Off The Blocks!

[chopstickjayne]

My family and I recently returned from an International Swim Meet for my son and daughter. I have SO many folders full of pictures of them doing their various strokes in the water so I was hoping to get some different shots with my new camera and lenses this go 'round. This is the best shot I have of my daughter off the blocks. I've straightened the image and applied a sharpening mask. When I took this shot I adjusted the exposure setting down two stops to try to avoid the blown highlights I've gotten in the past when shooting water in direct sunlight; so, I shoot in raw and fix the exposure later...
Specifically, my questions are:
Composition - is it too distracting not having my daughter's feet in the shot? (She's the one in the middle with the best start!) I tried to judge exactly where she'd go in but I missed a bit - Also, should I crop the guy that's being reflected in the water on the right side of the photo? Is the DOF appropriate for this type of shot or should I have used a smaller aperture? The more I look at this shot, it's starting to bug me a bit that you can't see the girl's hands at the bottom of the frame...
Lighting - I shoot in raw so fixed the underexposure there - is it too much? Not enough? (Bless her heart - I'm trying to practice giving her a tan in PP)

What other suggestions can you give on getting THE dive shot at our next meet one month from now? Maybe getting closer to the action and being more parallel to the divers? Different angle? Different PP? (When getting my exif, I noticed for the first time that a list of what I did in PP is also available so I'll include that info. as well - Cool!)

BTW, I would love to take this opportunity to tell you that my daughter won her first medal EVER in this race! She came in second in her age group on the Breast Stroke!!!
Thank you for your help!
Jayne


Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/8000 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure: +2.90
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: Off
Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows
Date and Time (Modified): 2009:02:25 16:38:55
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original): 2009:02:21 09:20:11.56+08:00
Max Aperture Value: 2.8
Metering Mode: Partial
White Balance: Manual
Lens: 70-200mm
White Balance: Custom
Temperature: 5550
Tint: +2
Shadows: 1
Brightness: +16
Contrast: +49
Saturation: +18
Sharpness: 25
Color Noise Reduction: 25
Vibrance: +18
Sharpen Radius: +1.0
Sharpen Detail: 25

[bradzo66]

Fantastic , I was also a competitve swimmer ,who went on to coach and swam at World Masters level as an adult ,swimming is so cool , Im too new to help much with photography but now plenty about loving the water !!! Great capture ,I would love to see some of yr other shots ,especially buterfly if you have any although i love all strokes, backstroke being the one i struggle with ............is there any sense in travelling upside down and backwards ...Again great shot , brings back many great memories .

[chopstickjayne]

Thanks Bradzo66! Swimming is a wonderful sport! As a mom, I love it for my children because it's a non-contact sport! I also love the fact that it's one of the best forms of exercise and can be self-competitive as well as a great team sport. It seems to attract a fun bunch of people, too. Your accomplishments in the sport are no easy feat in Australia! Do you still coach?

When I asked my son if he minded me putting some of his shots up on this site, he said he didn't want me to put his Fly shots up because he noticed his form wasn't great at this meet. But I'll tell him I've had a 'request' . That's actually my favorite stroke to watch!

I'd really like to get more creative with my captures because we go to so many of these meets that all my shots are starting to look exactly alike! Hopefully, someone will have some inspiring ideas for me.

Thanks, again! It sounds (and looks) like you're enjoying your new perspective of sports behind the camera! Can't wait to see more surfers!

Jayne

[bradzo66]

I unfortunately cant swim anymore due to a ruptured bicep tendon which i had surgically repaired last Jan . I am not coaching as such anymore but do some stroke correction and motivational work with competitive athletes (triathlon ,and cycling ) I owned my own personal training co. for about six years and loved helping people reach their life goals , you should let yr son know that there is a good chance nobody else on the site would know good form from dog paddle here and I wont tell them lol ,it would be good to see his Fly ,quick word for yr daughter please congratulate her on what was obviously a great achievement , obviously she is competing at a high level and evey lttle bit counts ,those hands need to be together at the moment of contact with the water ........nice tight streamline, sorry but with such a fast reaction time she has a great advantage and to make the most of it .All the best

[barabe]

I do not know much about swiming yet my oldest is only 5 but he and his litle brother are taking swiming lessons twice a week. I like the shot. I think the settings were as best as it could be. Maybe shooting from a lower angle would improve the shot a litle and also geting the whole body in and a few miliseconds earlier with the head still out of the water but that takes luck and practice.

