2nd Track Meet - Running and Pole Vault C&C Welcome and requested

CMfromIL · Apr 18, 2012

2nd track meet. Sun was out and BRIGHT!!! Shot the pole vault for the first time, I need to work a bit on timing. Background was tough. Also, this is Jr. High. Busy backgrounds are par for the course. Not much I can do about the students, buses or outbuildings behind most scenes. Thanks for looking. Any suggestions on how to handle the lighting would be appreciated. No flashes allowed. I was using my 70-200 F/2.8. Shutter speeds were high (between 1/500 to 1/1250) ISO I tried to keep around 200-400.

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7. My daughter

The_Traveler · Apr 18, 2012

These are well caught, nicely focused but they are as well-framed as they could be, imo.
When you clip off a single appendage and there's lots of room on the other sides, it looks like an accidental clip. Try to recrop to center on the action and make the clip part of the artistic process.
Second, fix the exposures in PPing. You've got the detail.

CMfromIL · Apr 18, 2012

The clipping of appendages is totally because I missed the shot, not due to cropping. I have got to practice a bit more to get the whole athlete in the frame. Additionally I was about 70mm for most of them, but I had to stand about 12' away. It made it a tough place to get the whole body. I was pleased to have gotten the facial shots though!

Thanks for your tips, I apprecaite them.

The_Traveler · Apr 18, 2012

CMfromIL said:
The clipping of appendages is totally because I missed the shot, not due to cropping. I have got to practice a bit more to get the whole athlete in the frame. Additionally I was about 70mm for most of them, but I had to stand about 12' away. It made it a tough place to get the whole body. I was pleased to have gotten the facial shots though!

Thanks for your tips, I apprecaite them.

I understand about the framing vs cropping.
Much of the time, getting every body part in the shot isn't nearly as important as a well composed shot.
Somethings lend themselves to good framing, some circumstances don't but you need to be 'ruthless' to make the shot good.
When I am shooting against the sky, I always compensate by a stop or so to make certain the subject is exposed well.

CMfromIL · Apr 18, 2012

I think next time I'm going to bump up the exposure. I had done that for a couple, and it looked totally blown on the LCD. I think with a little PP they might have turned out better than I was thinking.

jfrabat · Apr 18, 2012

CMfromIL said:
I think next time I'm going to bump up the exposure. I had done that for a couple, and it looked totally blown on the LCD. I think with a little PP they might have turned out better than I was thinking.

You can also try a flash if shooting upward (if allowed)

Big Mike · Apr 18, 2012

Yes, the ones against the sky are severely underexposed. Because you're shooting with the sun/bright sky behind the subject, the subject is much darker than the sky behind them. In this case, you just won't be able to expose for the sky and the subject at the same time, so you much choose....and the obvious choice here is to expose for the subject (although, a silhouette might look cool).

Of course, if you expose for the subject, the sky will be blown out...but that's better than an underexposed subject IMO.

I think next time I'm going to bump up the exposure. I had done that for a couple, and it looked totally blown on the LCD. I think with a little PP they might have turned out better than I was thinking.

One of the first thing I teach my students in my DSLR course, is not to trust the image on the LCD (in terms of brightness/exposure). A much better tool to judge exposure is to look at the histogram. Usually when you look at the histogram, you want to be wary of clipping/blowing the highlights, but in a situation like this, the sky may have to be a little blown to get exposure on the subject.

Big Mike · Apr 18, 2012

jfrabat said:
CMfromIL said:

I think next time I'm going to bump up the exposure. I had done that for a couple, and it looked totally blown on the LCD. I think with a little PP they might have turned out better than I was thinking.

Click to expand...

You can also try a flash if shooting upward (if allowed)

That would certainly help, but he did mentioned that flash was not allowed.

imagemaker46 · Apr 18, 2012

Those are some pretty ugly pole vault images, but I understand why. At this level, the "standard" pole vault image isn't happening. The best angle for pole vault is straight on, when the pole bends, or as they clear the bar against the sky. As a Jr High meet this doesn't happen. They are really just a little too tight as well, shooting loose and then cropping may work better, even though I'm very big on shooting tight. As a first attempt at pole vault, like you mentioned your timing is off, but this will get better with repetition. Keep at it.

CMfromIL · Apr 18, 2012

imagemaker46 said:
Those are some pretty ugly pole vault images, but I understand why. At this level, the "standard" pole vault image isn't happening. The best angle for pole vault is straight on, when the pole bends, or as they clear the bar against the sky. As a Jr High meet this doesn't happen. They are really just a little too tight as well, shooting loose and then cropping may work better, even though I'm very big on shooting tight. As a first attempt at pole vault, like you mentioned your timing is off, but this will get better with repetition. Keep at it.

Coming from you, and your past comments I'd say thats a borderline compliment! :lol:

When I get home I'll see if I can 'uncrop' a couple of them for a wider view. I tried to cut out the crappy background.

I like your suggestion of straight on, but that area is off limit to spectators. Even one's with an 'L' lens :er:

As for the pole bending, there wasn't a whole lot of that. I think they are pretty rigid at this level, and the heights were around 7'6" at the greatest. Thanks for the comments and tips. I'll use them next time.

Big Mike · Apr 18, 2012

As for the pole bending, there wasn't a whole lot of that. I think they are pretty rigid at this level, and the heights were around 7'6" at the greatest. Thanks for the comments and tips. I'll use them next time.

I dabbled in pole vault in high school and ya, there isn't a whole lot of bending at that level...at least not the type that you see on TV etc.

AceCo55 · Apr 19, 2012

Yes - when I was a 17yr old, I couldn't get the pole to bend; but now I reckon I could bend it pretty easily ... but for an entirely different reason! :lol:

Getting back to the topic ... I'm not sure the POV in #6 is all that flattering (and #4 marginal for me) - even if you had nailed the exposure. I would probably delete those angles ... but I could be showing my age/values which may be out-of-step with the rest of the world. Ready to be corrected

fotograph · Apr 19, 2012

I have to disagree, my son is 15 years old and has been bending the pole for the last couple of years. If the pole wont bend, they are using the wrong size pole. They need one set up for their weight.

Not anywhere near the caliber of others, but it does show the bend of the pole, this was a 12' attempt.

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee446/fotograph113/Sports/cks relays/0c1c1f1d.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

CMfromIL · Apr 19, 2012

AceCo55 said:
Yes - when I was a 17yr old, I couldn't get the pole to bend; but now I reckon I could bend it pretty easily ... but for an entirely different reason!

Getting back to the topic ... I'm not sure the POV in #6 is all that flattering (and #4 marginal for me) - even if you had nailed the exposure. I would probably delete those angles ... but I could be showing my age/values which may be out-of-step with the rest of the world. Ready to be corrected

Thanks for your comments. I didn't have an issue with either 4 or 6 due to the fact that they are wearing spandex under their loose shorts. I liked #6 because of the eye peeking out behind the pole, seemingly staring directly at the camera.

#4 is my neighbors son. He and his wife LOVED the picture, so I thought I'd leave it. I did cull plenty of other shots. Thanks for looking.

CMfromIL · Apr 19, 2012

Alright, I went back and looked through all the pictures I took. Since I had shot in RAW, I found a few that I thought I might be able to manipulate a bit. I had adjusted the camera up a stop and tried to focus on the jumper. I missed the composition (cut off feet etc) but it will give me something to put up to discuss lighting.

Here they are, blown backgrounds and all:

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Is that better on the exposure side now?