Shooting a triathalon tomorrow, Anyone have any good shots?

[Ecirish]

I was contacted by a bigwig local photographer (which I was very excited about) this morning to see if I would shoot the annual Cayuga lake triathlon tomorrow morning. I will be shooting along with 5 other photographers so naturally I'm looking for a way to get some fresh, distinctive, unique shots. Does anyone have any tips or ideas for me? Thanks

[Chip]

I've done this type of thing a few times (never for pay, though). For the bike segment I'd suggest setting up by a turn and low to the ground - that way, you can get the bikers as they lean into a turn, from a slightly different perspective. Something like this:



For biking or running, panning shots can result in something unique, but my "keep" rate is much lower. Something like this:



(One thing that's a challenge for me with panning shots on a crowded course is finding a place with good light to set up that also doesn't have a distracting background.)

For swimming, I've seen some cool shots of the athletes just as they're climbing out of the water, with water dripping off, etc. I haven't had the chance to capture that type of photo, though.

Shots of runners taken from 2-3 feet off the ground can also be a slightly different look. And photos of runners with a relatively show shutter (1/100th, more or less, depending on the speed of the runner, whether you're panning, etc.), can be interesting, because the parts of the runners' bodies all move at different speeds.

And, if you can use some fun or general photos, then something like this might be of interest, in addition to pre-race crowds, spectators cheering, etc.:



Will this bigwig photog use your photos to sell to the athletes? If so, then I'd recommend trying to take photos in which the athletes faces and numbers are easily recognizable.

Does this bigwig have any expectations about the types of shots expected from you, or are you free to do as you please?

And if this triathlon has an early a.m. start, just remember that the color, angle and amount of light could change dramatically throughout the race.

If it's a long race, bring water, snacks, extra batteries and extra memory cards.

And, I'm curious about whether the copyright and ownership of the photos you take - are they yours or do they belong to this bigwig photog? Are you signing some type of contract? If you take that perfect photo that you'd want to use in your portfolio, etc., will you have the unfettered ability to do so?

I know others her eat DPS have much more experience than me at these types of races, so I'll be happy to learn their suggestions.

I've said enough for one post, I'll stop now. Hope this helps.

Good luck and have fun! It sounds like it will be a great opportunity and a very nice compliment to be asked.

[Ecirish]

Wow Chip thanks so much for all the good information! I think that the photog is not going to be selling photos to the atheletes, so I don't have to worry much about those kind of things. I think it is more of a service we are providing in goodwill for the triathlon, but we'll see. Thanks again though for the tips: exactly what I was looking for.

[Chip]

Happy to help! If you can, please post some shots once you're finished and recuperated. I've love to see what you come up with.