Butterfly Shots (swimming, not macro!)

Did individual action sessions for select/year-round swimming: (C&C welcome)

/edit: image click to full-size

1.

IMAGE LINK: http://waterrockets.sm​ugmug.com …i-r4n82PD/0/O/IMG2018.jp​g

IMAGE LINK: http://waterrockets.sm​ugmug.com …i-597SHtT/0/O/IMG2071.jp​g

... electric!

Wow, are you laying on the side of the pool to get these? Do you ever worry about your gear around all that water?

Yes, I wish my wife had shot a pic of me shooting for a setup shot. Pretty basic though:
- Thermarest
- 6" bean bag
- Lens was about parallel to the edge of the gutter, and maybe 4" off the deck, so maybe 12" above the water surface
- Wish for a 2nd thermarest sideways to protect elbows!

When they would get 1 stroke from me, I'd hold my hand out to tell them "stop," and almost all of them did. A couple of them drove for the wall though, and sent about 2 gallons of water my way. As they came in, I just quickly turned the camera around and put the lens under me, letting water hit the body (one reason I chose a 1D).

My lens isn't weather-resistant though, so I keep it out of the way, within reason. In the back of my mind, if the lens dies from a watery death, then I'll just upgrade to one that won't The smart route would be to move that direction before I lose the funds, but I'm trying to budget a 300mm f2.8 without spending too many nights in the dog house.

very nice pictures...

Thanks!

really like the first one. her reflection on the water in front of her. If you had a shot of you that you could edit in her goggles that would be greatness

waterrockets wrote in post #15076235
Yes, I wish my wife had shot a pic of me shooting for a setup shot. Pretty basic though:
- Thermarest
- 6" bean bag
- Lens was about parallel to the edge of the gutter, and maybe 4" off the deck, so maybe 12" above the water surface
- Wish for a 2nd thermarest sideways to protect elbows!

When they would get 1 stroke from me, I'd hold my hand out to tell them "stop," and almost all of them did. A couple of them drove for the wall though, and sent about 2 gallons of water my way. As they came in, I just quickly turned the camera around and put the lens under me, letting water hit the body (one reason I chose a 1D).

My lens isn't weather-resistant though, so I keep it out of the way, within reason. In the back of my mind, if the lens dies from a watery death, then I'll just upgrade to one that won't The smart route would be to move that direction before I lose the funds, but I'm trying to budget a 300mm f2.8 without spending too many nights in the dog house.

So, if I may ask which lens were you using for this? I see you have the 70-200, that's weather sealed though I thought?

I want a 400 2.8 someday for shooting football with, or maybe the 200-400 with the built in 1.4, but that a lot of $$$ and right now is NOT in the cards.

This was the non-sealed 70-200 f2.8L. It only got one minor splash on it that I noticed.

Gaarryy, thanks. I was hoping to find myself in a swim cap or goggles.

I wish I had a shot of me like the first one when I swam in college! Great photo!

Really like the first one.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I'm hopeful the parents (of 70 kids!) have similar reactions.

Really nice work! I like the colors and your timing was fantastic. The first shot looks like the focus was stolen slightly by the splashing water -- occupational hazard of swimming shots -- but not enough to keep it from being a very good shot. Keep up the great work and keep posting!

wow, great shots, perfect timing, position

Thanks again all.

Regarding the focus, I agree. I had C.Fn III-2 set to -2 (sensitivity) and focus expansion enabled. I guess you just don't win them all. Anyone have any tricks to reduce that? (using a 1D Mk III). I guess I could shoot at f/4 for the DoF, but I like the blur behind them.

When I go for the shot that early in the stroke, a lot of stuff has to come together in very little time. The fast swimmers are moving the future focus point a lot while under water, they left water in the air from the previous stroke, and there's very little time with the arms behind them. I'll bet the position difference between the two shots above would be shorter than the 0.10 second between shots.

Really fun shooting this stuff. It takes a couple strokes for me to get a specific swimmer's style down (some really dip the head back fast on breaststroke, for instance), so I have to work to time it with them looking up).