Long Jump - Question!?!

I was shooting long jump today at the Santa Barbara Easter Relays, held at La Playa Stadium at Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, CA. It was a big event and the kids were jumping simultaneously on 2 parallell tracks. For most of the event, I was in the middle so I could nail both sides. Eventually, one side finished and I switched to right in front of the pit. Which angle do you prefer: Straight on or at an angle?

All the images from the event are at http://www.SantaBarbar​aPix.com

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Nice pics, I like the first one. The fist looks like warm ups to me since they are not in uniform. Hold the button down, when they let off the track spray and pray.... Yes I said it, but I think I have grabbed a few good ones in my day. Here is what spray and pray got me,

http://gallery.brinker​photo.com …photo=h065F6F01​#106917633
http://gallery.brinker​photo.com …photo=h065F6F01​#416026294
http://gallery.brinker​photo.com …photo=h065F6F01​#121240754
http://gallery.brinker​photo.com …?photo=h065F6F0​1#62945557

I think those are more triple jump, but same concept. I am so excited about this years track season, time to get some good pictures READY GO! My main focus (no pun intended) is long jump and throwing events.

Definitely the first shot. But I can see if you catch the jumper extending or just as he/she lands the middle would be ideal.

My only critique would be to get the background "on-deck jumpers" more out of focus and drop your f-stop. The long jump shot can be very exciting.

With the backlighting, I think I might have opted for some fill flash on these to bring out the uniform colors and faces a bit more. Looks like it was quite bright so the flash might have really helped.

Thanks for the comments from all! They are appreciated.

santabarbarapix, since you have "image editing OK" turned on, I thought I would play with one of your images. I sure wish I had the talent of some of the Photoshop guys here, but I don't. So I tinker with Paint Shop Pro XI.

I cropped the image a little to cut out the extra stuff that isn't needed. Then I made a duplicate layer, added some fill flash, and some contrast, and then sharpened it a wee bit.

Then while browsing the picture frame templates, I found the film strip.
VOILA! A contact print.

If you don't approve or like it, just let me know and I will gladly take it down.

Thanks
Mike

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Mike:

It looks great! Keep it!!!

Thanks!!!

Please don't spray and pray.... please.....

Straight on is my preferred place to shoot. Also, I like to get down as low as possible and shoot upward at the jumper which provides cleaner backgrounds.... generally. I also shoot pretty tight, and wide open, again to deal with backgrounds. Overall, I think you are on the right path. Also remember to set you camera to be exposing for the runner, not the ambient lighting.

This was shot with a 10D and a 70-200 at 170mm.

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thanks for the tip, as i will be shooting T&F soon, well if i have a camera and lens to use

Does anyone else use fill flash or should you just expose for the skin and let the background blow out?

And what height do you prefer to be at? Sitting on the ground?

I agree with Croasdail... AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. And with EnronRocks...When they start to jump, lay down on the trigger and don't let go

Generally, I prefer head-on with me pretty low (if possible). Earlier this week at a high school meet I couldn't shoot head-on (logistics). I shot from a side angle, and to be honest, I liked the shots just as much as my usual head-ons. Different look, different style. Experiment with all sorts of angles.

While I pay attention to the background, my main concern is exposing the athlete.

Have fun, outdoor track in our area is just heating up.

When I was shoooting the track meet, there were two pits side by side - boys on one, girls on the other. Having had a knee replacement this past summer, I can't kneel on that knee either. So I would get in front of one pit and squat as best as I could and shoot the jumper, then move to the other pit and do the same thing.

It worked out pretty good until another two photogs showed up and got in my way. So, I did the best I could.

One particular young fellow proceeded to tell me how to shoot the pics. I guess he figured I hadn't learned anything in my thirty five years of photography experience.

As the day progressed, he turned out to be a nuisance. But I made it just fine, in spite of his antics.
Mike