Gymnastics, my least favourite sport to shoot

I finally had chance to shoot my least favourite sport too shoot again last weekend. On the end. it didn't even turn out that bad, as I thought it will be. when I got call that I have to go.

number 3 is very well composed.
How was the lighting? pretty bad i assume.

Light wasn't all that bad. Something around 1/500, f2.8 and iso1000-1250. Nothing really great, but it was better then I expected

Good shots. My fav is 3.

It is one of my favorites to shoot just because it is so freaking hard to get right - at least for me. I like some of the things you tried here, for the most part I think they worked well . I kind of wish the moms weren't in the vault shot as they are not adding to much to the shot - wish they were both looking... but we don't get to choose that kind of stuff - do we. Good job - I don't have my first shoot until January. Cheers.

I like number 2 but would like to have seen more of the horse
3 is great
and 4 is really distracting

#3 is definitly the best IMO.

Nice, very well done. I keep trying from the bleachers without much success. Not so easy to begin with, let alone limited angles and the reach need to capture the action from the stands.

I like what you have done, very nice.

Actually I don't think those two were moms, since it was a bit higher level event (it's scary how young those kids are in this sport) and spectators weren't allowed to "field" level. But on the other side they could be. Anyway... mom or no mom, I agree they are distracting. Unfortunately it is like it is and we can't do much about it. Otherwise this wasn't shoot I sent on first place, but I put it here because I thought it's a bit different then standard shoots. And obviously people don't really like it

No - actually you misunderstood me then. I like the idea a lot, and I think the execution is good. What I think would have made it great is a little more space next to the athlete and both people watching her pull attention back to her. And like you said, we don't get to shape reality - that's what I love about sport shooting - it's not posed. At times the best you can do is take an "a" grade shot at a "b" grade event. The vault is really hard because the g-forces on the girls during the vault make for the most unflattering images.

What I didn't say before though is I think the 2nd shot would be a really cool event promo poster for the event if you could buy another couple mm above her fingers.

Hey, I think these are great. I have tried to shoot gymnastics and it is extremely hard! Thanks for sharing yours.

I've been looking through a variety of posts in the sports area... and I'm wondering... do you use full "manual" when you shoot or do you use a "TV" or "AV" setting?

Your shots turned out really well... I'm slowly learning that indoor shooting is extremely difficult.

Todd - Inside - most use (or should use) manual because the lighting stays consistent. what we generally run into is the light levels are low and a wide open apature is needed along with high ISO. For the best results you must let the histogram be your guide to get the exposure correct

I think this series was very good considering the lighting and difficulty of the lighting - #3 is the best IMO -please keep posting

I like this photos.
In #4 please try to delete the 2 women in the background. It's easy to delete them with Photoshop.

Nice work. I'd love to see some full size images. I'll check your web site to see if they might be there.