TurnAround, May 17, 2012

Posted on May 2, 2012

A word from the Editor

In this issue of TurnAround we take a bit of a different perspective.  Instead of focussing exclusively on the athlete, we are turning our attention to the parents, friends, spouses, and relatives who often sit on the sidelines and cheer them on.

Everyone has a camera these days from one in his or her phone to an expensive DSLR.  However, when it comes to taking action shots of your hero the results are often disappointing.  We are setting out to remedy this in this issue.  Bruce Berry is a professional photographer and Angela Moore is a videographer who has worked on Hockey Night in Canada, pro soccer, and many more sports events.  Their tips will help set you off in the right direction.  To reinforce these lessons, TurnAround is having a photo contest.  So get off the sidelines, rush to the barricades, and start shooting photos.

In addition, in this volume, we are starting our course descriptions with the first event of the season – the Navy Triathlon in Shearwater.

Taking better action photos

By Bruce Berry

We’ve all seen the army of pros, armed with cameras sprouting three foot lenses, camped at major sports events, or running frantically, cameras held high as they jockey for that one defining image.

Small wonder that our photos don’t quite measure up to Sports Illustrated standards.  Luckily, with running and cycling, spectators
can get much closer to the action, so the average amateur can be quite successful if a few advance measures are taken.

All events have a beginning and an end, so these are the best spots to capture close up images of competitors, emotion, swarms of colourful jerseys, abstract images, etc.

Along a course, the secret is positioning.  Check out several locations in advance, noting the time of day and angle of sunlight at the time of the event.  The action is most chaotic at the start, and always slows down as competitors round a bend or street corner, so pick one that allows the sun to be behind you and shining on the athlete as they come into view.  The bikes will be leaning into the curve, giving a more dynamic picture as well.  As they come towards you, the chance that they will be blurry due to movement is much less than if you try to capture them as they streak by.

The secret to a successful image when that happens is called “panning”, which can be done with any camera.  As the athlete passes by, position them in the centre of the viewfinder in advance and keep them there as they pass, squeezing the shutter as you continue to move the camera.  This will render the subject sharp while creating a streaked background, giving the feeling of motion in the image.  Again, it’s better if you have the sun behind you rather than shoot into it as the athlete passes.  Practice this before the actual event to
ensure you know how to do it before you’re actually in the situation.

For better results, and especially under adverse conditions, you may want to add to your basic equipment, or choose a new camera with a few accessories that will improve your chances of getting better images.  A single lens reflex camera, or SLR, allows you to change the lens, or at least vary the focal length (i.e. zoom) to get close up images from a greater, and sometimes safer, distance.  You don’t need the monstrous lenses the pros use, so a moderate zoom will work just fine.  A wide-angle portion will also be handy if you get in a crowd at a start or finish.  I suggest a 24-85mm, or 24-135mm lens to start.

Many digital cameras today create images of very high resolution, but use more space on your media card to do so.  Make sure you have a large capacity memory card when you head to an event, with a couple more in reserve.  Batteries, too, will go dead in the middle of an event, so have a couple more sets ready for use.  Flashes can sometimes be used to punch up the detail and image quality, even outdoors, and especially when you are forced to shoot into the sun or on heavily overcast days.

Once comfortable with the basics, get creative.  Have fun.  Try shooting from ground level or a balcony rather than always at eye level.  Use extremely slow shutter speeds to create artistic blurred images of spinning wheels, running feet, etc.  Run alongside, clicking as you go, for a different perspective.  Combine all of the above.  Turn your camera on the spectators, capturing candid expressions as their favourites pass by.

Finally, dress for the occasion.  Wear layers of loose-fitting clothes, comfortable shoes, and a hat to shade your eyes.  A camera bag shouldn’t be so big and cumbersome that you don’t want to carry it all day.  A comfortable, wide, padded neck strap is a must, and keep it around your neck, not hanging down to catch on door handles, etc.  A monopod is useful if the light is low or you’re worried about camera shake after a long day of holding the camera up to your eye.

I hope these basic tips prove useful, and that your sports images will capture the excitement, action, and emotion of a competitive event, if only for the family to look back on to recall all the effort and training that was necessary to get there in the first place.  Good luck and good shooting.

Bruce Berry is a Fellow of the Professional Photographers of Canada and has taught and judged photography for the past 40 years.  This article is a compilation of tips and techniques that he has gleaned from his professional colleagues, some of the best sports and action photographers working today.

Videoing triathlons

By Angela Moore

It’s that time of year again when a friend or family member  is heading to their first or maybe even their 30^th triathlon, and they want you to tag along and video tape them crossing the finish line.   The feeling of finishing a triathlon is momentous in itself and it gives the athlete a chance to see their accomplishment and can be great for future training purposes.

A triathlon that one sees on television is, of course, shot with multiple cameras laid out along the course, but you are just one person with one camera.  Here are a few tips to help make your video a good one!

