She was first on beam, and vault for her 10yr old juniors group and 2nd overall. It was her best performance of the year.
Congratulations! She had a decent standing today. She missed Monday and Wednesday's practice because she ran into a pole at school.:cry
I had an off-day too. For the second meet in a row I cropped her hands on one of the elements on the floor routine. Oh well. We're done with this year's schedule, but she'll be competing in sections in too weeks....her first time.
We'll be at "zones" in 2 weeks also......in Visalia. After that, if she qualifies at zones, we go to State in Livermore. She won her session last year at Level 4 State, so it's gonna be a nail biter at zones to see if she can qualify.
Here's my most recent poster, inspired by what you did for your daughter:
We'll be at "zones" in 2 weeks also......in Visalia. After that, if she qualifies at zones, we go to State in Livermore. She won her session last year at Level 4 State, so it's gonna be a nail biter at zones to see if she can qualify.
Yeah, I mean zones. We'll be there too! I like that gym...well lite!
Attended our Zones meet yesterday (and ran into Hiking Mike again)
This was a gym that we'd been to about a month ago with the brutal lighting in the metal shrouded ceiling fixtures and the side garage door open right next to the vault table.
Did some initial tests with the 70-200/2.8 and it was going to be a day spent at H1 if I wanted any sort of shutter speed in the 1/320th range. BTDT, no thanks. So, it was primes all day long, until the awards when I used the 28-70/2.8 for the close stuff and the long lens for some overall shots during the team award (we won the meet, beating the favorite, "Clovis Academy." Many of these same Level 5 girls were on the Level 4 team that beat Clovis at Zones last year, so it was a rockin' victory
Congrats on the team standing. It gets more interesting as they go up each level. Too bad the level 6 now has new floor exercise music and it's not any better than the one being replaced. The important thing is to keep shooting.
Cuong
"She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
We go to State in 2 weeks up in Livermore, CA, so that'll be the last of the season. Our daughter will likely stay in Level 5 for a second year.
Finished the 9th and final poster last week, so all the girls have their posters now. Time to start PP-ing yesterdays shots and the set from the meet 2 weeks ago that I still haven't started.
Wish I could get my shots to turn out more like what yourself and others have posted here. Mine still seem grainy, maybe a little dark, and a little OOF. Maybe because some are too much of a crop? Like those first 2 bar photos, and the vault photo above......as compared to that beam shot which isn't cropped at all?
It took me 3 years and I'm still learning. Learn to exploit your equipment to get action-stopping sharp images. Too much cropping is never a good thing. Don't be afraid to discard the poor shots and move on. Just look at how much you have progressed in a few short months. Next season will be here before you know it. Good luck at State. Our State meet will be this coming Friday the 13th evening in San Diego. This schedule is just insane considering the 2-hour commute and Friday night traffic.
Cuong
"She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
Attended our Zones meet yesterday (and ran into Hiking Mike again)
Hey, nice to see you at least "in passing"! My daughter didn't qualify for States. She was happy to be in zones as it was her first time.
I only took 18 pictures and deleted half of them. There were a team in front of me in the floor routine. My daughter started on the other side of the beam, so that meant no faces on the "good" poses. Oh well.
Yeah, that gym is really tough to shoot. I'm like a monkey in tree at that place.........outside and in through a side door to get in front of the bars (hey, why not face the bars toward your spectator stands, eh ).......then up the stairs half way to get shots of the floor......over near the corner against the back wall and climbing on equipment to get to the vault table and the beam.......crawling under the front spectator line rope to get shots of the awards.
But I wound up with about 600+ photos of the whole team, and a good majority are keepers. Prime lenses to the rescue for sure!
Sorry your daughter didn't make State. If possible, you guys should still attend, it's a lot of fun and her teammates will appreciate her support since they compete as individuals and they'll be all alone.
End of Gymnastics season '09...
And so ends our '09 Season...
Had the State meet yesterday. Just getting home now and haven't had a chance to look at the photos. An excellent location, and when we started at 3pm, the lighting was fantastic. That, of course, degraded by 5pm.
HUGE thanks to everyone who's posted advice and photos! I learned so much from you folks and I'm looking forward to improving my skills and getting even better shots next year.
What did I learn/what worked for me this season?
1) Buy a camera with the best low light capable sensor that you can afford.
