Golf photography help wanted please

I

iron maiden

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iron
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I am doing some golf photography next sunday,
never done this before,
so would really like some help on best settings etc,
even where to stand,
like if they are teeing of where's the best place to send for a great shot,

i am doing this for free as it's for a local football club,

would be very greatful with all your advice,


regards iron
 
What lens are you using?
 
I did this for a friend of mine who is a golf nut some time ago using a 70-300 and 70-200/2.8 and Nikon D90.

I think the best action shots are taken from slightly in front of the golfer but way off to the side so you are on the same side of his/her body as the ball. If you imagine the player looking down the course as 12 o'clock then standing at about 2 o'clock is good but remember that it's a dangerous place to be - golf balls HURT!

Standing well back should keep you out of the firing line and mean that the shutter/mirror noise from the camera doesn't distract the player. Professionals get very tetchy about that, I understand.

My best shots (and there weren't many good ones) came from focusing on the players head as he aligned himself for the shot and locking focus and exposure there. I then started shooting - set to fastest continuous shooting speed - as the club started to come down from the top of the back swing. Getting impact with the ball is purely luck. I shot in jpg only so as not to fill up the buffer before the shot was completed.

EDIT: Sorry forget to say I used shutter priority, 1/1000s for sharp pictures, 1/500s for blurred club images, aperture to suite and ISO 200.

Good luck with it :thumbs:
 
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Bristolian said:
as the club started to come down from the top of the back swing. Getting impact with the ball is purely luck. I shot in jpg only so as not to fill up the buffer before the shot was completed.
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You where doing quite well until you got to this bit ... NEVER shoot when the golfer is on back swing.. doesnt matter if he can hear the shutter or not... Its simply not the done thing in golf photography.. amazed its being offered as advice to be honest.
 
I have no idea what the back swing is, is that the lifting of the bat to behind his head before he swings down to hit the ball?
or
the part where the bat is coming down to hit the ball
or
the bit after where he puts it behind his head again from the other side after hitting the ball?

Watch out for balls, they come from everywhere and if you hear someone shout 4 dive for cover. I spent the day on a course the other week shooting and I only covered 2 greens and 2 tee's I saw everyone off from the 1st and met up with them on the 8th green and had a very short walk to the 9th tee so I could shoot that. What ever you do make sure you know who is the first and last group out, I had a group tell me they were the last on the 1st tee so I headed off to the 8th/9th saw them again and headed for the 18th hole. To discover that they weren't the last yes at the 18th I headed in when that group finished. But the organiser and my contact gave me very little info he went out in the 2nd group, never told me how many groups or anything.

Don't wear jeans they may not let you on the course and wear flat shoes.

You don't actually need that long a lens, I took the 300 thinking I would need to be way down the way to not get hit but as steve said about 2 oclock is about right, if they miss hit it goes sideways less chance of getting hit at 2 than anywhere else I discovered. If its sunny take a hat.
 
You don't shoot till after he's hit the ball!! Ever.
 
this is a shot that i had taken on a corporate golf day... the 2 o'clock angle, with the shot being taken at / just after impact. Try and leave a little space into where the golfer is hitting the ball. I think this was with 70-200 f/2.8


golfday by leftcurl, on Flickr
 
bummer, I got it wrong I started shooting as they were going to hit the ball, no one complained well someone moaned while they were on the green that I put her off, but it was a kings and queens with a non golfer doing the green so it was more luck than anything else if the ball went in the hole.
 
My terminology might be out.. but as andrew says.. never before they hit the ball..
 
The charity day that was had at the club i am a member of the photos were taken from two different areas. As it was a team event all four members were pictured on the 18th green as a group shot. We were then taken individually in the act of putting. Then we were taken driving away on the 1st tee. The first tee shot was the main pic as per post No 8 with the other two shots positioned on the two bottom corners. The tee shots were taken from a point more in front of the golfers, because there was a hedge behind and the shots never had any clutter or distractions in the shot. I think the lens you have will be fine for what you want. When i shoot golfers i start shooting on the downswing and have never had any problems. When the swing has reached it's maximum backswing and starts to return i don't think there are any amateur golfers that will be affected by a few clicks from a shutter. Especially on the first tee. Most club golfers swing totally different because the camera is on them anyway. Good luck.
 
So thats two offering advice to shoot while the golfer is swinging... guess we are talking rubbish about sports phgotogrpahy then andrew? :)


I have a question.. when others are looking at your pictures.. how will they know you wernt putting the golfer off?
 
If only we'd thought to ask here! Typical of a lot of advice on here I'm afraid. If you want a ball/club between the eyes - maybe :) - I don't shoot am golfers though!!
 
