Tennis shooters

[mikeassk]

I am shooting Tennis for the first time ever tomorrow at Stanford.
I will have a 300 2.8 and a 70-200 2.8.
I have attained court access credentials already but have never shot tennis so I just wanted to ask those who have where the best/formal spots on the court are?
Is there usually a "pit" like in Baseball?

Thanks in Advance,
mike

[tomcat360]

I have had luck with a 70-200 on a cropper body sitting between the courts right about at the net or a foot or two towards who I am shooting. They seem to prefer you being there instead of at the ends of the court. In the higher level stuff they have pits, I don't know how hardcore Stanford is about their tennis.

[10smark]

At the net is fine, you will be probably 5-7 feet from the net. For tennis, here are some tips:

pre-focus at certain spots
for right-handed players, pre-focus on the left players return of serve on the forehand side, and the right players backhand side (around 5 feet from where they set up).
for mens tennis, particularly doubles, anticipate the player rushing the net by focusing around the service line for the first volley
get a shot of each player in ready position waiting for the serve. No action here, but this make an easy to focus tennis portrait shot
be sure to get shots of the backswing prior to contact, contact, and then the follow-through - 3 timing shots. Same is true with the serve.
depending on your light, shoot most of your shots when you have a good background - hopefully one or both ends of the court will have windscreens that will give you a solid background
take some high shutter speed shots to freeze the ball, but also take some a little slower to show a little motion of the ball and racket
one thing I like to do when looking through the veiwfinder is keep the other eye open. This helps anticipate when the ball will be entering the frame
stay focused after the point is over to get reaction shots
take alot of pictures - you never know which one will be the winning shotGood Luck and have fun!!! :)

[Joe Cyr]

The most important thing is do not move around at any point that a match is going on. Wait for a break in the action... changing sides, changing serves, etc.

[T2000]

"The most important thing is do not move around at any point that a match is going on."

You must mean during a point not when a match is going on ?

If Djokovic is serving you can go out for coffee, have a smoke, come back and reset in a new position before he gets his serve in the air.

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