2) Prime lenses; in my case the Canon 50/1.4, 85/1.8 135/2 are powerful tools in these gyms, and possibly (probably) a better tool than the 70-200/2.8 ISL. I plan to add the 135/2 to the quiver asap.
3) Thumb focus AI Servo is a great feature.
4) High speed burst mode and 6+ frames per second are great features, and using the "spray-and-pray" method can get some cool action shots.
5) 9 focus points isn't enough for gymnastics, and for me at least, center-focus was better most of the time.
6) Practice, practice, practice. Be able to change ISO, shutter speed, and aperature on the fly, without looking at the buttons or taking the camera away from your face.
7) 1/320th is really the minimum shutter speed for stopping the motion of hands and feet for the younger (Level 4 and Level 5) gymnasts, but you're really on the ragged edge, even with them. 1/400th or better is really where you hope to be....and that can be tough, especially with an F2.8 lens.
8) Try new "stuff." New shooting angles, new techniques, new gear, etc.
9) There's plenty of time between events to switch lenses several times, and take a bunch of test shots of other gymnasts to make sure you've got the settings and lens you really want to use.
10) Faces........faces........faces!!
11) Shoot everything and anything, the empty floor, the flag(s), banners, podium empty, shoot warm up, shoot the athlete when they are practicing on each event before they go, shoot the coach(es) with the athlete, shoot the overall gym, shoot the team just standing or sitting around, shoot it all because you never know what you'll wind up with and you can always delete.
12) Get the biggest fastest memory card you can afford. The last thing you want is a "Card Full" message in the middle of a :60sec beam routine.
13) Candids!! Get 'em because they can wind up really being some of the most special shots.
14) Multiple exposures of the same shot, especially during awards. I can't tell you how many "team-on-the-podium" shots it takes me to get just one shot that's of the best focus, and has all the girls looking at the camera lens at the same time. So just stand there and keep clicking.
I didn't realize the competitive seasons differ so much nationwide. Our girls just had their first meet of the season this weekend - state championships are in March (Rhode Island). My son's season starts next month. I agree with your list of things learned/what worked. Hopefully by next season I can upgrade to a 7D, sure would like more focus points. I just picked up the 85 1.8 on Saturday before the meet. I found if very useful for the beam but switched back to my 70-200 2.8 for the floor so that I could cover all areas of the mat. Hopefully I'll get some px posted later this week.
Out here in Cali, the season is staggered. It appears that it begins with the Level 4,5, and 6's and they start in Sept. and the 6's had their State meet a week ago, we L5's had ours this past weekend, and the L4's are the first week of Dec. Then in Jan. or maybe Feb. the L7's and up have their season. I can't remember if the boy's season is over the summer, or if it runs at the same time as the L7+'s.
There was a professional phototag firm at this State meet and they had a display out in the lobby. 16x20 posters were $399, 8x12's were $100, a CD of your athlete doing all 4 events was $179(I think). I watched their guys shooting. They had 2 photogs, and neither had the big white monster 70-200/2.8. Both appeared to be using Canon. One guy, a 1D looking model with a very small prime lens, like maybe a 50/1.4, no lens hood and a hand strap. The other guy, possibly also a 1D-something, and a bigger black lens with hood, maybe a wide angle? When they shot floor, they were both right at the edge of the carpet, so their lenses couldn't have been very "big" as far as focal length goes. And they new the routine well enough that they could stop, kneel and shoot a series, and then take off walking, getting ahead of the routine, and wind up meeting up with the gymnasts a few seconds later on the other side of the floor.....and repeating this for all 4 sides. That was cool to see, and their lens choice was interesting. Made me feel good about adding primes to my kit, as you guys suggested early on.
This thread is a special one to me since the only sport that I shoot is girls gymnastics. Thanks to Todd (austinado16) for starting this thread. It was hard to imagine that it would end up with nearly 200 postings and 10K views in the past 6 months. In sharing my experience, I also learned along the way. It has become more than just what camera and lens to get. We shared suggestions on how to make the best use of our gear and new ideas to try at the next meet. The compulsory season is over for many of us, but I hope that we continue to shoot and refine our skills, just like our little gymnasts continue to practice during the off season. Optional and collegiate season is right around the corner, so there'll be plenty of opportunities to stay in shape.
