Freestyle kayak championships

sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,822 Major grins

Here in Augsburg we have a world class kayak course - built for the 72 Olympics and used constantly since then. When we're out bike riding we often stop by to watch the kayakers practicing on the white-water rapids course. On one particular weekend last spring it happened to be the German Freestyle championships and we got a spot next to the run and I shot away like a maniac.
Each competitor had 3 runs at the course, where they had two stops of 30 seconds each in two different types of turbulent water to show their stuff - flips, barrel rolls, etc. It was lots of fun to watch and I hope that I came up with a couple of decent shots for an non-sports photographer.

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Comments

  • kurzvorzwoelfkurzvorzwoelf Registered Users Posts: 339 Major grins

    I never tried sports shooting myself, and I'm already struggling at action shots of other fast moving subjects (focusing can be a b****). However, I think you froze the action here quite well.

    I like the pictures most where the face of the sportsmen can be seen, that's #5, #8, #10 (where is #9?) and #15 - because their facial expressions truly show the effort they put into fighting with this waters.

    But every single picture is indeed looking like a lot of fun. And that last one could almost be used as a motivational poster :-)

    Wise words from the Dog of Wisdom: If your ball is too big for your mouth, it's not yours.

    I'm here to learn and progress. Honest feedback and criticism on my images is warmly appreciated!

    My SmugMug site - kurzvorzwoelf.com

  • toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins

    Nice Sara...

    I've shot the championships in Santa Cruz CA and you did a great job (of stopping the suds... :D )

    Rags
  • sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,822 Major grins
    edited February 20, 2019

    @kurzvorzwoelf , @torags Can, Rags, thanks so much for commenting. It was interesting to shoot - since there were basically two spots where the action took place I pointed my camera at each spot, got the frame big enough to capture something, set the autofocus area where I though the paddler might be, set the camera to burst mode and hoped for the best. It was an enjoyable shoot and I think I learned something from it but it took a while to sort through the hundreds of photos to find the keepers. I'm pretty sure I'll never be an action/sports photographer but is was certainly a fun experience.

  • moose135moose135 Registered Users Posts: 1,413 Major grins

    Nicely done, Sara! We have the US National Whitewater Center not far from me near Charlotte. I've been there for one competition, and it is a challenge to get good shots of them on the course. I think you've done well here!

  • sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,822 Major grins

    @moose135 Thanks moose! For this particular event there weren't many people in attendance, so I could get right up on the rail and shoot. Lucky me!

  • OutdoorsAddict2OutdoorsAddict2 Registered Users Posts: 24 Big grins
    These are great photos, especially considering sports photography isn't your forte. Freestyle kayaking is really hard to photograph. Light can be a real issue, and some of the moves are so quick you've got to be good at anticipation. Good job!
  • sarasphotossarasphotos Registered Users Posts: 3,822 Major grins

    @OutdoorsAddict2 said:
    These are great photos, especially considering sports photography isn't your forte. Freestyle kayaking is really hard to photograph. Light can be a real issue, and some of the moves are so quick you've got to be good at anticipation. Good job!

    Thanks so much! It was not exactly easy but fun - and as you can imagine MANY outtakes.

  • OutdoorsAddict2OutdoorsAddict2 Registered Users Posts: 24 Big grins
    I'm trying to post my own photos from the weekend of a similar event, but the system won't let me (I lost the ability to reset my original Dgrin account due to a change of email, so had to create a new one)
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