Swimming photography

[jasony8]

Hey guys,

I have a school swimming competition event coming up next week, I want to take this opportunity as practice.
Any of you have experience with swimming photography?

I am hoping to get some recommendations on settings I should use.
- Tv? What range/minimum of shutter speed do you guys recommend, to capture sharp photos of swimmers in the pool?
- ISO? It is going to be an outdoor event, do you guys think hat I will need to bring up the ISO?
- For swimming photography, what aperture should I be using?

My gear set up is: 5D MkII, 24-105mm, 70-200mm
Do you guys think that shooting on a tripod will be compulsory?

Are there any other recommended techniques? Please let me know

Any comments or help is really appreciated!

Jason

[Henry Wilt]

Your ISO and aperture settings really are going to be dictated by the amount of light available. You say it is outdoors but is that during the day or at night?
I would guess that the 70-200mm is the lens that you will end up using, unless you will only be taking pictures of the swimmers that are pretty close to you, and if you want to freeze the action then you will be using a shutter speed at least 1/200 so you shouldn't really need a tripod.
If you are unsure, put it in Tv mode with auto ISO, take a test shot at 1/200 and see if that's quick enough to get freeze the action. If not then up the shutter speed and repeat until you get the desired result. Once you've done that, check the result for DoF and noise and if you're happy leave it at that setting. If not then take a note of your settings, change to M and set your shutter speed to what you decided you like, then adjust your aperture to get the DoF you want and compensate with the ISO.

Hope that helps.

[jasony8]

Originally Posted by Henry Wilt

Your ISO and aperture settings really are going to be dictated by the amount of light available. You say it is outdoors but is that during the day or at night?
I would guess that the 70-200mm is the lens that you will end up using, unless you will only be taking pictures of the swimmers that are pretty close to you, and if you want to freeze the action then you will be using a shutter speed at least 1/200 so you shouldn't really need a tripod.
If you are unsure, put it in Tv mode with auto ISO, take a test shot at 1/200 and see if that's quick enough to get freeze the action. If not then up the shutter speed and repeat until you get the desired result. Once you've done that, check the result for DoF and noise and if you're happy leave it at that setting. If not then take a note of your settings, change to M and set your shutter speed to what you decided you like, then adjust your aperture to get the DoF you want and compensate with the ISO.

Hope that helps.

Really detailed explanation!

Thanks for your help!
Lets hope I will get some good shots!