HS Track

I am starting to enjoy shooting this sport more and more- Still finding ways to make runners look interesting...

C&C welcome-

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Some more- I still mess up the attachment thing...

3.

Excellent angles when taking these shots. You got low to get the faces. Keep it up.

I'll offer you some constructive crit and hope you don't find it offensive but these are okay and thats about it for me. Your depth of field is waaaaay too deep especially considering the background clutter you'll have at a track meet. You need to really be thinking about positioning and creating a a small DOF to isolate the athletes. On the running shots, you'd have been better shooting from just inside the fence rather than the infield then making sure you timed shots when the athletes were quite close to you with lots of space behind. I think you'd see the images improve dramatically with that alone. The other timing /positioning issue I see is that you didn't pay attention to where your athlete was in relation to other distracting objects (#5 is a great example). This shot is probably the best imo but your location and timing put that distracting pole right in the frame. A little change in both position and timing and you could have had a much cleaner image. These are the little things that I think separates the great sports shooters from those that want to be. Its all about attention to detail sometimes and while these images aren't bad by any means, they lack that attention.

Again, hope you see this as constructive. If not, then delete the above and put me in for a "nice shots".

Thanks Scott- no, I don't find any of your thoughts offensive- I want to improve....

Re: depth of field- all the shots were taken with my lens wide open, as I recall. Your thoughts about allowing the athletes to be closer are probably the best way to improve that, right?

Shooting just inside the fence- At this particular meet, that was the outside lane. Since I am no longer fit enough to compete... I am kidding a little there, but more to the point- wouldn't that increase the clutter in the background? Even blurred, all the activity in the infield seems distracting. If I positioned myself outside of the fence, I would lose the ability to shoot from a very low perspective- Is that worth it?

Regarding the pole- I don't like it either. But to capture that moment- the handoff, the only way I see to avoid it is to have been in a different spot- for example, If I were a few steps to the right of the original position, the pole would be out of the frame. I would also miss most of the runner's face- I am not sure that is better.

Here is an example of what I mean- For this shot, I was outside the fence, shooting in. The runner is close, the background is blurred, but still seems more distracting to me than the pole. No? Plus I am close to eye level with the runner here, (had to be because of the fence) which to me makes it less interesting.

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I'm glad you took them for what they were. To start, HS track is sooooo hard to shoot because creating separation is just so tough. I agree that a lower position is usually better (but not always) so don't be afraid to mix it up. I'm not sure what glass you shot with but if you are wide open, then the only way to start "creating" DOF is in the ratio of yo ur distance to the athlete relative to their distance to the background (longer focal lengths can be helpful here but remember that with telephotos, you need some working room so unless you have lots of background space, they can work against shallow DOF in tighter environments. Consider using a shorter focal length and getting closer to the athlete if possible. Flash is another option. Sometimes that can create some separation although you'll likely need to shoot high speed sync (usually a no no for sports) to get the backgrounds tamed enough to create the separation. Don't be afraid to get creative either and use some backlighting as that can also kill some lousy backgrounds. Obviously, flash will be needed there. Other than that, sometimes there's just not much you can do. Simply be as aware as possible about what the image is going to look like before pressing the button and that takes into account poles, people, fences, etc. Hope that's remotely useful. Good luck and have fun out there.

Thanks again Scott. For the most part, I have been using a 70-300 is zoom for the meets. The aperture on that is 4.0-5.6, depending on the zoom. I also used a 400 5.6 for some of the shots- so I can stay safely away from flying balls, discs & spears. I have some wider lenses, but they are primes- 200 2.8, 135 2.0, 85 1.8. I may start monkeying around with some of those to get something different. The high jump shot above was with the 200, I love that lens but can't always get to where the focal lengths works.

Thanks again for your help.

I assume the 200 is the f2.8 variety. I'd really really really really focus on using that lens for both the DOF and because it will force you to pay such close attention to where you are shooting from for the shot you are looking for. This is a debate for another thread but I will tell you that shooting primes is one of the best things I ever did in terms of improving my composition and attention to detail. It takes practice and time but I am a firm believer in prime lenses for that reason (as well as some others).

I agree completely with your assessment of prime lenses- for the most part, all of my sports shots are done with a prime. Yes, the 200 is a 2.8 aperture, and that is one of my favorite lenses in terms of quality results.

I am going to try the next meet with a couple of primes instead of the zoom- Now that I have done a few, I am feeling a little better about where to be.

Thanks again-

sfinkernagel
Thank you for posting this. It has allowed Scott to give some very usefull comments. I am just a rank amatuer and I can and will take his advise in the way I believe he intended it.
Dale

namasste wrote in post #10077009
I'm glad you took them for what they were. To start, HS track is sooooo hard to shoot because creating separation is just so tough. I agree that a lower position is usually better (but not always) so don't be afraid to mix it up. I'm not sure what glass you shot with but if you are wide open, then the only way to start "creating" DOF is in the ratio of yo ur distance to the athlete relative to their distance to the background (longer focal lengths can be helpful here but remember that with telephotos, you need some working room so unless you have lots of background space, they can work against shallow DOF in tighter environments. Consider using a shorter focal length and getting closer to the athlete if possible. Flash is another option. Sometimes that can create some separation although you'll likely need to shoot high speed sync (usually a no no for sports) to get the backgrounds tamed enough to create the separation. Don't be afraid to get creative either and use some backlighting as that can also kill some lousy backgrounds. Obviously, flash will be needed there. Other than that, sometimes there's just not much you can do. Simply be as aware as possible about what the image is going to look like before pressing the button and that takes into account poles, people, fences, etc. Hope that's remotely useful. Good luck and have fun out there.

Lots of great pointers here. Little details on how to deal with backgrounds that make a big difference in the quality of the photos. Thanks Scott.

you bet guys. its all about community here so if I can help that in any way, I'm all about it. Have fun out there!!!

Shooting a meet today thanks for the pointers. I have been having a hard time getting the images I wanted and think your advice will help.