Scout out the location a few days before the competition or go early the day of.  In a triathlon, the transition area is where the majority of the action happens, so find a good place to stand where you’ll have a good view of that area.

When shooting triathletes, I recommend not using a tripod.  Their movements are quick and sometimes abrupt, so you need to be free to move to another location for a different angle or to pan freely up and down and side to side.  However, if you own a tripod, take it and set it up beside you at your main shooting position.  When you want to catch some of the action from a different view or angle, it will act as a placeholder for you.

Don’t worry too much about the swimming portion because you likely won’t get closeaccess to the water’s edge.  At the beginning of the race, place yourself high on the finish line bleachers and shoot wide to get an establishing shot of what the event is.  You can use the zoom to catch them entering the water, and then begin recording again when they come back out of the water as they make there way over to their bike.  But remember as soon as you zoom, any shakiness becomes more noticeable.  Lean against the bleachers to help keep your
shot steady.

In this age of fast changing technology, there are a few different options forshooting high quality HD video.  Many point n’ shoot cameras can give you okay results, but you are very limited to the amount of record time.  The latest DSLRs shoot high resolution and some commercial makers are even taking advantage of this cheaper way of creating fantastic footage.  But then, you would need many memory cards to videotape a triathlon.  So, to get the best amateur results, use a small consumer video recorder.

Toget good video on competition day, always familiarize yourself with your camera before the day of the shoot.  Your video camera will have a special setting called “Sports Mode” that shoots people moving.  Another option is to put the camera in “P” mode where you can manually adjust the shutter (1/2000) which will help with any movement on the screen.  I would suggest keeping the camera in automatic focus.

In shooting a triathlon, or any event for that matter, there are 3 camera shots you will want to get with every new position, #1: Wide Shot – shows the surroundings to help one understand the elements surrounding the athlete (e.g. 2 or 3 bikes, a few athletes in shot, all swimmers waiting to get into the water, or the athlete head-to-toe running)   #2 : MCU (Medium Close Up) – the athlete from the waist up so you can now see who exactly you’re filming   #3: Close Up – headshot of the athlete to see the emotion, or a shot of their shoes as they put them on, or the swim stroke if you can get that close to the action.

Panning, (moving the camera from left-to right, or vice-versa, or up and down), is always a great way to make your shots interesting. For example if you have a good view to shoot an MCU of the athlete running into the transition area start on their feet and pan up to finish on their face.  The shot should be no more than 10 seconds in length from start to finish. Don’t pan too fast. Try to be as smooth as possible.

To more variety, when waiting for the athlete to complete a lap, move out of your main spot, and head down the road to get a wide shot of them and then maybe a zoom in as they run or bike by.  Another great idea is to have someone else standing somewhere on the course
with a still camera taking some shots, you can add them to your video after in a simple editing process.

Have fun with the camera, and remember to take an extra battery!!!!

Angela Moore is a broadcast technician at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) where she works on shows such as Hockey Night in Canada, 22 Minutes, and CBC’s Sports Weekend.  Amateur still photography is something she does in her spare time. She also enjoys cycling and tennis.

Navy Tridents Triathlon and Duathlon course description

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to tell you a bit about the Navy Tridents Triathlon and Duathlon.

This is our tenth year for the race and we are very excited about being a qualifying race for the world sprint championships.  Racers have a chance to represent Canada in London in 2013 at the ITU world sprint championships.

We are serious about racing, but are trying to have fun with the race too.  We’ve got The Bounce 103 providing music at the start and finish areas.  There will be food for the racers and loads of draw prizes too.  I don’t want to give away too much, but our
finishing medals will also double as belt buckles.  How cool is that?

The race is being held at CFB Shearwater on June 3^rd and we are starting the racers in waves of 12.  We’ve got four races this year.  The sprint triathlon, the duathlon, the try-a-tri, and a team triathlon.

The try-a-tri is designed for people who’d like a shorter triathlon experience and it’s also for junior racers.  I’m going to try to have waves for just the juniors so they will be racing against people their own age.  The team triathlon can have two or three members and is fun for people who like to race but don’t want to compete in all of the events.

The swim will be in the pool and we have two racers in each lane.  There’s plenty of room for each swimmer.  Racers are grouped with others that should finish the swim in about the same time.  This allows people to race against the same group of twelve for the entire

The bike ride is on the runways, so there is no traffic to contend with.  You bike up to the runway, do the number of laps depending on which race you’re in, and then back to the transition.

The run this year is on the Flier Trail.  It’s a groomed trail that runs beside the base and it is going to be fast!

And finally …

TNS TurnAround will be having a triathlon Photo Contest.  Details will be coming in future issues of TurnAround, but the categories will be athletes and fans at a TNS sanctioned race.  In the meantime, blow the dust off your lenses and start clicking.