Here's my daughter at the State meet for level 6 about 10 days ago. Lighting in the convention center was up high so I had to resort to ISO 3200 on my 40D to maintain a decent shutter speed at f/2.8.
1. Vault
2. Uneven bars
3. Balance beam
4. Floor exercise (a split second too slow on catching the split leap at its peak).
Cuong
"She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
I had no idea this would become such a large thread either. I figure I'd get a couple answers, tops. I'm really impressed with how everyone was willing to share, including looking stuff up in their owner's manual and telling me page and sections to look at.
I'm not sure that Canon was the right choice, but it's the choice I made and for now, I'll stick with it. Would have loved to be side-by-side with another parent using a Nikon and get some real fair comparison shots.
Those shots of your daughter are great, and I especially like that vault shot. I continue to be amazed at how many angles there are, that produce great results. And just when I think, "Okay, I've got a handle on shooting this event." I see a shot like that, that I never would have thought to consider.
I just gave the assistant coach 3 CD's completely full of photos and she's going to use them to make the slideshow for the upcoming banquet. It'll be interesting to see how the shots look on the big screen *gulp*.
My goals for next year include:
1) Get the 135/2 lens
2) Get Lightroom 2
3) Keep practicing with PSE7 and probably upgrade to 8.
4) Start learning Photoshop
5) Keep practicing with the camera and try a lot of new angles and view points in order to have some "fresh" shots for next season.
You need to bump up the contrast on these to make them pop. I like #3 best with the banner in the background. Too bad it's a bit blurry due to movement.
Cuong
"She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
Yeah, there's a huge difference in how nice your photos are compared mine. I'm guessing it's a combination of skill and PP. I should send you one of my originals and see what it looks like after you PP it
Out here in Cali, the season is staggered. It appears that it begins with the Level 4,5, and 6's and they start in Sept. and the 6's had their State meet a week ago, we L5's had ours this past weekend, and the L4's are the first week of Dec. Then in Jan. or maybe Feb. the L7's and up have their season. I can't remember if the boy's season is over the summer, or if it runs at the same time as the L7+'s.
There was a professional phototag firm at this State meet and they had a display out in the lobby. 16x20 posters were $399, 8x12's were $100, a CD of your athlete doing all 4 events was $179(I think). I watched their guys shooting. They had 2 photogs, and neither had the big white monster 70-200/2.8. Both appeared to be using Canon. One guy, a 1D looking model with a very small prime lens, like maybe a 50/1.4, no lens hood and a hand strap. The other guy, possibly also a 1D-something, and a bigger black lens with hood, maybe a wide angle? When they shot floor, they were both right at the edge of the carpet, so their lenses couldn't have been very "big" as far as focal length goes. And they new the routine well enough that they could stop, kneel and shoot a series, and then take off walking, getting ahead of the routine, and wind up meeting up with the gymnasts a few seconds later on the other side of the floor.....and repeating this for all 4 sides. That was cool to see, and their lens choice was interesting. Made me feel good about adding primes to my kit, as you guys suggested early on.
Just a note on your location comment, I sit as close to the floor as I can, depending on the event thats as close as 24'' from the line, and I use a 70-200 exclusively on floor. I've shot from @20' off the head of a beam once with a 300 2.8. During warm-up have shot uneven bars with an 85 1.8 on a D700 while inside the cables close enough to lean against the uprights.
I get as close as I can with the longest lens I can, the shorter your distance to subject, the shallower your DOF, = better picture.
Hi Mike,
9.1 on beam and that was only good enough for 7th on beam, but it's her second highest Beam score of the season. Low 8's on rest. State judging is tough. They aren't giving anything away, and you can't show up with your 8-point-something game.
Keith I appreciate your talent!! That's one thing I haven't had the courage to do yet, is get right up close. Two reasons, I guess: 1) I'm worried about affecting the athlete's performance. 2) I'm on this rookie path of "capture the action" and so I'm looking for a distance that I can "safely" keep up, and keep the entire body in the view finder. I guess that's the other thing I need to work on is getting in close and getting those tight face shots and close views. The 2 pro guys there were doing just like you suggest. They were down on the floor either shooting upward slightly or shooting straight across.
I wore clothing that blended in with the crowd and camera, and set up in one location for my practice shots, and then prior to my daughter's turn, vanished into the crowd close by so she'd not be distracted. I heard from our coach that one of the dads on our team stood right off the end of the beam with the video camera, it psych'd his daughter out, and she had a low beam score (that cost her 1st place overall).
