Tips for Golfing

canon400d

I have been asked to take photos of a golfing venue. I have never done this so I am really asking advice as to bring this to a reasonable success. I will be using my 40D and I usually use my 17-55 2.8 and 70-200 F.4 Should I consider a different lens?
Regards
Bob

pattinsonrobert

Hi Bob.

17-55 is a pretty good starter lens.But you can try 24-105 lens.

i like the 24-105 though as my primary do everything lens.

Regards
Pattinson

canon400d

pattinsonrobert wrote:

Hi Bob.

17-55 is a pretty good starter lens.But you can try 24-105 lens.

i like the 24-105 though as my primary do everything lens.

Regards
Pattinson

Hi Thanks for replying. I usually use the 17-55 2.8 as a main lens. But when I have been at car rallies i have been using 70-200 F4. I normally shoot manual but at the rallies I have been using TV mode. Which mode would you recommend for golfing pictures and shutter speeds? I take it there will not be any need to do any panning or am I wrong?
Regards
Bob

rustic

Hi Bob,

I'm not sure I have much to suggest for the event itself, but in terms of getting advice, I'd suggest being a bit more specific about what you're trying to accomplish with this.

Are you just photographing the venue itself, or an actual event at it?

If it is an event, will you have press credentials and close access to the players?

What is the ultimate purpose of the shoot? Advertising? Shooting for a specific person? Media coverage?

I'm sure there are lots of folks that can provide suggestions, but more info would definitely help.

canon400d

rustic wrote:

Hi Bob,

I'm not sure I have much to suggest for the event itself, but in terms of getting advice, I'd suggest being a bit more specific about what you're trying to accomplish with this.

Are you just photographing the venue itself, or an actual event at it?

If it is an event, will you have press credentials and close access to the players?

What is the ultimate purpose of the shoot? Advertising? Shooting for a specific person? Media coverage?

I'm sure there are lots of folks that can provide suggestions, but more info would definitely help.

Hi thanks for your reply. There are a group of 20 golfers and they wanted me to take photos for them as they go around the course. The photos are for their own personal use ie: they are wanting to assess their technique etc. Hope this helps for you to give me the necessary advice I require.
Regards
Bob

johng

If the purpose is to assess technique, then I would suggest video as a better solution - for 2 reasons:
1) You'll capture everytihing - stance, approach, backswing, impact, follow-thru with a lot more frames than a camera

2) You can capture all this without the noise of a shutter.

Normally in golf, it's considered bad to take photos during the swing because the shutter can be distracting.

Assuming these guys are OK with the shutter and assuming you don't want to shoot video and assuming these photos are for technique evaluation (as opposed to interesting photography ) then you'll want to take shots of all aspects mentioned above. You want to get those shots of them using their different clubs - amazing how a guy can have a great swing with his 3-wood or driver but have issues with short irons - or vice versa.

You'll want full body shots - but fairly tight so it's easy to keep good detail. Pump the ISO up and shoot at f5.6 or so to ensure deep enough DOF (remember this is for critique purposes not for photo quality).

But also take some close up shots showing how they're gripping the club.

You'll also have to plan out what holes you're going to shoot what types of shots on since you'll have several groups to shoot and you'll want to get all these different shots without running out of time.

canon400d

johng wrote:

If the purpose is to assess technique, then I would suggest video as a better solution - for 2 reasons:
1) You'll capture everytihing - stance, approach, backswing, impact, follow-thru with a lot more frames than a camera

2) You can capture all this without the noise of a shutter.

Normally in golf, it's considered bad to take photos during the swing because the shutter can be distracting.

Assuming these guys are OK with the shutter and assuming you don't want to shoot video and assuming these photos are for technique evaluation (as opposed to interesting photography ) then you'll want to take shots of all aspects mentioned above. You want to get those shots of them using their different clubs - amazing how a guy can have a great swing with his 3-wood or driver but have issues with short irons - or vice versa.

You'll want full body shots - but fairly tight so it's easy to keep good detail. Pump the ISO up and shoot at f5.6 or so to ensure deep enough DOF (remember this is for critique purposes not for photo quality).

But also take some close up shots showing how they're gripping the club.

You'll also have to plan out what holes you're going to shoot what types of shots on since you'll have several groups to shoot and you'll want to get all these different shots without running out of time.

Thanks for your very detailed and interesting reply John. I don't have a video camera so I will have to use my 40D and possibly use my 70-200 F/4L as I don't want to be too near to distract them and I probably would not get near eough with my 17-55 2.8 lens.
Regards
Bob

Qarik

canon400d wrote:

Hi thanks for your reply. There are a group of 20 golfers and they wanted me to take photos for them as they go around the course. The photos are for their own personal use ie: they are wanting to assess their technique etc. Hope this helps for you to give me the necessary advice I require.
Regards
Bob

Your initial post made it sound like taking pictures of the course. For golf action sequences yout 2 lens are fine. Make sure your shutter speed is faster the 1/500 or so..if it is a sunny day then you probably won;t have much under exposure issues.

For swing assessment..make sure you are on high speed capture and jpg unless your 40D has a larger buffer size for RAW. Also the high FPS is going to eath through your memory quick..another reason to stay in jpg. Golfers really don;t care about RAW anyway You may capture >15 shots a sequence so buffer size may be an issue. Also turn off your camera beep. If you stand maybe 15 feet, the shutter noise should be okay for all but the most sensitive of golfers. Make sure you capture addressesing the ball, backswing, and follow through since all are important to a golfer.

For angles obviously get the front shot but also the profile shot of the swing as well to assess spine angle and swing plane.

Tee box of course is going to be easiest to capture so the driver is covered...but if you want to be thorough get a few captures of iron swings as well since people tend to swing differently with their driver vs irons.

canon400d

Qarik wrote:

Your initial post made it sound like taking pictures of the course. For golf action sequences yout 2 lens are fine. Make sure your shutter speed is faster the 1/500 or so..if it is a sunny day then you probably won;t have much under exposure issues.

For swing assessment..make sure you are on high speed capture and jpg unless your 40D has a larger buffer size for RAW. Also the high FPS is going to eath through your memory quick..another reason to stay in jpg. Golfers really don;t care about RAW anyway You may capture >15 shots a sequence so buffer size may be an issue. Also turn off your camera beep. If you stand maybe 15 feet, the shutter noise should be okay for all but the most sensitive of golfers. Make sure you capture addressesing the ball, backswing, and follow through since all are important to a golfer.

For angles obviously get the front shot but also the profile shot of the swing as well to assess spine angle and swing plane.

Tee box of course is going to be easiest to capture so the driver is covered...but if you want to be thorough get a few captures of iron swings as well since people tend to swing differently with their driver vs irons.

Thanks ever so much for what you have told me. I have spoken to the leader of the group and they agree with everything you have said and advised whch I thank you ever so much.
Regards
Bob

canon400d

canon400d wrote:

Thanks ever so much for what you have told me. I have spoken to the leader of the group and they agree with everything you have said and advised whch I thank you ever so much.
Regards
Bob

I attended the golfing venue and after using my 40D and 70-200L in continuous I was told I was distracting them with the noise and had to depart from the scene as when I stood further back I was not getting the effect they were wanting. Is there any way one can stop the noise when using continuous mode?
Regards
Bob