Prep Op Gymnastics

[PhotoDad]

I haven't posted in a long time so I decided I would show a few from this weekend's meet. All were shot at ISO 1600, Av=2.0 and SS=1/400. C&C are certainly welcome.

Chris

#1

[PhotoDad]

#2

[PhotoDad]

#3

[Walter C]

All three are nice. I like #3 especially showing movement/action.

[JohnG]

Hi Chris,

Not a bad series. But I think there are some things you can do next time to get even better results.

Colors are a bit washed out - did you do something in PP to adjust exposure? I think some fix work on that will help quite a bit . Also, what focal length- they're a bit on the soft side - especially the pose - with a static subject the face should be in focus. That can be a result ofover-cropping or ofhow you focused. The last one is still a cool shot though - very nicely timed and definitely the best of the bunch. Just remember when trying a shot like this the face will be in shadow so you need to bump up the in-camera exposure.

[PhotoDad]

Walter,

Thanks for the reply. I got really lucky to get the vault shot timed as it turned out. #1 was lucky too since she was just in front of my daughter and I was making sure my exposures were correct then she goes into this pose (that I thought was cool) for just a few seconds.

John,

#1 and #2 were only slightly cropped with the 135mm 2.0. Much closer and the girls would not have fit into the frame because I cut my daughters feet off in another handstand when she was on the close end of the beam. My focus point on #1 was centered on her chest as I took the photo and #3 was focused right where her hair meets her forehead. I did lightened each up in PP a little even though I was exposed to the right in all of the photos. However, they still looked a little dark once I saw them on my monitor. Tumbling passes are still HARD! Can I borrow some of your Mark III's cross type focus points? Surely you could spare a few!

Chris

[JohnG]

PhotoDad wrote:

Walter,

My focus point on #1 was centered on her chest as I took the photo

Chris - ok that's where the problems come in. First, as I look at the leo, there isn't any contrast in the chest area so accurate focus will be difficult. Combine that with the chest and the face being potentially a few inches different and you have a softer photo. The shallower your DOF the more you have to focus on their FACE because you may only have 2 inches to spare. But if you can't do that you have to pick an area of contrast to use as your focus point.

And yes I absolutely love the fact I don't have to use center point only anymore. I'm greedy so I'd love a different point placement than I have now - there are two points to choose from above the center - one is too high and the other a bit too low for perfect framing. But I'll take it any day. Still, for gymnastics it's tough even with the mkIII.