Shooting a golf tournament Saturday, any tips,suggestions?

nipprdog

I didn't pursue this, but it has the potential to be a lucrative gig. My boss has set me up to shoot pics at his son's tournament. There are five, 5 man teams. potential to sell 30 team pics, including coaches.

the plan now, is to shoot team pics before the start. then I'll set upon Hole 5 or 6, and get some shots of each of the kids teeing off. as far as 'shutter noise disturbance'. I figure I can use my 300f4, and be far enough away that it won't disturb them. then after that, cruise around the course, and get other shots; chipping, lining up putts, etc.

if each kid's parents ordered a team pic, and an action shot or two.......

I know, if if if if

any one ever done this before that has some tips or suggestions?

other than the obvious 'don't get hit by a ball' :thumb

Thanks,

Jim

johng

Jim,

You want to plan your shots based on lighting and backgrounds. For instance when you decide which tee-box you want to shoot, do so because the background is good as is the lighting.

If you want chip shots, choose an elevated green. You might also consider a green with difficult approaches and bunkers - shots out the bunker can look quite good (assuming they're good about getting out of the bunker - if the kid duffs 2 shots its not likely they'll buy the shot)

Standard shots: off the tee, off the fairway, chips & puts. Plan those shots accordingly. If there's a particular hole with nice scenery make sure you include the appropriate type of shot in that instance.

Remember light levels - if the tournament was going to stradle lunch say - you want to get the majority of your shots in the AM. Or if it starts early morning you dont want to shoot the tee of a hole facing NW (i.e. sun behind the kid teeing off).

Also try to get shots on the first couple holes. Otherwise if your first shot isn't until hole 4, by the time the last group gets to you the first group will be finishing the front 9 and you'll have less chance to get shots of players you missed or shot types you missed. If there is no break between front and back nine on the tournament, with 5 groups you may only have 2-3 chances to shoot each group.

So, balance out your shot list with sun peak / location and timing.

nipprdog

John, thank you for that very informative post. it has given me a lot to consider. my boss is going to bring me a map of the course tomorrow, so I can do some pre planning on possible tee-box choices, based on sun location. the tourney starts at 2:00.

Again, John, thank you.

wxwax

Jim, here's a thread which discusses shooting on a golf course.

nipprdog

wxwax wrote:

Jim, here's a thread which discusses shooting on a golf course.

Thanks,Sid. I just printed that thread. I cut your post out. I think I'll tape it to my arm like a quarterback does with his play book.

I'll do some testing when I get there, but I was hoping I could get far enough away with my 300f4 that they couldn't hear the shutter. don't want one of them kids to throw their back out like John Daily did.

jonh68

Before they tee off, go on the driving range and ask to shoot someones full swing. See if they can hear the shutter. I shoot HS golf for the paper and I have not had any complaints. You can get a full range of shots, not just before and after. It helps to have some golf knowledge and go to golf websites that cover PGA for ideas on good angles. I will sometimes follow one group for 3 holes and then another for a couple of more holes. Then you can backtrack etc. Usually the proshop will give you a cart. If you move around, be VERY quite and don't move until everyone has hit. It's usually better to go backwords, ie 5 to 4 instead of 4 to 5, like the cartgirls do.
Here's some shots I have taken with a 18-200 mm.

nipprdog

Nice pics, John. thanks for posting them.

here's the latest. instead of the five teams doing a 'shotgun start' from holes 1-5, they've broken them down to starting from 1-9. from what my boss tells me, #10 will be a good tee shot hole, based on the sun location.

so, if I try to get tee-box shots of all the players, I'll miss other shots.

I'll play it by ear tomorrow, get the team shots first, and then try to mix in the the tee-box shots(back-pedaling as I go) and action shots as I go.

Thanks, again.