Swimming -- suggestions and critique requested

I have shot sports before, primarily hockey and basketball, with good

results. I am new to shooting swimming, and found it more challenging

than I expected.

 

Please take a look at the attached photo and the ones in

my "Swimming" folder for critique and suggestions.

 

Technical details: Digital Rebel, Lexar card, Sigma 70-200 lens.<div></div>

I'm new to shooting swimming as well, so take my advice with a grain of salt, however I've found that my best swimming shots come when the swimmer is breathing. This is because having the swimmer's face in the photo makes it more engaging, and the arms are generally in a position where they tend to emphasize the action of swimming. I've found when shooting butterfly my best shots come when I'm lying on the deck opposite the starting blocks and waiting for the swimmer to come toward me and breathe. One of the benefits of having a zoom is you can follow the swimmer while waiting for him/her to breathe, then fire. Good luck.

I've been away from swimming for too long, but I think that what you may want to look for is the elbow of the side the swimmer breathes to. Once the elbow breaks surface, the fingertips emerge, and that's when the body naturally rolls and the swimmer turns his/her head very slightly to suck air in. Also, stand about 7-8 feet in front of the swimmers as they start from the starting blocks and catch their airborne bodies stretching for the water; that's always a good shot worth catching.

 

You might also stand at about 35 degrees or so to one side of the butterflier and get a headshot, so that you'll get a very nice perspective of the face, arms and shoulders and the water in front, if the swimmer you're aiming for is in the front (or view of that swimmer may be obstructed by the others). If you watch how the breathing pattern goes, you can count along with the swimmer and anticipate when he/she will stretch his/her neck to breathe and catch him/her on the zenith of the "lurch" for breath.

 

Breaststrokers don't actually bob up deliberately. It's part of the motion from how they pull back during the stroke. They breath by stretching forward as though they were jutting out their chins, not by lifting their heads up. The ideal action, I still believe, is to maintain as much of the head, chest, shoulders in the water as possible (yes, even when breathing... by not bringing up the chin beyond the water surface). You'll be able to catch the swimmer's face as he/she breaks surface and stretches his/her chin forward to breath. I suggest a very low angle for you.

 

You might want to also look at backstroke swimmers as their bodies naturally roll from one side to the other as their arms churn through the water. I like to see images with the swimmer's arm is just about to cut into the water overhead; it shows the swimmer's face and the action of the arm slicing through the air and just about to cut the water. Face shots are normally done from the (feet side) back of the swimmer, as the arm comes up, but if you're standing slightly to one side, you'll be able to see some of the body beneath the water and you can catch the arm up in the air or as it starts going down into the water. Try gettting down very low at the start of the race and catch the swimmers bodies stretch out as they leap on the start from the side of the pool (starter's point). Great when you can catch air between the body of the swimmers and the water!

 

It's easier for me to say this than to go out and do it; I guess the best suggestion I can render is to spend time at the pool side as the swimmers practice. You'll get the "feel" for the sport and you'll also sharpen your "trigger finger" and catch better shots (you'll know what to look for to anticipate a shot).

 

Hey, good luck there, and have fun!

I haven't shot competitive swimmers, either (but I've shot

people playing around, with their heads out of the water),

so my advice isn't coming from experience or the idea that

I could do better, but I'll just say what I see when I look

at that shot.

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I notice that the focus point is well ahead of the swimmer. There's

some motion blur, so it's hard to judge the critical focus of the

hand, but look at the water. There's lots of extremely

sharp detailed water

in FRONT of the swimmer, but everything's blurry by the time you

get back to the swimmer. I don't know the Digital Rebel well enough

to suggest a focusing technique to fix this, but I know how to

fix it on my own manual focus gear (zone focus or follow focus).

<p>

The shot is nicely cropped and close in. But I'm not crazy about the

fact that you can't begin to see the swimmer's face. A big part of

that is the nature of swimming, of course. Others have

given suggestions of how to time the action shot, but it

seems like many of the pictures I've seen covering swim

meets avoid the issue by photographing the participants

when they're getting ready to dive in, or when they're preparing

for or finishing the race, with their faces out of the water. I

see you've got some other photos in your folder that show faces,

and I prefer them, even though they show less action. Perhaps

that's just my quirky taste.

Guys,

 

Thank you very much for the suggestions. I am sure they will result in better photos. I am really impressed that you've taken the time to provide so detailed comments -- thanks again!

Here is an image that might help.<div></div>

This may also help

Here are others

Dear Bob,

 

Thanks for sharing your images. Would you elaborate exactly how those photos are helpful to shooting swimmers? Also, what happened to the batter's feet on shot 2?

 

Regards,

 

Vassil