Taking photos at a sports event

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are doing well. 

Over here in Western Australia we have the luxury of having next to no Covid numbers due to strict border controls, and hence we have been going about our lives relatively normally. 

Hence on Sunday I had the opportunity to be one of several photographers from the photography club, the Photography Group of Bunbury, to take photos for the Bunbury Tri Club's Bunbury City Classic Triathlon event (swim, bike, run). 

I was stationed out along Ocean Drive on our Indian Ocean beach front, and it was a great opportunity to practise panning as I photographed the bike leg. With over 500 competitors I certainly had lots of practise. 

I won't pretend to be a sports photographer, but I have photographed a few sports events in the past, particularly dragon boat racing which I have been involved in for many years, and I also photographed the bike and run leg of the Bunbury City Classic a couple of years ago. 

Please click on the link for few sports photography tips from Geosnapshot website: Taking-photos-that-sell

Lighting - Background - Fill the Frame - High emotion - Capture everyone 

The weather on Sunday was perfect for photography - no wind and total cloud cover which meant no bright hot spots and even colour. 

Another few tips from me are: 

• Know your camera, 
• Check your settings, 
• Make sure your battery is charged and you have a spare battery, 
• Make sure you have several memory cards for your camera. 
• A backup camera is also a good idea, as I discovered once before. 
• Check out the site beforehand to work out where is a good place to stand. 
• Check the weather report and rain or shine be prepared. 

So what is panning, and how do you achieve it? You know those photos where the moving subject appears sharp while the background appears to be out of focus?

Here are 6 tips from the Digital Photography School - pity I didn't read this article before going out on Sunday! However, I am still happy with my results. Do yourself a favour and click on the link for great info and advice: Digital photography school - 6 tips to master panning

6 Tips to Master Panning Photography from Digital Photography School

1. Set your camera to Shutter Priority mode. Before you do anything else, I highly recommend you set your camera's Mode dial to Shutter Priority. ...
2. Choose a slow shutter speed. ...
3. Move along with the subject. ...
4. Use a tripod. ...
5. Focus accurately. ...
6. Position yourself correctly.

I was photographing hand held. A stance with my feet apart in a comfortable position. My elbows tucked into my sides. I used my viewfinder. Try not to not use a digital screen with your arms held away from your body - though my husband got some good results doing this. Swivel from the hips and follow the bike rider, taking 2 or 3 shots as you swivel. A sports mode might help, but I found my camera couldn't keep up as I was photographing in RAW and don't have a high end camera. 

I used a zoom lens. These were my settings if they are any use to you: Manual mode, 1/500 shutter speed, Aperture F6.3, ISO 250, auto white balance, auto focus. 

I need to go back and straighten up some of these horizons before I share them to the photo sharing site for the event. 

The bikes were coming in fast and I didn't always get the shot right....but I must say I rather liked this effect... 

And I didn't always get the whole bike in. 

Though coming into the shot is better than going out...

And sometimes.... hopefully I got a pic of this guy on this second lap 

There were all sorts of levels of competitor - young, old, new, experienced and levels of bikes. Take a look at this guy working the bike with his arms. That looks like hard work. 

That's it from me today. I hope this has helped you with some tips for next time you might like to take some photos at a sports event. 

Don't have a fancy camera? Don't worry. The camera you have is better than no camera. My husband took this photo with a more basic camera, on all automatic settings, and looking at a screen not through a view finder. 

Please do go to the links. There are lots more on the web. 

Geosnapshot website: Taking-photos-that-sell

Digital photography school - 6 tips to master panning

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

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