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Archive 2015 · HS Diving - Help with Settings

  
 
J__M
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


I’ve been struggling trying to get HS diving pictures that I’m not totally embarrassed by. I don’t personally have a diver so I don’t get many opportunities to practice. I’m having trouble with focus primarily. (Once I get that more in hand I can work on other issues). I have a 7d2 and have tried several of the different AF cases and different AF point selections, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference. I wonder if the laughably dark pools I’ve been at are slowing things down too much for the camera to compensate for my skill level. I’ve got a meet coming up that’s a little better lighting-wise so I’d like to be able to make the most of it. I’ll be shooting from a balcony and likely about perpendicular from the end of the board. Any advice on what settings I should be starting with – AF Case, AF point selection on the 7d2?

Thank you



Feb 11, 2015 at 10:22 PM
Deborah Kolt
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


Diving is trickier than it looks. Seems simple - you know they're going up, maybe twisting around a bit and going into the water in front of the board, but getting the timing takes practice. Plus, most pools have all sorts of distractions to grab autofocus, from notices on the walls to sconces, to equipment like scoreboards.

Shooting from above can clean up the background and also make it easier to track the diver. See if you can find a pool with a raised gallery for spectators and try shooting from there, looking down on the diver with water as your background. When shooting from the deck, get as low as possible and use the ceiling (or sky) as background.

I don't think an AF case is going to solve your problem. Cases are no substitute for good timing and preparation. Watch the warmups, so you know what dives they are going to do, and practice on them. Listen to the announcements so you know which dive is coming up.

Focus on a high contrast spot; the place where suit meets the hip is my favorite. Especially in low light, use at least four surrounding expansion points. Make sure you have a long enough lens that the diver isn't just a speck. A 135mm prime does great in low light and is lightweight enough to easily track the action.

Keep practicing!



Feb 12, 2015 at 01:05 AM
Neddie Seagoon
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


Just thinking out loud here, but do you actually need autofocus at all? I'm thinking that since the divers will be moving mostly perpendicular to you and not changing the distance that they are from the camera, you could manually preset the focus to say the end of the board or some point just in front and shoot away. Of course stopping down the aperture as much as possible will help, but low light will be the limit here.


Feb 12, 2015 at 01:14 AM
J__M
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


Thanks for the advice. I agree having the right case isn't going to solve any problems, but it'd be nice to know my underlying settings are helping me out instead of working against me.


Feb 12, 2015 at 04:56 PM
Frank Lauri
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


JM....Deborah makes very good points and I agree that it is not as easy as it looks. Most of the HS pools (in my area) are challenging as Deb indicated. Here's a shot of some clutter from a meet I shot last week and it was an invitational with about 7 teams so optimal real estate was at a minimum. Whenever possible I try for an elevated location but that isn't always possible. So you just have to scout out the best location.

Also..be ready for the unexpected. A few years ago I was shooting the PIAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Bucknell University. Never shooting at this location before I asked one of the other photogs at our paper what was the longest lens I would need. So I had everything up to a 70-200. When it came time for the diving...the officials outlined where we could shoot from. The 70-200 was just about doing it. When I was leaving the house that morning....I actually considered taking my 400 2.8. So when all this rolled out....I was really kicking myself for not taking it because the pool was certainly long enough and the 400 would have been just what I needed. I would have been sitting on the pool deck shooting upward. Other local photogs covering that event were shooting with 300's and they were on the sides of the pool.

On a side note, this is the information from Peter Read Miller when he gave a review of the 1DX. Case 1: I shot almost the entire Olympics on this setting. I gotta say-it just works. If you never used the other Cases the 1D X would still be the best auto-focusing camera Canon has ever made. Ever.

So like Deb said....timing, correct AF expansion selection, prep, shooting location will be your friends. And of course practice.

Another side note on the pool P/A systems....I've found them to be less than adequate that makes it sound like the announcer has their face covered by a pillow. So to help with that....they usually have a hard copy of an event or heat sheet with the events, swimmers, lanes, team....etc. So when you can't hear or understand the announcer....you can follow along with the sheets. If they don't have extra copies....I usually shoot a pic with my phone.

Good Luck...

Frank







Feb 13, 2015 at 12:03 PM
gene2632
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


Diving...yes you do need auto focus in most instances. If you are at a 90 degree angle to the board you can try turning it off because then the divers are in the same plane most of the time but from the back of the board, from the front of the board and any other angles in between that 90 degree they are moving through the plan and need to be tracked for focus. Typically pools are poorly lit so that becomes a challenge to generate enough shutter speed to stop the action. They also move very very quickly once they leave the board. Front dives, back dives, tucks, twists.. you cannot just sit in one place you need to think and move. Sometimes when they are diving on the low board, the high board makes for an interesting angle to get above the divers. Remember, no flash at all is allowed during diving events.


Feb 13, 2015 at 06:45 PM
J__M
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


There's only one pool that I've been to that, besides the occasional balcony, has anything higher than the divers. That one pool has the high platforms next to the boards that I've been dying to try. But no matter how many coaches pull for me, they won't even let me down on the deck much less on the platforms.

What's your plan for the shirtless male divers. The hip is a wider spot to try to focus on, but what do you think about the face or hair or neck? I'm sure like everything there's a time and place for each. Any insight into your thought process though would be much appreciated.

Thanks all



Feb 13, 2015 at 09:45 PM
gene2632
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


I set my single focus spot in the middle, dead center. The speed at which the divers are moving makes it hard to try and follow a head or a swim suit so I just stick to the middle of the frame.


Feb 14, 2015 at 12:51 PM
fredmaurer
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · HS Diving - Help with Settings


I'm not familiar with the settings available on the 7d2. On my DX I use single point focus with case 2 customized to: tracking -2. acc/dec -1, AF switching 0. I use back button focus and initiate focus lock before they leave the board. Since it is easy to lose focus during the flips and turns, I constantly "pump" the back button focus button during the dive. Sometimes it works,, and sometimes it doesn't! Good Luck!


https://www.fredmaurerphotos.com/Swimming/Winter-Swim-2014-2015/Wilson-vs-Hershey-1292015/i-ZLtsqrX/0/X2/AG7Q9669_1a-X2.jpg



Feb 15, 2015 at 05:19 PM





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