Hi Mike,
9.1 on beam and that was only good enough for 7th on beam, but it's her second highest Beam score of the season. Low 8's on rest. State judging is tough. They aren't giving anything away, and you can't show up with your 8-point-something game.
Keith I appreciate your talent!! That's one thing I haven't had the courage to do yet, is get right up close. Two reasons, I guess: 1) I'm worried about affecting the athlete's performance. 2) I'm on this rookie path of "capture the action" and so I'm looking for a distance that I can "safely" keep up, and keep the entire body in the view finder. I guess that's the other thing I need to work on is getting in close and getting those tight face shots and close views. The 2 pro guys there were doing just like you suggest. They were down on the floor either shooting upward slightly or shooting straight across.
I wore clothing that blended in with the crowd and camera, and set up in one location for my practice shots, and then prior to my daughter's turn, vanished into the crowd close by so she'd not be distracted. I heard from our coach that one of the dads on our team stood right off the end of the beam with the video camera, it psych'd his daughter out, and she had a low beam score (that cost her 1st place overall).
I am always hyper conscious of whether I am doing things that will negatively affect the athletes.
I ask the coaches and often ask the gymnasts about that very thing. I only have 2 memorable stories about it.
1- 2 years ago at states I had a coach tell me that she didn't want me photographing her girls because she felt it would be too much of a distraction to her athletes. I said "Yes Mam' absolutely, can I ask one question? what should I do when the parents ask why there are no pictures of their athletes?" She Said, "THEY WON'T" So I started feeling self conscious and, believe it or not, my shooting suffered because I was preoccupied with worrying about it. The last thing I want to do is negatively affect the athletes, especially of my favorite sport. After the meet I asked a few other coaches if they felt my placement or that of my other shooters was ever an issue, and that if it was I wanted to know immediately. They all said they had no problems with how I covered the event. 2 actually mentioned that they would be disappointed if their athlete was not so focussed as to not even realize I was there. When I have asked the athletes, most say they don't realize I am there, I have only had one that has suggested that she is aware of me, so I backed off on her specifically for 2 meets and prior to States her and her mother let me know that she would like me to try and get some good shots of her.
After the states meet mentioned above I had three moms from that coaches team email the next day or so after wanting to know when I was going to post their clubs pictures, after 4 years they have come to rely on being able to see their pictures within 24 hours. I let them know that their coach had requested no pictures for performance reasons. I had 2 email me back apologizing and letting me know that their wishes are for me to do what I do.
I always respect request from parents and coaches, regardless of whether I think I'm out of the way.
The other story is shorter, I have a mental block about getting too close to my step daughter and she is constantly nagging me (along with her mother) about why I don't have any poster quality pictures of her.
I can't imagine how tough it is to balance what the coaches want and what the parents want. You manage it well though because your photos are always top notch.
Been doing any more shooting with that Canon 7D? You should post some of your comparisons in this thread.
My daughter told me today that she doesn't notice me, and that she and her coach had a running joke at the State meet......."Where's your dad? Where's Waldo now?" Lovely
I can't imagine how tough it is to balance what the coaches want and what the parents want. You manage it well though because your photos are always top notch.
Been doing any more shooting with that Canon 7D? You should post some of your comparisons in this thread.
My daughter told me today that she doesn't notice me, and that she and her coach had a running joke at the State meet......."Where's your dad? Where's Waldo now?" Lovely<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/rolleyes1.gif" border="0" alt="" >
7D is strictly video at this point, honestly the D300 has it beat in the gym,
I am currently running Nikon lenses via adapters on the 7D then strapping it on jibs, sliders, tripods, and a tiny bit of handheld for stuff like this...
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Stills in the above were with the D300
I've run a few side by sides around the web and no matter how much time I invest in them, people alway figure out the flaws in my method. Each rig has it's strengths, for my opinion, the D300 beats the 7D for indoor sports.
I still say post some of your comparison shots between the 7D and the D300. To me it's as simple as; slap the same lens on each, and shoot for a day in the gym and see what the photos look like.......which camera dealt with the low light, which kept up with moving targets, which produced vibrant/true colors without needing umpteen hours of PP.
