Track & Field
p.1 #1Track & Field
2023 Mt. Sac Track & Field Relays
© jonmalan 2023
© jonmalan 2023
© jonmalan 2023
Jun 25, 2026 at 07:14 PM
p.1 #2Track & Field
nice images. I tried shooting some of my daughter's track meets (when she allowed me - teenagers lol). I was used to soccer but definitely a different experience and learning curve for track to get the shots you want.
Jun 28, 2026 at 09:10 AM
p.1 #3Track & Field
Thank you! I know what you mean and each sport has a different learning curve, at least for me. Pole vaulting events have been much more challenging for me, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
Jun 28, 2026 at 05:35 PM
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p.1 #4Track & Field
I became the unofficial team photographer for my daughter's cross country team last season. I purposefully didn't do track to give myself a break to catch up on other things. I feel like I should do it next year though. The field events might make it a little more interesting.
I found it interesting in the running photos I took, and I see it in your second picture here, the effect of gravity on the runners body on the 'downbeat' of their stride. It's where they've taken a stride and all their weight and energy is in a downward vector, and it pulls their muscles, skin, and even facial expressions down, often into weird contorting positions. The young lady on the left in your second photo is an interesting example of what I'm talking about. You can see she is on that downbeat, but since it's a sprint (I think), some of that force is more forward than the cross country runners I shot. She's also very lean and muscular. I think those things translate to the effect not looking too bad in your photo. You should see some of mine. Sometimes, I could barely recognize the kids. I suppose I need to work on my timing.
I found it interesting in the running photos I took, and I see it in your second picture here, the effect of gravity on the runners body on the 'downbeat' of their stride. It's where they've taken a stride and all their weight and energy is in a downward vector, and it pulls their muscles, skin, and even facial expressions down, often into weird contorting positions. The young lady on the left in your second photo is an interesting example of what I'm talking about. You can see she is on that downbeat, but since it's a sprint (I think), some of that force is more forward than the cross country runners I shot. She's also very lean and muscular. I think those things translate to the effect not looking too bad in your photo. You should see some of mine. Sometimes, I could barely recognize the kids. I suppose I need to work on my timing.
Jul 01, 2026 at 04:02 PM
p.1 #5Track & Field
Track and field is fun to photograph. You have the makings of some nice images here. I would work on your cropping a little and timing. There is a window of opportunity in track to get the runner in a very good position as well as in the field events. By way of example, the runner in grey is not helpful to the first image. She has a little bit of the amputee effect on one of the legs and the other is cut off with an awkward crop. A crop of the A&M runner would likely make this a better image since this image shows her lagging the other runner in any event. I have found often that runners will run with their eyes closed during peak action so it's helpful to have a high FPS. It's not great to come home and have the runner over the hurdle in peak position but also having their eyes closed. TF is one of my favorites. You know where the athlete will be and where they are going and at least the track events are run serially so you can catch them all. The field events not so much.
Jul 07, 2026 at 08:51 AM