This past weekend, I traveled to the booming metropolis of Oklahoma City for the Mountain West Conference Swimming Championships. Part of me really wasn't looking forward to this trip because 1)it's Oklahoma City and 2) swimming isn't one of my favorite sports to shoot. However, the other part of me was looking forward to overcoming my swimming photo-phobia.
Now, when we shoot for the MWC, we shoot a lot of stock images since the athletic departments from the conference's various schools use the photos for their media guides, web sites, and other on-campus publications. As you can imagine, this gets old very quickly since you're shooting the same photos over and over and over again, the only thing changing in the picture being the athlete. Despite this, I try to make solid images of as many of these kids as I can, but I always make sure to find some time to think outside the box to make more creative images that satisfy my on-assignment creative/mental health needs.
These are long days sometimes, and if you get stuck in a rut shooting the same ol' butterfly stroke photo (see below) from dead on for the 43rd time, you'll jump in the pool with all your gear at the end of the day and never want to shoot swimming again. Trust me, I've been there (hence the reason for my phobia of shooting swimming). Adding to the frustration is the fact that focusing (both manual and auto) can be a bear with swimming sometimes since there's so much water flying around that you, nor the camera, can really see the person you're trying to get tack sharp. This can be compounded in darker venues where the light stinks and camera performance drops. But you've got to just keep pluggin' away, you know!
Keeping my own advice in mind, I came away with a good combination of solid stock for our client, as well as some photos that I'm very proud of and that I hope you enjoy. Having some light to work with (this venue had a nice skylight) definitely helped. A little bit of light goes a long way since it really brings the splashing water to life. Because of this, I was able to leave my swimming photo-phobia in Oklahoma and I hope that I get to shoot swimming outside sometime soon where there is tons of light!
This coming weekend I'll be traveling to another postcard destination, Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. From there, I fly straight to Las Vegas for the Mt. West Conference Basketball tournament. So check back at some point on Sunday or Monday and I'll hopefully have a new update hot off the press for you all.
Hope all is well and enjoy the pics!
-TSB2
Mental Health Photo #1) I wish I could tell you she's blowing everyone else out of the water, but she's the only one in the pool and is racing the clock in a time trial to qualify for the NCAA championships...
As you can imagine, ID'ing these swimmers is oh so easy!
Uh, honey, you're goggles are a little tight...
GO! GO! GO! You gotta catch that slow poke ahead of you!
More mental health...I think this one looks like a pastel drawing...
As you can see, I got a little addicted to panning with a slow shutter speed...
I don't know how this girl swims with all that ice on her face.
While it can make a dynamic photo, here's the dead on butterfly photo I talked about...
I wonder if this is what Mario Lemieux was doing with the Stanley Cup before they found it at the bottom of his pool in 1991....
1 comment:
Where are those stellar diving photos? Nice stuff man. I don't think you have much to worry about in terms of creativity. You came back with some nice images bro. Word.
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