We had our after season banquet on Monday and I supplied one of the assistant coaches with 3 CD's chocked full of photos of all 16 girls from L4,5 & 6. What she produced absolutely blew my mind!
With music by Alicia Keys "Super Woman" (find it on youtube...great song for little inspired gymnasts) she put together an animated slideshow, cropping and tweaking my images just beautifully. By the end of the 4min production, I was literally moved almost to tears.......seeing all the girls like that, and all their hard work paying off, and their proud faces.
It was a very proud moment, and it made all the money and time I've invested well worth it.
We had our after season banquet on Monday and I supplied one of the assistant coaches with 3 CD's chocked full of photos of all 16 girls from L4,5 & 6. What she produced absolutely blew my mind!
With music by Alicia Keys "Super Woman" (find it on youtube...great song for little inspired gymnasts) she put together an animated slideshow, cropping and tweaking my images just beautifully. By the end of the 4min production, I was literally moved almost to tears.......seeing all the girls like that, and all their hard work paying off, and their proud faces.
It was a very proud moment, and it made all the money and time I've invested well worth it.
Hey Todd,
I'd really like to see the video but about 1 thousand videos came up when I searched for Super Woman. Can you provide the actual link?
Comments
Congratulations! She had a decent standing today. She missed Monday and Wednesday's practice because she ran into a pole at school.:cry
I had an off-day too. For the second meet in a row I cropped her hands on one of the elements on the floor routine.
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Here's my most recent poster, inspired by what you did for your daughter:
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Yeah, I mean zones.
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I didn't see this last night.
Looks great!
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Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
This was a gym that we'd been to about a month ago with the brutal lighting in the metal shrouded ceiling fixtures and the side garage door open right next to the vault table.
Did some initial tests with the 70-200/2.8 and it was going to be a day spent at H1 if I wanted any sort of shutter speed in the 1/320th range. BTDT, no thanks. So, it was primes all day long, until the awards when I used the 28-70/2.8 for the close stuff and the long lens for some overall shots during the team award (we won the meet, beating the favorite, "Clovis Academy." Many of these same Level 5 girls were on the Level 4 team that beat Clovis at Zones last year, so it was a rockin' victory
FWIW, here are some samples:
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Cuong
Finished the 9th and final poster last week, so all the girls have their posters now. Time to start PP-ing yesterdays shots and the set from the meet 2 weeks ago that I still haven't started.
Wish I could get my shots to turn out more like what yourself and others have posted here. Mine still seem grainy, maybe a little dark, and a little OOF. Maybe because some are too much of a crop? Like those first 2 bar photos, and the vault photo above......as compared to that beam shot which isn't cropped at all?
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Cuong
Hey, nice to see you at least "in passing"! My daughter didn't qualify for States. She was happy to be in zones as it was her first time.
I only took 18 pictures and deleted half of them. There were a team in front of me in the floor routine. My daughter started on the other side of the beam, so that meant no faces on the "good" poses. Oh well.
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But I wound up with about 600+ photos of the whole team, and a good majority are keepers. Prime lenses to the rescue for sure!
Sorry your daughter didn't make State. If possible, you guys should still attend, it's a lot of fun and her teammates will appreciate her support since they compete as individuals and they'll be all alone.
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
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And so ends our '09 Season...
Had the State meet yesterday. Just getting home now and haven't had a chance to look at the photos. An excellent location, and when we started at 3pm, the lighting was fantastic. That, of course, degraded by 5pm.
HUGE thanks to everyone who's posted advice and photos!
What did I learn/what worked for me this season?
1) Buy a camera with the best low light capable sensor that you can afford.
2) Prime lenses; in my case the Canon 50/1.4, 85/1.8 135/2 are powerful tools in these gyms, and possibly (probably) a better tool than the 70-200/2.8 ISL. I plan to add the 135/2 to the quiver asap.
3) Thumb focus AI Servo is a great feature.
4) High speed burst mode and 6+ frames per second are great features, and using the "spray-and-pray" method can get some cool action shots.
5) 9 focus points isn't enough for gymnastics, and for me at least, center-focus was better most of the time.
6) Practice, practice, practice. Be able to change ISO, shutter speed, and aperature on the fly, without looking at the buttons or taking the camera away from your face.
