2015/10/07
Last weekend I attended the Mpumalanga School Trials Gala that was held at Van Riebeeck Park, Nelspruit. Swimming is quite an interesting and difficult subject to photograph. The water and subject constantly changes shape and position thus creating interesting reflections, splashes and light bends. Focusing is a challenge due to the swimmer’s continuous movement and the camera sometimes hunting the water droplets.
It was therefore a fun-filled morning experimenting with new techniques. Blue is a beautiful colour but I tried something different by going for the chrome look. I can definitely recommend shooting swimmers as a way to get a much better understanding of how your camera works. Just make sure the dial is not on AUTO. The question to ask is whether to shoot in Aperture, Shutter or Manual Mode. The rule of thumb for sports photography is Shutter Speed Priority but nothing stops you from also trying Aperture or Manual mode. The advantage with Shutter Priority is that your shutter speed is set and the camera then decides what your Aperture should be once you’ve dialed in the ISO number. Here’s a cheat sheet to better understand the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.
You’ll need a telephoto lens to get close to the action, preferably more than 100mm. To freeze the action you need a shutter speed of at least 1/1000th of a second or faster. With an aperture of f/9 to get an adequate depth of field on the subject the ISO inevitably has to go up to get a good exposure. You could go the other way though and convey motion by slowing the shutter speed considerably. You can then bring the ISO down for a better quality picture but a deeper depth of field (higher f-stop) would be required to maintain a balanced exposure on your histogram. I found it beneficial to focus slightly ahead of the subject before pressing the shutter as this ensures the focus point is on and not behind the swimmer by the time you actually do press the shutter.
EJ
