SMAC East Division Swim/Dive Championships

OldGuyOldGuy Registered Users Posts: 301 Major grins
edited March 9, 2009 in Sports
A few shots from last weekend.

#1 And they're off...
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#2 A little soft, but this young man is launching himself to a new SMAC and pool record in the 200 free.
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#3 For those of you who are looking for swimming action, this is what you will see, mostly arms and water.
484090833_YxeLA-L-1.jpg

#4 My diver in mid-air. The only Freshman diver in the division to make the finals–am I a proud coach or what?:rofl
484095493_5QJAp-L-1.jpg

#5 And again...
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#6 And again.
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#7
484091325_r7JdB-L-1.jpg

#8
484084365_hLMsM-L-1.jpg

#9
484083195_ULyhD-L-1.jpg




__________________
John Walker


http://www.walkerimages.smugmug.com
http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=10076

Comments

  • johngjohng Registered Users Posts: 1,658 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2009
    I like shots 6 & 9 the most out of the series - although 6 still has quite a bit of uninteresting deadspace.

    shot 1: too many distracting elements - the teammates standing around don't add much to the shot and your swimmer is a bit soft and pushed to the right of the frame.

    shot 2: as you mentioned it's a soft shot and even if it weren't it's an akward part of the motion with his arms at his sides.

    shot 3: no comment

    shot 4: soft and way too much dead space and DOF. The frame is dominated by the background which is too much in focus. Tighten up the frame and decrease the DOF to draw attention to the diver. Also need a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion.

    shot 5: framing is akward with him pushed to the front and the timing is such that his form is very akward. So even if it were perfectly sharp, it would be tough to make a good shot from this. That's a real challenge with sports like diving and gymnastics - you have to do your job AND hope the participant has good form. It's tough to get that exact mix of taking the shot at the right time AND getting the form right. Very often one of the two is off as in this photo.

    shot 6: as mentioned - probably the best of the bunch - good sharpness - just too much distracting dead space below the diver.

    shot 7: not a bad shot but you want to get a tighter angle - shooting lower and getting them further from the wall so you get a better view of the face.

    shot 8: Nice timing, but the sharpness isn't there - too much motion blur and it looks like the focus was eitiher off or this is a hefty crop.

    shot 9: nice phot. Sharpness is pretty good as is the angle. The nitpick is with the framing - too much trailing space - a photo looks more natural with space in front of the motion rather than behind

    Keep at it. Swimming and diving certainly isn't the easiest sports to photograph.
  • OldGuyOldGuy Registered Users Posts: 301 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2009
    johng wrote:
    I like shots 6 & 9 the most out of the series - although 6 still has quite a bit of uninteresting deadspace.

    shot 1: too many distracting elements - the teammates standing around don't add much to the shot and your swimmer is a bit soft and pushed to the right of the frame.

    shot 2: as you mentioned it's a soft shot and even if it weren't it's an akward part of the motion with his arms at his sides.

    shot 3: no comment

    shot 4: soft and way too much dead space and DOF. The frame is dominated by the background which is too much in focus. Tighten up the frame and decrease the DOF to draw attention to the diver. Also need a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion.

    shot 5: framing is akward with him pushed to the front and the timing is such that his form is very akward. So even if it were perfectly sharp, it would be tough to make a good shot from this. That's a real challenge with sports like diving and gymnastics - you have to do your job AND hope the participant has good form. It's tough to get that exact mix of taking the shot at the right time AND getting the form right. Very often one of the two is off as in this photo.

    shot 6: as mentioned - probably the best of the bunch - good sharpness - just too much distracting dead space below the diver.

    shot 7: not a bad shot but you want to get a tighter angle - shooting lower and getting them further from the wall so you get a better view of the face.

    shot 8: Nice timing, but the sharpness isn't there - too much motion blur and it looks like the focus was eitiher off or this is a hefty crop.

    shot 9: nice phot. Sharpness is pretty good as is the angle. The nitpick is with the framing - too much trailing space - a photo looks more natural with space in front of the motion rather than behind

    Keep at it. Swimming and diving certainly isn't the easiest sports to photograph.


    Thanks for your comments John. I really appreciate the analysis and will be more attentive as I progress. Bear in mind that most of these shots are for parents of the athletes and they are almost always more interested in seeing their kids regardless of backgrounds, etc. That said, however is not meant as an excuse for a poor photo.

    #2: This is the swimmer's normal thrust from the blocks and he doesn't bring his arms forward until just before impact—unique, no?

    Diving shots: I agree with you comments about focus, etc. The composition was my attempt at defining
    the height of the diver from the water. With a tighter crop, the viewer wouldn't know if he was 3 feet or 13 feet in the air.mwink.gif

    #9: I normally would have cropped farther to the right, but I was focusing on the water spray coming off his arm.clap.gif

    Again, thanks for your input!
    John Walker


    http://www.walkerimages.smugmug.com
    http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=10076
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