Please take my suggestions with a grain of salt, i am still learning here.

[bradzo66]

Originally Posted by barabe

I do not know much about swiming yet my oldest is only 5 but he and his litle brother are taking swiming lessons twice a week. I like the shot. I think the settings were as best as it could be. Maybe shooting from a lower angle would improve the shot a litle and also geting the whole body in and a few miliseconds earlier with the head still out of the water but that takes luck and practice.

Please take my suggestions with a grain of salt, i am still learning here.

I like the idea of the lower angle ,try for pool side access as a photographer ,apply to the governing body of the carnival for a pass and become one of the papparazzi!!!

[chopstickjayne]

Originally Posted by bradzo66

I unfortunately cant swim anymore due to a ruptured bicep tendon which i had surgically repaired last Jan . I am not coaching as such anymore but do some stroke correction and motivational work with competitive athletes (triathlon ,and cycling ) I owned my own personal training co. for about six years and loved helping people reach their life goals , you should let yr son know that there is a good chance nobody else on the site would know good form from dog paddle here and I wont tell them lol ,it would be good to see his Fly ,quick word for yr daughter please congratulate her on what was obviously a great achievement , obviously she is competing at a high level and evey lttle bit counts ,those hands need to be together at the moment of contact with the water ........nice tight streamline, sorry but with such a fast reaction time she has a great advantage and to make the most of it .All the best

Sorry about your injury! Did it happen while swimming??? My daughter's first comment upon seeing her dive was that very thing - her hands should be together - guess my photography is helping them learn, too! I've looked for good Fly shots to post - for this meet I found a balcony I could shoot from that placed me directly over the swimmers - all my shots of the fly are from above - the only 'telling' shots I have are of my son swimming away from me - don't know if you'll be able to tell anything from that angle - I'll try to adjust the exposure and post them, though.

Thanks again for your interest and your comments! Still hoping for some good angles at our next meet in Bangkok a month from now!

[chopstickjayne]

Originally Posted by barabe

I do not know much about swiming yet my oldest is only 5 but he and his litle brother are taking swiming lessons twice a week. I like the shot. I think the settings were as best as it could be. Maybe shooting from a lower angle would improve the shot a litle and also geting the whole body in and a few miliseconds earlier with the head still out of the water but that takes luck and practice.

Please take my suggestions with a grain of salt, i am still learning here.

Thank you for your suggestions! Any help is very much appreciated! I am grateful you took the time to post! It's hard to 'play photographer' when I really just want to watch my kids swim, but I'm sure they will appreciate more flattering shots when they look back on these pictures as adults. So, again, I very much appreciate your ideas! It helps to get these ideas in my head before I'm under the gun! Thanks!
Jayne

[Jim Bryant]

Also you can great vertical shot of the line of divers shooting off the blocks from a high angle in the stands. Low angle using wide angle at pool side, but you're sure to get your equipment wet. also, get farther down the pool (about 1/2 way) and get them jumping off the blocks. Some of the aquatic centers have an underwater window along the side of the pool. I know the King Country aquatic center has one. Which makes for great shots of swimmers diving into the water and coming up on kick turns.

[chopstickjayne]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Also you can great vertical shot of the line of divers shooting off the blocks from a high angle in the stands. Low angle using wide angle at pool side, but you're sure to get your equipment wet. also, get farther down the pool (about 1/2 way) and get them jumping off the blocks. Some of the aquatic centers have an underwater window along the side of the pool. I know the King Country aquatic center has one. Which makes for great shots of swimmers diving into the water and coming up on kick turns.

Thanks for the suggestions, Jim! The facilities we swim in aren't equipped with the underwater viewing window but I'll try out your angle ideas above ground at our next meet! I do have a couple of unintentional butt shots on their flip turns! But, I think if I showed those, I'd find my camera at the bottom of the pool! Thanks again for the ideas...I seem to get stuck in a rut at these things and tend not to experiment - not sure why I do that, but I am really looking forward to more opportunities to try new things!

Gratefully,