7) 1/320th is really the minimum shutter speed for stopping the motion of hands and feet for the younger (Level 4 and Level 5) gymnasts, but you're really on the ragged edge, even with them. 1/400th or better is really where you hope to be....and that can be tough, especially with an F2.8 lens.
8) Try new "stuff." New shooting angles, new techniques, new gear, etc.
9) There's plenty of time between events to switch lenses several times, and take a bunch of test shots of other gymnasts to make sure you've got the settings and lens you really want to use.
10) Faces........faces........faces!!
11) Shoot everything and anything, the empty floor, the flag(s), banners, podium empty, shoot warm up, shoot the athlete when they are practicing on each event before they go, shoot the coach(es) with the athlete, shoot the overall gym, shoot the team just standing or sitting around, shoot it all because you never know what you'll wind up with and you can always delete.
12) Get the biggest fastest memory card you can afford. The last thing you want is a "Card Full" message in the middle of a :60sec beam routine.
13) Candids!! Get 'em because they can wind up really being some of the most special shots.
14) Multiple exposures of the same shot, especially during awards. I can't tell you how many "team-on-the-podium" shots it takes me to get just one shot that's of the best focus, and has all the girls looking at the camera lens at the same time. So just stand there and keep clicking.
Thanks everyone!
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
I didn't realize the competitive seasons differ so much nationwide. Our girls just had their first meet of the season this weekend - state championships are in March (Rhode Island). My son's season starts next month. I agree with your list of things learned/what worked. Hopefully by next season I can upgrade to a 7D, sure would like more focus points. I just picked up the 85 1.8 on Saturday before the meet. I found if very useful for the beam but switched back to my 70-200 2.8 for the floor so that I could cover all areas of the mat. Hopefully I'll get some px posted later this week.
Stephanie
There was a professional phototag firm at this State meet and they had a display out in the lobby. 16x20 posters were $399, 8x12's were $100, a CD of your athlete doing all 4 events was $179(I think). I watched their guys shooting. They had 2 photogs, and neither had the big white monster 70-200/2.8. Both appeared to be using Canon. One guy, a 1D looking model with a very small prime lens, like maybe a 50/1.4, no lens hood and a hand strap. The other guy, possibly also a 1D-something, and a bigger black lens with hood, maybe a wide angle? When they shot floor, they were both right at the edge of the carpet, so their lenses couldn't have been very "big" as far as focal length goes. And they new the routine well enough that they could stop, kneel and shoot a series, and then take off walking, getting ahead of the routine, and wind up meeting up with the gymnasts a few seconds later on the other side of the floor.....and repeating this for all 4 sides. That was cool to see, and their lens choice was interesting. Made me feel good about adding primes to my kit, as you guys suggested early on.
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Here's my daughter at the State meet for level 6 about 10 days ago. Lighting in the convention center was up high so I had to resort to ISO 3200 on my 40D to maintain a decent shutter speed at f/2.8.
1. Vault
2. Uneven bars
3. Balance beam
4. Floor exercise (a split second too slow on catching the split leap at its peak).
Cuong
I'm not sure that Canon was the right choice, but it's the choice I made and for now, I'll stick with it. Would have loved to be side-by-side with another parent using a Nikon and get some real fair comparison shots.
Those shots of your daughter are great, and I especially like that vault shot. I continue to be amazed at how many angles there are, that produce great results. And just when I think, "Okay, I've got a handle on shooting this event." I see a shot like that, that I never would have thought to consider.
I just gave the assistant coach 3 CD's completely full of photos and she's going to use them to make the slideshow for the upcoming banquet. It'll be interesting to see how the shots look on the big screen *gulp*.
My goals for next year include:
1) Get the 135/2 lens
2) Get Lightroom 2
3) Keep practicing with PSE7 and probably upgrade to 8.
4) Start learning Photoshop
5) Keep practicing with the camera and try a lot of new angles and view points in order to have some "fresh" shots for next season.
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Canon 70-200/2.8 L IS 1/400th ISO 2500
Canon 85/1.8 @1.8 1/320th ISO 1600
Shot from across the entire gym with 70-200/2.8
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Cuong
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
I get as close as I can with the longest lens I can, the shorter your distance to subject, the shallower your DOF, = better picture.
and white is over-rated
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
Images in the Backcountry
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9.1 on beam and that was only good enough for 7th on beam, but it's her second highest Beam score of the season. Low 8's on rest. State judging is tough. They aren't giving anything away, and you can't show up with your 8-point-something game.
