Advice on taking some pics... Please

[Clare]

Hi all

My gym instructor has asked if i would take some pictures for advertising her 2 classes that she run's which are a Running club and also an Aqua Aerobics class.

The Running ones i can do easy.

It's just the Aqua Aerobics i'm stuck on, i've never took any pics near or of a pool so i'm a little worried.

Anyone got any advice as i could really do with some.

 

[Mike Jackson]

You may want to use a circular polarising filter to cut out reflections from the water.

 

[Arkady]

It's no drama really - just make sure the camera is warm - if you take it into the pool area and it's cold, it'll fog-up in the warm, humid air.
Shoot from as low as possible to water level - you may have to lie down on the poolside, so maybe wear a costume yourself or take an exercise mat to lie on if it's wet.
Don't rely on being able to get what you need from a normal class - be prepared to arrange participants to get the images you want - choreograph the action and move people around to suit you.

The light will be your biggest problem: pools generally have mixed lighting, so either shoot RAW or do a custom white-balance at the poolside - check your camera manual on how to do this.
It'll also be quite dim compared to outside, so your shutter-speeds will be a little on the low side unless you have good high-ISO capability with that Sony.

You don't really need a polarising filter for this sort of thing - it will alter the look of the water by cutting reflections, but you're not photographing the water - you're photographing what's in the water and a CP will lose you about 2 stops of light in an already challenging venue...

 

[Clare]

Thank you so much for your advice, this will be taken in and used when i go in to take the pic's..

Clare