So, Track & Field nationals were held in Ottawa this summer and I was lucky enough to have been able to shoot a portion of some of the event as an official event, thanks to Sean Burges. Of course I was biased in that my wife Maureen was fortunate enough to (a) qualify and (b) compete. She is a national level long jumper, but most of this season was out because she was injured with either a calf or achilles problem. Big time pain if you're a jumper.
For those of you that know me, I am an avid sports fan and love pretty much any sport there is. So, as much as I love to play a sport, I love to shoot it. It was a fantastic day for both the athletes and the photographers. The long jump pit was backlit and the jumpers had a nice breeze to push them down the runway, but not so much that the wind was illegal (they have a wind meter there to measure this...).
Anyhoo, given Mo's injuries, she made the top eight jump-off and then ended 6th in the country! Not bad, not bad at all. That's my girl!
That's a pic of her in action!
So, details on the pic:
1. Since I didn't have my light meter on me, I took an overall scene metering with the camera's built in TTL meter and opened up about 1 full stop.
2. Then I sat at the end of the pit, just off to one side. (I tried both sides and I was getting a bit too much sun flare, so I opted for this one!)
3. Kept the camera on Hi-speed shooting mode and dynamic focus (these women can really cruise!!).
4. Shot wide open (F2.8) to help blur the bg, and at about 1/2000th of a second to freeze their motion.
Give it a try sometime and see what you come up with! These aren't rules, but just a suggestion and what worked for me given the light and the speed of the action. Try shooting from a sitting or standing perspective, and shoot slower or faster. See what interesting things you come up with. I'd be interested in hearing how you did.
Happy Shooting!
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