My First Attempt at a High School Swim Meet

RBrogen · January 17, 2009

The lighting could not have been worse but I was already there and figured I'd give it a shot. C&C Welcome.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

jeffreaux2 · January 17, 2009

3 and 5 are great!!!!

clemensphoto's · January 17, 2009

Very nice #6 is my fav.

sweet caroline · January 17, 2009

These look really good. When I first started to read your post, I was preparing myself for some not so great photos. You undersold yourself! These are great.

RBrogen · January 17, 2009

Thanks all. I was so concerned with the lighting because there were only 4 lights over the pool and it was sooooo dark I was really thinking it was a lost cause. I wound up taking team pictures as well. I'll post more as I process.

divamum · January 18, 2009

sweet caroline wrote:

These look really good. When I first started to read your post, I was preparing myself for some not so great photos. You undersold yourself! These are great.

I had exactly the same reaction! I like 5, 6 and 8 (what did you do in post? I especially love the "glassy" look of the water in #8!)

RBrogen · January 18, 2009

divamum wrote:

I had exactly the same reaction! I like 5, 6 and 8 (what did you do in post? I especially love the "glassy" look of the water in #8!)

Thanks Divamum,

#8 was very under exposed so really I just adjusted the exposure, sharpening and some saturation levels in RAW and then applied a layer of noise reduction at 70% and that was it. I like the way it came out as well.

Scott_Quier · January 18, 2009

These are very, very good

As usual, I'm swim against the current here (pun intended:D) in that I think #7 is the best of the group. The look on her face - can't be sure if she's just finished a race and not been successful or if she's preparing for a race and trying to better focus her mind. There's a story there that is very much open to whatever the viewer wants to see.

RBrogen · January 18, 2009

Scott_Quier wrote:

These are very, very good As usual, I'm swim against the current here (pun intended:D) in that I think #7 is the best of the group. The look on her face - can't be sure if she's just finished a race and not been successful or if she's preparing for a race and trying to better focus her mind. There's a story there that is very much open to whatever the viewer wants to see.

Thanks Scott. Yes it is very interesting to see the kids when they get deep into thought and not aware you are watching. This is probably one of my favorite shots as well. I added a #9 as well.

speedsk8r · January 18, 2009

Awesome pic's love the colors in the water also the subject eye's again very nice.

RBrogen · January 18, 2009

speedsk8r wrote:

Awesome pic's love the colors in the water also the subject eye's again very nice.

Thanks speedsk8r. I just put #10 up.

BMW Kurt · January 18, 2009

Just like Vegas, 7 & 11 are my favorites from the set!!

RBrogen · January 18, 2009

BMW Kurt wrote:

Just like Vegas, 7 & 11 are my favorites from the set!!

Thanks BMW Kurt...I just added #12. I'm almost finished processing and found that one way underexposed.

WingsOfLovePhoto · January 19, 2009

Love them all! Except for #4 (kinda creepy, but that's the reality:D ) Was it all natural lighting or did you use flash? I like the cool catchlights in the blue eyes with the blue water...really nice. Can I ask what your settings were?

RBrogen · January 19, 2009

Hi WingsOfLovePhoto. Thank you for the kind words. The pool was very, very dark so I did use a flash bouncing off the ceiling. I shot all but the team photo with my 70-200mm L @ F2.8 @ 1/200. #4 was a young lady just after she launched into her back stroke meet. I actually like it quite a bit because it's different.

Schnauzer · January 20, 2009

They are all very nice. Numbers 5-7-11 are my favorites.

RBrogen · January 20, 2009

Schnauzer wrote:

They are all very nice. Numbers 5-7-11 are my favorites.

Thanks for the kind words Ron.

JimM · January 22, 2009

These are absolutely fantastic. Some of the best high school swimming pictures I have ever seen!

RBrogen · January 22, 2009

JimM wrote:

These are absolutely fantastic. Some of the best high school swimming pictures I have ever seen!

Thanks for the very kind words Jim. I enjoyed shooting these kids. The conditions were tough with hardly any lighting and the humidity from the warm pool made me feel like I was in a sauna. It was worth it though.

jrowphoto · January 22, 2009

Nice shots! Why didn't you post in the sports forum?

I really like the clarity and color/white balance with the closeups!! I've shot a lot of my niece's swim meets (you can see pics from the link in my sig), and you did a really nice job.

What camera, ISO, etc?

John

Blinkings · January 22, 2009

I cant wait to see what you post when it isn't the first time for you! They are sensationally good.

RBrogen · January 22, 2009

jrowphoto wrote:

Nice shots! Why didn't you post in the sports forum?

I really like the clarity and color/white balance with the closeups!! I've shot a lot of my niece's swim meets (you can see pics from the link in my sig), and you did a really nice job.

What camera, ISO, etc?

John

Hi John,

Thanks for replying. I actually didn't realize that we had a sports forum

since it's a new thing for me to try and shoot. I shot these with my 5D, 70-200mm L, ISO 400, F 2.8, 1/200 because it was wicked dark at the pool.

ADMINS: please move to sports forum area.

RBrogen · January 22, 2009

Blinkings wrote:

I cant wait to see what you post when it isn't the first time for you! They are sensationally good.

Thanks Blinkings. I'm beginning to feel comfortable shooting with my equipment and in full manual mode where I can control all aspects of the SS, ISO, F/Stop. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new 5D MKII and am thinking up some cool ways to try pushing the limits.

My First Attempt at a High School Swim Meet

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