might be the increased clarity - how much did you boost it?



Jan 19, 2014 at 05:23 PM
karrphoto
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


kezeka wrote:
Hmm, might be the increased clarity - how much did you boost it?


I think in the 25-30 range.



Jan 19, 2014 at 09:13 PM
karrphoto
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


And yes, I batched them all, I was tired after a full day, so I need to go back and adjust a lot individually for exposure.


Jan 19, 2014 at 09:14 PM
kzoockof
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


karrphoto wrote:
Hmm. Odd because I didn't sharpen these at all. In LR where I process them, sharpening is turned off because I prefer, if I do sharpen the image to do it last, or at least with a program other than the built in sharpening of LR...


Like I said, it could be my monitor, the re-sizing like you say, the flash, or just ME.

I am so bad on the post processing side that if my shots aren't right coming out of the camera, I am in real trouble! The post processing is the area that I need the most "training". Part of it may be I didn't get into photography to sit behind a computer, but to get me out doors in beautiful environments.

I thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and can appreciate the difficulty of shooting this sport.



Jan 24, 2014 at 03:42 PM
OntheRez
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Girls Swimming, High School Conference Championship


Karr,
I only get to shoot swimming about 3 x a year, so I'm hardly a great expert. I also have the luxury of shooting outside. (There are virtually no indoor pools here in the desert.) I remember clearly the first time I shot a swim meet thinking, "How hard can this be? Everything is in a straight line. It's broad daylight. Nothing is in the way." Little did I know.) Well the water in many ways becomes the most important thing. I assume you posted for feedback so please take my remarks in the constructive way they are intended.

Something - I'm guessing it's the interaction between the flash and the reflective quality of water - has made the water, particularly the splash, take on a plasticy/crispy look. You haven't numbered your shots but looking at the first two breaststrokers the water flowing off the faces and swirling around them just doesn't look "right." If you look carefully at the splash to the right of the first swimmer you'll note that the brilliance of the water is completely blown out. In sunlight (or I'm guessing non-flash light) the spray will go to translucent, brilliant but it won't go to white blobs. It might be possible with some selective work to take these extremes down and get some of the "texture" of the water back, but that's likely to be more work than it's worth. One thing you might consider is shooting without the flash. I don't know what the ambient is like, but it would likely be worth trying at least a few with natural light.

The second issue is the swimming up hill. The tight cropped freestylers (#5) show this the most. Because the eye knows water is flat and the viewer is put off by the apparent incline. Most of your shots (particularly for breast, back, and fly) are straight on head shots and while the head is all one can see in many strokes varying how you shoot it (side, get low, play with when/where the face breaks the plane of the water can provide more interest. I also work on trying to get turns, the expression on the face when a swimmer hits the wall at finish. Starts are an incredible challenge as they are nearly always the face is down. I do get some interesting pix shooting across the lanes particularly at a start or sometimes at the finish where there are multiple swimmers hitting the wall. Jub shots, coach or team accolades, even parents/teammates shouting can provide interest.

I shoot standing, kneeling, squatting, sitting, even laying flat. I'm always sopping wet at the end of a meet. I really commiserate with your loss of information on who's in what heat. I shoot the county championships in July which have ~500 swimmers in 75+ heats. The only way I've been able to keep things straight is that I get in good with the meet director and provide the time/place recorders a spreadsheet of the events/names of the the local kids I'm supposed to be covering. All they have to do is put in a 1,2,3 and a time. Works really well and I make sure in the July heat to keep them supplied whatever cold liquid they are drinking.

I'm sure you'd agree that shooting swimming is a whole lot harder than most people realize.

Robert



Jan 28, 2014 at 10:05 AM





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