Tennis job advice!

Hello all! I've been asked to take action shots at a tennis tournament this weekend. Hopefully some of you have had experience in this area and can give me suggestions.

Apparently there will be around 80-100 players, each playing at least 3 matches. There are 10 courts that will be used meaning there will be 10 matches going on simultaneously.

My question is: How long should I be shooting each match(player) and still have time to get around to all 10 courts? Keep in mind players will play at least 3 matches throughout the day.

Thanks!

Well it will be tough to know who you got and who you didn't through out the day. If I was covering it trying to get as many different players as I could I'd start at the nearest court shoot the first two games of that court and the court next to it...then move to the next two. Assuming the next court is already in the second or third game I'll shoot it until the players switch side and make sure I have three good shoots of both then move on.

Depending on the talent you should be able to get a few from all ten courts.

After the first round, keep track of who is playing where...as you'll have first, second, and third rounds possibly playing all at the same time. So getting good coverage of each round after the first will be a lot easier...usually.

Thanks for the tips dwarrenr...I'm also hoping there's a tournament bracket to keep track of some matches and mark off those I've done.

Shoot heavy on the seeded players unless the tourny officials want photos of everyone.

Hi,

Covering 10 courts its a difficult task. Use the schedule of play to mark those players that you have shot, if you don't know them make a shoot count list with the players you are shooting. Some sports photographers in the same predicament as you use all sorts of nemonics or aids, such as remembering or jolting down the color of the shirts or racket types to remember the names.

Are you allowed into the courts for the warm up? If so, you can shoot a couple of good shots on either side. Are there closed fences all over the courts? or are you able to shoot without having a fence in the middle?

Shoot the seeded players mainly, but take into consideration that unseeded or unknown players can always surprise the aforementioned.

Are the tournament organizers expecting prints or digital copies? Are you going to place these in a website so players or organizers can download them directly?

What kind of equipment are you going to be using for your assignment? You can get by with a 70-200 lens without any trouble. Best of luck and have fun.

Cheers,

Charlie

Whuband: people in charge not asking for images. It's the 1st time they have a photog shooting action shots, it was requested by parents and they contacted me after liking my work from a baseball/softball league. Not sure on higher seeds but will inquire early that morning.

CharlieB2B: yes I will be allowed into the courts and no images have been asked for....I will post images on my website for parents to view/order....I'll be using either my 70-200 2.8 or 100-400 4.5 depending on the area available for me to work with.