A few XC images from NE Ohio...

We've had spectacular weather (not something we take for granted here in NEO) and this race day was no exception. This is a fairly large XC event around here with over 300 teams and nearly 10,000 athletes competing. My kids school made a great showing in both the boys and girls race with a 4th in girls D1 varsity, 2nd in girls D1 open, 3rd in boys D2 varsity, and 2nd in boys D2 open. Here's a few shots from the girls open race, crit always welcome. Unfortunately, I was way more into watching my daughter run than shooting so there's not a ton of variety, apologies in advance. All shot with Canon 1dIII and Sigma 70-200f2.8 OS, exif intact.

1.

Go team.

Biffbradford wrote in post #15008459
Go team.

yeah, right? It was nice to actually shoot a little. I basically took most of the spring and all summer off to race the bicycle so the camera gear just collected dust, the Bianchi on the other hand.....

Lots of awkward shots to be honest. Everything else seemed fantastic though, just the timing.

ajaffe wrote in post #15012341
Lots of awkward shots to be honest. Everything else seemed fantastic though, just the timing.

thanks for both the crit and compliment. Could you help me out on what you mean on awkward (or better, how you'd improve on it)? This has me very interested since XC is an odd sport to shoot since "peak action" is not as well defined as youd see in many other sports. Also, facial expressions can be tricky. I'm definitely anxious to hear your comments as I'll be doing some more of these as the season progresses. Thanks!!!

ajaffe wrote in post #15012341
Lots of awkward shots to be honest. Everything else seemed fantastic though, just the timing.

I shoot cross country also, my daughter's team has adopted me as the unofficial team photographer. There are always going to be "awkward" shots, that's part of the sport. A kid who's just run over 3 miles as fast as they possibly can isn't going to have the cutest look on their face, they're normally close to their breaking point and their facial expression shows that. I always try to shoot a burst of 3 or 4 shots of each runner, that gives a better chance of catching one of those cool images where they're "flying".

http://www.jafferino.c​om …/1094341437_8Bn​Mr-L-3.jpg
http://www.jafferino.c​om …/1094340779_7k6​vx-L-3.jpg


Same athlete, one has good timing, the other not so good. For me it is awkward because the natural running motion when stopped has times that are unflattering, such as an open stance for women or when they first step down and might have some "leg waves" from the impact.

Facial expressions are almost all acceptable in my eyes, it is literally down to their body shape.

I grew up in Ashtabula county and miss the fall there. As a runner myself it's tough to get what some people say are good shots since the effort level is pretty high. I used to love it when there was a photo that showed good muscle definition on my legs but that might not be true for a HS Girl
Love the one with the runner holding their shoe though

I just finished posting in another thread about never seeing a flattering XC running shot. That was until now, first three are great!

groundloop wrote in post #15013868
I shoot cross country also, my daughter's team has adopted me as the unofficial team photographer. There are always going to be "awkward" shots, that's part of the sport. A kid who's just run over 3 miles as fast as they possibly can isn't going to have the cutest look on their face, they're normally close to their breaking point and their facial expression shows that. I always try to shoot a burst of 3 or 4 shots of each runner, that gives a better chance of catching one of those cool images where they're "flying".

Try shooting more at the start, less exhausted!!!!

nice set -
I have relatives in Cleveland !

24alpha wrote in post #15017892
Try shooting more at the start, less exhausted!!!!

They're so packed together at the start, especially at the bigger meets with 300 or more runners per race, that it's usually darned near impossible to get a clean shot of any specific runner until at least a mile or so in when they spread out a bit (damn I wish our country would go metric - the races are 5 kilometers in length yet we still speak about the "mile" marks). In my case at least, and probably for the vast majority of people with camera gear at a meet, the goal is to get photos of specific kids.

I find it very helpful to get a map of the course ahead of time, figure out where some of the best possibilities for photos are going to be, figure out which side to be on for the best light and best looking background (which all too often are mutually exclusive), and to get there early enough to walk around and check out the spots you think are going to be good. At most meets you have 4 or 5 opportunities per race to get photos.

Edit to add: The best action shots (and that's what I prefer) are in the last hundred meters (there, I said it in metric!!!) when they're sprinting to the finish, or at least the runners with enough energy left to sprint.

Thanks for chiming in everyone. appreciate the compliments and the commentary very much. Also nice to seem come Cleveland roots popping up. In another month, we'll start to get fall colors and some rain (equals muddy, wet courses) and that's when XC shooting is way more fun imo. I agree completely about getting course maps as well. Its sometimes hard to navigate a course so that you are there when the runners arrive but having 2-3 spots you know are solid helps. In the first and second images, the runners had just exited the woods and were climbing a reasonably steep hill. I wanted to capture the effort there (did not do that well) and the fact that our girls were doing well (better job on that since you can see the pack strung out behind our runner in #2). The others were taken near the finish which is a great place to shoot as mentioned before by groundloop.

Thanks again for taking the time to look and comment everyone!

Cross Country shots should, in my opinion, capture the pain and effort of the runners and therefore will not be very flattering. Nice shots!

Craig

A lot of you missed the mark on my comment regarding flattering/unflatterin​g. Please re-read and view my examples.