DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Went to my first meet Tuesday evening to watch my 6 year old grandson race. Had a great time watching the kids (5-mid teens) race and trying to get some shots of the action. Took a couple hundred shots, had some printed to give to the kids. We have another meet this Tuesday night so I'm looking forward to getting some more practice, there is more to this kind of shooting than meets the eye for me. The last two shots are of my grandson Brendan "Ziggy", he did quite well - 3rd freestyle, 2nd backstroke and won the breaststroke event in his age group (5/6 year old). His first meet ever!

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Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Very nice Doug!!!! Water is always a tough shoot. You did really good for your first itme!! Aren't kids fun to be around!!!
Erv

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Hi, Erv. I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had. I went to the meet to focus on Ziggy, but soon became excited with all the effort these young kids put fourth. I tried to capture that in their facial expressions. The photos that I was willing to share with the kids went over big. Made me feel great to make them happy.

tlbuljac Loc: Oklahoma

great to see them start out young

photonphysicist Loc: Texas

Nice work! I bet the parents loved the photos.

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Yes and those little rascals put in a lot of effort! Thanks for looking

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Thanks for your kind comment. If the kids are happy with the pics that's enough for me. Thanks for looking.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Decent shots - if you shoot a bit looser, they will improve.

I did swim meets every summer for nine years and got some great images (yes, GREAT!). I finally gave it up last year as the body part that allowed me to get those images just got too painful - my knees. To get really good swim images you have to be at poolside and LOW. You can stand for shots of the freestyle if they are in the far two or three lanes, but most low-angle images are superior to images shot standing.

Exceptions are the some backstroke images if you are shoot DOWN lane as you want to avoid the up-nostril shot as much as possible.

Freestyle is best shot from the sides of the pool, Butterfly is ALWAYS best shot down-lane and as low as you can get - no exceptions on this. LOW. Killed my knees!

Breaststroke good both down-lane and from the sides. It also benefits from a VERY LOW angle. Do not shoot the breast stroke standing up.

As a general statement, you need to follow the sun around the pool to always shoot with the sun in front of the swimmer and roughly behind you. Sun behind will seldom give an acceptable result.

Shoot looser, you want to get the arms in there - this is especially important in the freestyle and butterfly - no arms - bad shot. NEVER cut off arms with the possoble exception of an extreme closeup of the butterfly.

See my website for just a very few examples of why LOW works. And one in which cutting off arms worked. Go to the sports images, of course.

Oh one last thing. You say it the kids are happy that is enough for you. You know, it should not be enough since they don't know what good IS! You need to SHOW THEM what good really is. Trust me - they have very low standards - I know this from 9 years of shooting these things. Some parents figured spending money on my stuff was silly - they could do it themselves.

They could not. They came back.

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Thank you Captain C. I really appreciate the good honest CC. I to have bad knees and back. If I do get down low in anything I do I have one heck of a time getting back up. I was bothered by the fact that I shot too close, I was at pool side and I think too much lens (70-300mm). The pool where I shot the pictures is a 25 meter pool. The ends are to crowed with timers, coaches and stroke judges.
I will go again this Tuesday night to another meet and try to apply some of the tips you offered.
As far as the kids being happy with my photos being enough for me, I know there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to improve my pics. I will continue to improve by applying your tips. I don't intend to make excuses for weak shots, these are just obstacles I need to overcome bad knees or not.
Again thank you for taking the time to give me great feedback. I have had prints that I shot judged by some brutal quality judges and found that is the best way for me to learn.
Thanks again Captain C.

Doug

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Old guys' knees are killer, aren't they?

Your 70-300 is fine. I did virtually everything except the backstroke launch with the 70-200. You just have to accept that the kids in the near lane to you will never get a great shot is the angle is unacceptable. I found that lanes 3-6 (counting away from my side) were ideal.

You and I have a different relationship with the parents, They knew I was there to take action images and get paid. They made roomful me at the pool ends. I just wiggled my way through the crowd ("Excuse me, excuse me, gotta get through here, pardon me...."). And they parted. As a parent/grandparent, you will probably not be seen as "The Photographer" but as a pushy parent/grandparent.

They also know I ONLY took shots of kids whose parents who made those arrangements. From a business standpoint, random shooting is a waste of time as I was there to sell images. From your perspective, getting images of various kids is different.

Get low, shoot loose and crop, show faces. Use a filter over your lens as you do not want to be always wiping that water off the expensive part- so make sure you have a micro-fibre cloth handy!

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

Thanks again, will try to be the pushy grandparent ,nothing to loose. Just goes against my nature, see what happens.

steve L Loc: Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

I think there should be a new tag line titled 'Hog Hero' for those who take C & C seriously enough to take the time to offer in depth critique and remedial solutions. Hats off to you CaptainC !!

DWHJR Loc: Kannapolis NC

I agree!