Paris Beach Volley

From the Paris beach volley tournament summer of 2006. 20D with Canon 75-300mm. Taken in raw and then CS2. Was boiling hot, had to sit under an umbrella to keep out of the sun. Cant wait to try again next year with my 70-200 2.8 L IS !!

cheers
Ali

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Well, the only real problem I have with them is that I would like to see them cropped alot more. It of course would be nicer to have the "peak action" when they are hitting the bal so you can crop close and have the ball in the picture at the same time...but that is a metter of timing which is either a matter of luck and or practice....

Howdy,

I recommend that you shoot at f2.8 for shallow DOF. Doing so will help isolate the subject and draw the viewers eye, otherwise the ball gets lost in the background.

Try to anticipate the smash and pop the shutter just prior to contact. I think the best facial expressions occur at that point.

Keep posting!
g

I'm jealous you got to see walsh and may play and to also photograph it! what settings were you using to shoot these photos?

I got some good shots (IMO) at the 2005 tournamentin Cape Town (both males and Females. If you want to shoot at 2.8 you will most likely need ND filters to prevent the SS from maxing out ( at least here in Africa you would ). The problem with 2.8 is following the action to get those contact shots, if your focus is a bit out the shallow DOP will mean a wasted shot. I am a volleyball playing so rading the game was invaluable at the event. I could anticipate where the attacks were going to come from, focus on the sand in that area and get the contact shot. it takes some practice. With defensive plays a looser crop is helpful as it means less camera movement to have the everything in the shot. You'll have to do some post capture cropping.

I think your first shot is the wrong orrientation. Landscape would mean you could have a tighter crop and still see Misty May in defense if the ball passed Walsh.

Your second shot was either too early or late. i.e your timing was out as the ball is very far from the player. If you were lower, May's air time would also be more exagerated.

Sorry if I sound over critical. I am only speaking from my own experience and know hoe difficult this sport can be to photograph...