Well, my son the former gymnast is going to be starting the pole vault for his HS track team. I have never shot pole vault before (he will also be doing hurdles and High Jump) and looking for some advice. I am not familiar with the coach (yet) and really don’t have the first clue on positioning / location. I have been looking at pole vaulting pictures for the past hour (I am sure they will make more sense when I actually get to the track).
But looking for any tips from the experienced ones here.
There are a number of good positions for pole vault.
I like shooting the run-up from directly behind the pit looking down the lane. There are a number of good photos as they run down the lane until planting the pole.
For photos going over the bar you need to figure out how your athlete goes over the bar. Sometimes the best position is alongside the lane to the right or left fairly far back. Other times a more sideways view is better and sometimes a view looking up so you get sky as the background is best. Again, it depends on your athlete as well as the background available.
Hopefully, your pit is lighter colored. White or tan is best. It serves as a great reflector and lights up the athlete from the bottom.
I have covered a bunch of college track meets and have many pole vault photos. You can check them out HERE.
Track is a great sport to photograph. There is a great variety of activities and many opportunities to be creative.
I believe the pit is blue (I am trying to remember from shooting the soccer season). I like your shots as the athlete goes over the bar / clearing it. I should be able to get that from my favorite High Jump position too.
Pole vault is tricky as it depends on the skill level of the vaulter. New vaulters won't really bend the pole and also don't invert their body so much. Elite vaulters will get a huge bend and also completely invert which gives more opportunities for differing angles. They also turn in different directions depending on the hand position on the pole. For these two shots, I stood directly behind the vaulter as she went. It allowed me to catch her face...and show an untouched bar (which they always like to see). For this vaulter, shooting behind like this was the easiest way to capture her face.
Shooting the hurdles:
depends on whether you want a group or a single athlete
the first hurdle and the last hurdle works well for the group and the last hurdle is good for an individual as well as the finish
shooting from the stands with a long lens is also a good choice as it can give you a bit more isolation
High Jump:
shoot from the L or R side of the pit depends on the take-off side of the jumper
from behind the pit can work well for the take-off
I was a former Head Coach of a women's track team as well as a sports photographer for a local news chain.Have fun always a lot of action in this sport.
New issue for the Pole Vault, not all schools will run the event. So far it has only been run at one meet and my son was not able to compete in the event (limited number of spaces). I was able to grab some decent High Jump photos from his meet yesterday. I bumped the contrast in these to give it a more gritty/masculine look. Can't really do that in my daughter's soccer shots