Keith I appreciate your talent!! That's one thing I haven't had the courage to do yet, is get right up close. Two reasons, I guess: 1) I'm worried about affecting the athlete's performance. 2) I'm on this rookie path of "capture the action" and so I'm looking for a distance that I can "safely" keep up, and keep the entire body in the view finder. I guess that's the other thing I need to work on is getting in close and getting those tight face shots and close views. The 2 pro guys there were doing just like you suggest. They were down on the floor either shooting upward slightly or shooting straight across.
I wore clothing that blended in with the crowd and camera, and set up in one location for my practice shots, and then prior to my daughter's turn, vanished into the crowd close by so she'd not be distracted. I heard from our coach that one of the dads on our team stood right off the end of the beam with the video camera, it psych'd his daughter out, and she had a low beam score (that cost her 1st place overall).
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
I ask the coaches and often ask the gymnasts about that very thing. I only have 2 memorable stories about it.
1- 2 years ago at states I had a coach tell me that she didn't want me photographing her girls because she felt it would be too much of a distraction to her athletes. I said "Yes Mam' absolutely, can I ask one question? what should I do when the parents ask why there are no pictures of their athletes?" She Said, "THEY WON'T" So I started feeling self conscious and, believe it or not, my shooting suffered because I was preoccupied with worrying about it. The last thing I want to do is negatively affect the athletes, especially of my favorite sport. After the meet I asked a few other coaches if they felt my placement or that of my other shooters was ever an issue, and that if it was I wanted to know immediately. They all said they had no problems with how I covered the event. 2 actually mentioned that they would be disappointed if their athlete was not so focussed as to not even realize I was there. When I have asked the athletes, most say they don't realize I am there, I have only had one that has suggested that she is aware of me, so I backed off on her specifically for 2 meets and prior to States her and her mother let me know that she would like me to try and get some good shots of her.
After the states meet mentioned above I had three moms from that coaches team email the next day or so after wanting to know when I was going to post their clubs pictures, after 4 years they have come to rely on being able to see their pictures within 24 hours. I let them know that their coach had requested no pictures for performance reasons. I had 2 email me back apologizing and letting me know that their wishes are for me to do what I do.
I always respect request from parents and coaches, regardless of whether I think I'm out of the way.
The other story is shorter, I have a mental block about getting too close to my step daughter and she is constantly nagging me (along with her mother) about why I don't have any poster quality pictures of her.
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
Been doing any more shooting with that Canon 7D? You should post some of your comparisons in this thread.
My daughter told me today that she doesn't notice me, and that she and her coach had a running joke at the State meet......."Where's your dad? Where's Waldo now?" Lovely
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
I am currently running Nikon lenses via adapters on the 7D then strapping it on jibs, sliders, tripods, and a tiny bit of handheld for stuff like this...
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Stills in the above were with the D300
I've run a few side by sides around the web and no matter how much time I invest in them, people alway figure out the flaws in my method. Each rig has it's strengths, for my opinion, the D300 beats the 7D for indoor sports.
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
I still say post some of your comparison shots between the 7D and the D300. To me it's as simple as; slap the same lens on each, and shoot for a day in the gym and see what the photos look like.......which camera dealt with the low light, which kept up with moving targets, which produced vibrant/true colors without needing umpteen hours of PP.
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
With music by Alicia Keys "Super Woman" (find it on youtube...great song for little inspired gymnasts) she put together an animated slideshow, cropping and tweaking my images just beautifully. By the end of the 4min production, I was literally moved almost to tears.......seeing all the girls like that, and all their hard work paying off, and their proud faces.
It was a very proud moment, and it made all the money and time I've invested well worth it.
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8
Hey Todd,
I'd really like to see the video but about 1 thousand videos came up when I searched for Super Woman. Can you provide the actual link?
Thanks
Wayne G
The gymnastics slideshow isn't online. Although maybe I'll see if I can upload it.
I was just referencing that if someone wanted to hear the song, they could. Youtube has it, I listened to it today here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SLeae3Yoe0
Canon 7D... Canon 70-200/2.8L IS... Canon 28-70/2.8L... Canon 135/f2L... Canon 85/1.8... Canon 50/1.4... Canon 28/1.8