Borrowed an XTi, need some swim meet tips

[shotgunshooter3]

Okay folks I've been hired, sort of, to start photographing events for my school's Sports Department.

My first assignment is to photograph the state swim meet and send in daily updates back to the school for posting on the website.

I was loaned a Rebel XTi w/ the following lens':

Sigma 28-105mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 Tele-Macro

I'm not exactly sure what the shooting conditions will be, but it is an indoor pool so the light will not be the greatest. I will be using a lens speed of about 1/200 to 1/325 or so, with the intent of "freezing" the action.

Any suggestions, especially to keep the images from being too dark?

Thank you

[PhotosGuy]

help shooting swim meet

Sports Shooting Tutorials and Advice

[Binning]

If you're shooting indoors assume the lighting will be awful and will be different near the starting blocks than it is mid-pool. If you're on deck and have good access, you'll need both lenses -- one for swimming action, the other for starts, finishes and reaction shots. If you are taking pictures of an award stand you may have very limited room, literally a few feet, to try and capture three swimmers on a stand -- find out what you have to work with and discern if you need an additional lens.

Use custom white balance. Test the ISO that should be used. Shoot in RAW. It will give you more options on exposure and adjusting images.

Shoot tight.

Read the heat sheets. Do a shot list. Know what pictures are most important to capture -- reaction to victory shots or swimming shots. Pay attention to where the scoreboard is -- a swimmer will first look there for results and react. The second reaction shot is usually the swimmer looking at his team/coach. Try to capture that energy -- know where the swimmers team is located on deck.

Given the speed limitations of your lenses in low light, take that into account into your shots. Hand movements will blur at 200 in a victory fist and probably in a freestyle recovery. Think about your shot list and consider the importance of upping the ISO and speed to get a clean shot. You may have some latitude in fixing exposure and brightness, but it's hard to fix blur.

Give special consideration to relay shots. There is much more action, anticipation, and can be great fun to capture.