The ladies play tennis in the spring.

Tony S · Mar 27, 2012

Boys have the fall season, the ladies get spring time. Finally had some sunshine today, almost missed the match out enjoying my nice long walk.

1. this gal had the same expression every time she hit the ball...

2. The back hand...

3. The forehand...

4. The follow through...

5. the left wrist one finger spin for fun... lol

6. Surprised at the net...

....

LaFoto · Mar 27, 2012

Isn't Photo 3 "The forehand" perfect? Even though the racket is not all inside the frame.
If you wanted that, Photo 4 is the one, but she looks at you, and I like the focus on the ball more on the girl-in-Photo-3's face.

ZapoTeX · Mar 27, 2012

I really like your photos! Technically perfect and very effective, they really make me feel what the player was feeling!

My favorite is 6, the expression is awesome!

I'm not sure how this applies to sports photography, but I heard many times that you should "cut" between joints rather than at joints (in 1, 2 and 4 you cut at the hips).

One more thing: few weeks ago, when I posted some cross-country skiing shots, people told me to also include full-body photos in my sets, in order to better show the athletic gestures and make my photos more diverse. If you have full-body photos of these players, I'd love to see them too!

ZapoTeX · Mar 27, 2012

One more thing: I saw some jpeg artifacts in your photos (for example, jigsaw border between forehead and hair in photo 1), then I checked the sizes of the files and they are REALLY small. I'd be curious to see what your shots look like when you compress them less aggressively.

Congratulations for your great job!

AceCo55 · Mar 27, 2012

#1: It's amazing how many sportspeople have characteristic mannerisms at the moment of peak action. I have a stack of kids and adults who poke their tongues out every time. It is only for a moment and most people wouldn't pick it up just watching the game.

#3: I love this one. I think the tight crop works a treat here to really focus on the player.

#4: I'm not so certain she is looking at you. I think her eyes are following the anticipated trajectory of her shot. I like the perspective of this one. it almost puts you in the game.

#6: expression is priceless ... but I don't think she will be buying it anytime soon!

What is your typical shutter speed for these?

LRYoung · Mar 27, 2012

I really like these. What I would like to see some more of is some wider shots, showing the court and the full body of the player. I think the players would probably like those more too - gives them more context, and they are likely to want to look at aspects of their technique that they can only see with a full body shot

Tony S · Mar 27, 2012

Thanks folks. Shutter speeds on most of these were 1/2500 except when a cloud would pass over or the players were shaded,on those I dropped the shutter speed to 1/1250 and I had to bump the ISO from 200 to 400. The shots are pretty sharp without all the compression, I only put the highly compressed shots online.
In #4 she's not looking at me, I am right behind her opponent.

For tennis I really don't like the full body shots as they stretch out too far and get lost in the frame to get it all in, so I shoot tighter for most of the matches. And you might be surprised at the shots parents buy of their kids caught with that facial expression they always see, even when it's unflattering... must be saving those for later in life to embarass them with.

A couple images with full bodies in them...

7.

8. Taken from the farthest corner from the player..

9.

10. Almost a full body shot, I cut her foot off as she lunged at the ball...

11. and like I said, the same expression on almost every shot. lol

....

OscarWilde · Mar 27, 2012

girl in 11 and 1 is hilarious! It looks like she's shocked that she might actually hit the ball!

Tony S · Mar 27, 2012

Some day I am going to have to try to get my tennis shots like this guy...

Sports Photography – Right Place, Wrong Time

OscarWilde · Mar 27, 2012

Tony S said:
Some day I am going to have to try to get my tennis shots like this guy...

Sports Photography – Right Place, Wrong Time

Haha, definitely! Best way to get good pictures? You have to be in the game!

AceCo55 · Mar 27, 2012

"For tennis I really don't like the full body shots as they stretch out too far and get lost in the frame to get it all in, so I shoot tighter for most of the matches."
I tend to do the same - wider angle are good for context but they make up a relatively small proportion of my shots. Here are a few whole body shots that I have taken.

#1:

#2:

#3:

imagemaker46 · Mar 31, 2012

I like the tighter images that you posted. Having less background works better, especially when most of it is the terrible chain fence they put around most of the courts, this is one of mine from the first time I shot tennis. It shot with a 300 2.8 Canon 1D.