First attempt at swimming

Here are some shots from the Swimming Canada Summer Nationals that finished up yesterday. C&C welcome!

I could not wrap my head around how to identify the swimmers since none of the results or meet guides mentioned any lane numbers (unless I just missed them). Can anyone chime in there?

#1

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Boy Joel, those are really nice. I have no idea about the protocol for swim meets. What lens were you using?

^ Thanks Don, I was shooting as accredited media so I had poolside access. I'll post the link to the story when it's up. There were two other photographers, one was shooting for Swimming Canada and one for the host club.

Combo for the day was a (borrowed) 60D + 80-200/2.8. It sure handles nicer than my T3i!

joeblack2022 wrote in post #14757007
^ Thanks Don, I was shooting as accredited media so I had poolside access. I'll post the link to the story when it's up. There were two other photographers, one was shooting for Swimming Canada and one for the host club.

Combo for the day was a (borrowed) 60D + 80-200/2.8. It sure handles nicer than my T3i!

Great that you had access, you really need to get low to capture swimming effectively. My crystal ball is showing a body upgrade in your future.

Voaky999 wrote in post #14757114
My crystal ball is showing a body upgrade in your future.

Not if the wife has anything to say about it..!

Article is here.

same here

joeblack2022 wrote in post #14757604
Not if the wife has anything to say about it..!

Article is here.

burnet44 wrote in post #14758993
same here

One of those little known advantages to being divorced.

I shoot a lot of outdoor swimming in the summer (something like 2500-3000 shots in a four-hour meet). Here are some of my hints:

1. Rapid fire (duh).
2. Shoot in aperture mode selecting the depth of field to give you just the focus (depth of field) you need. This will automatically use the highest possible shutter speed better freezing the action.
3. Any of my Canon bodies (5D, 40D, 7D) shooting when there is shady over the pool always come out with a cool white balance (and sometimes when it's cloudy) . I usually have to adjust these manually.
4. Similar, when shady or overcast, auto-exposure usually underexposes (I usually over expose by 1/3 or 2/3).
5. Shoot in raw mode so white balance or exposure issues aren't as much an issue.
6. Shooting swimmers in water is often a back-lit scenario. Again, shoot in raw mode so you can use shadow-highlight adjustment to correct exposure issues. The exposure brush in Lightroom 4 is very useful for this.

The one time I shoot swimmers (on media assignment) I only shot the one in the center lane and then the one to the right. One of the two of them usually won the heat because they were the top seeds and by staying disciplined, I could back track through the program.

You have image editing OK on so here's an example of bumping up shadows to compensate for the back lighting. Because the face was so dark, bumping up the shadows makes the face look rather pale. I used the exposure brush on it to adjust the color balance to warm it up and bumping up the saturation enough to blend in.

Edited

Did anyone answer your original question?? At a swim meet, you need to ask for a "heat sheet". At least that is the way they do it for youth athletics. It will list Event, Heat, and Lane assignments.

BTW, I agree with most of dogface's input. I shoot on Manual, though. In Av or Tv, the camera will still try to compensate for the harsh reflections and underexpose a lot of shots. Meter to the right while the water is still, then shoot. You will blow out a few highlights, but the athlete should be really close. For HS age swimmers, I shoot about 1/500th at f/4, then adjust ISO for exposure.

Another tip... reduce the sensitivity of your autofocus and use back button focus. Otherwise, the autofocus will shift on a splash as the swimmer moves. Catch the top of the cap as they rise, and fire away!!

Dogface - Appreciate the input and the example edit, I will definitely keep that in mind for the future!

TheBrick3 - So those lanes are reserved for the top two seeds?

p3av8or - Got it, "heat sheet" will be on my checklist next time! I was shooting in manual and noticed in post that I needed to bump exposure about 1/3 of a stop. I was using BBF, but I have to try that tip about locking onto their cap, I was trying to lock onto their face but as you already know half the time there's water in the way...

Thanks everyone!

The seeds are from the inside out, with the top two swimmers in the middle lane. Slowest swimmers are in the outside lanes. You may also hear of a "Psych Sheet". This is the list of competitors seeded from 1st to last, NOT their lanes.

The majority of the fundraising from our local meets comes from the heat sheet sales. Throw them some love in the form of a collage or a couple of poster size prints of athlete's(release signed, of course) and you would be surprised of the access you can get to the pool!! Also, officials cannot cheer for their children. You may want to offer to photograph their athlete gratis. Sucks to have to work when your child competes, eh?

Keep up the good work!

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on those middle lanes the next time! Appreciate all the other tidbits too.

p3av8or wrote in post #14767579
Sucks to have to work when your child competes, eh?

One of the other photogs there has a son who competes and it sounds like he got roped in that way..!

I think you did really well, first attempt or not. Very nice.