First sports shoot this Saturday! Help!

RauschPhotography · Jan 25, 2010

Hey all-

Shooting at a college track meet this Saturday, and I'd appreciate all the tips I can get! I know this request is a little vague, but I'm not really sure what to expect myself.

Thanks so much

keith foster · Jan 25, 2010

I think track meets are hard to shoot because there is so much going on at the same time. You will have to decide what you want to shoot and get in position for the shot. You will find yourself hustling from one event to another and then waiting.
Decide ahead of time what shots you want to get. For example you can either be at the start or finish line of a dash but not both. If you want to shoot the high jumpers you may miss the 800 run.
You usually get some pretty good shots while athletes warm up and practice their form. You will not be able to tell it was a warm up shot later and you get some good looking action shots because you can get closer.
Have fun. I love the colors of track uniforms when there are several teams competing.

RauschPhotography · Jan 27, 2010

Any idea of lenses to bring? (Canon) Also, should I bother bringing my tripod? I'm just trying to narrow down my list..

fstop · Jan 27, 2010

Looks like your in Minnesota, is this track meet indoors? How is the lighting at the venue? Your going to need a FAST lens. I'd say a min of 2.8 if you have a body with nice high ISO performance. Anything slower and it will just be a frustrating experience.

As for Tri-pod, I'd say no. Perhaps a monopod, but your shutter speed should be fast enough that handheld is fine.

gsgary · Jan 27, 2010

RauschPhotography said:
Any idea of lenses to bring? (Canon) Also, should I bother bringing my tripod? I'm just trying to narrow down my list..

What lenses do you have ? leave your tripod at home it will get in the way and you will be shooting at shutter speeds that don't need a tripod
Are they have a steeple chase if so get to the water jump with a wide angle
One thing i have done with a minipod is set up a remote camera and shot it from a distance while shooting something else, you could set one up at the high jump