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thank you so much for all your advice,
shooting at 2 o clock to the golfer is the best advice,

you have all been a great help,

iron
 
KIPAX said:
So thats two offering advice to shoot while the golfer is swinging... guess we are talking rubbish about sports phgotogrpahy then andrew? :)


I have a question.. when others are looking at your pictures.. how will they know you wernt putting the golfer off?
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As an average golfer, If I was playing a round of golf, I would never want anyone taking a photo of my swing, until after I have made contact with the ball. If however, I was practicing, then I wouldn't care about it.
To those who think that it is OK to take photos mid swing, then I suggest thay they go along to a tournament (preferably one where Tiger Woods is playing), and try out their technique;)
 
Kipax, awp, i think you missed the point. Nobody is saying you are wrong in what you say about when to press the shutter. Your stupid remarks just confirm what a professional photographers attitude is towards someone who wants to take a few pics for a local football club. In a professional tournament the rules are totally different and i agree that the shutter should be pressed after the swing has been made. As you probably get paid for your pics then you should obey those rules. The op is doing it for free and should be given a bit of leeway. He could always ask the golfer concerned if he objects, and respond accordingly.
 
dekeyboy said:
Kipax, awp, i think you missed the point. Nobody is saying you are wrong in what you say about when to press the shutter. Your stupid remarks just confirm what a professional photographers attitude is towards someone who wants to take a few pics for a local football club. In a professional tournament the rules are totally different and i agree that the shutter should be pressed after the swing has been made. As you probably get paid for your pics then you should obey those rules. The op is doing it for free and should be given a bit of leeway. He could always ask the golfer concerned if he objects, and respond accordingly.
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But if he get's into bad habbits now, then IF they one day end up shooting bigger tournaments they may find them selves asked to leave when a player shanks one and decides to blame the OP. This would pretty much end their golf shooting career there weather their shooting was actually to blame or not.

I have seen pro golfers stop because some ones pulled a POS and the focus noise was putting them off.
 
maninsuitcase said:
But if he get's into bad habbits now, then IF they one day end up shooting bigger tournaments they may find them selves asked to leave when a player shanks one and decides to blame the OP. This would pretty much end their golf shooting career there weather their shooting was actually to blame or not.

I have seen pro golfers stop because some ones pulled a POS and the focus noise was putting them off.
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The op is going to use his 120-300 lens. I suppose the only answer is to use it at the upper end, then he could take the shot from 50 to 60 feet away and crop to what he desires. Then the noise from the shutter would be negligible.:thumbs:
 
the other upside of shooting at/after impact is that you (hopefully with a fast enough ss) get the flying tee / turf which all adds to the capture :thumbs:
 
dekeyboy said:
The op is going to use his 120-300 lens. I suppose the only answer is to use it at the upper end, then he could take the shot from 50 to 60 feet away and crop to what he desires. Then the noise from the shutter would be negligible.:thumbs:
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But as said the focus sound from 5m or so can be enough to set a pro off, god help you if that pro is a certain Mr Woods.
 
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maninsuitcase said:
But as said the focus sound from 5m or so can be enough to set a pro off, god help you if that pro is a certain Mr Woods.
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I think we are forgetting that the subjects are amateur footballers.:)
 
thanks for all your advice,
i know many of you are pro photographer's here so it's been great getting advice from you,
if i choose to stand at like 2 o clock to take photo's of them teeing of how far should i be from them,
golf balls hurt,

also taking photo's of putting,
any advice on location for them shots'
is it best to stand in front of the golfer,

thanks again

iron
 
From an amateur golfer, who's been at a number of society and coporate events with photographers.
Never, ever, ever make a sound before the ball is struck. It's called etiquette and if you don't know about it you shouldn't be in the golf course. Even more so on the green unless it's staged, i.e. not part of the game. Even ams (maybe even more so with ams) get pee'd off with being distracted. Just 'cos they're footballers doesn't mean they're not decent players or that they'll expect anything less.
Normal form is for a group shot on the first tee, after that keep yourself unheard and ideally unseen (out of field of view) until after a shot.
 
dekeyboy said:
I think we are forgetting that the subjects are amateur footballers.:)
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The thread is about golf photography?

I personally wouldn't be happy if someone started shooting at the top of my backswing. I'm inconsistent enough already so if I can blame something apart from my swing, I will ;)

Although some camera shutters are quieter than others, even a quiet one sounds really loud when there is no other noise around.
 
Well Iron it looks like you will have to video it, because if you move or make any sound you will be shot. If you noticed at the open, nobody moved or made a sound all day.
 
KIPAX said:
You where doing quite well until you got to this bit ... NEVER shoot when the golfer is on back swing.. doesnt matter if he can hear the shutter or not... Its simply not the done thing in golf photography.. amazed its being offered as advice to be honest.
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Kipax, I never claimed to be a golf photographer - I just did it once for a friend. TBH golf has to be one of the most boring games in the world and I wouldn't waste my time taking pictures of it any other time.

Having said that, no-one that was playing on the day I was taking pictures said anything either to me or my friend. I suspect keen amateurs and pros would look upon it differently.

Thinking somewhat latterally, and not only about golf, but why are so-called highly skilled, motivated and focussed professionals so easily put off by a camera shutter noise. I can f4rt louder :D
 
dekeyboy said:
Well Iron it looks like you will have to video it, because if you move or make any sound you will be shot. If you noticed at the open, nobody moved or made a sound all day.
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If you've ever actually been to an open you'll know that nobody moves until the player has hit their ball. Especially the toggers! Just listen next time you watch it on telly even - silence, whack, click tastic.
 
dekeyboy said:
Well Iron it looks like you will have to video it, because if you move or make any sound you will be shot. If you noticed at the open, nobody moved or made a sound all day.
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Well if you'd have been watching properly, you might have noticed something like this:

schweppes_golf.jpg


from: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/schweppes_golf?size=_original





and a fuller explanation for those having a hard time understanding the etiquette of the game:

http://tipsforbeginnergolfers.com/golf-rules/golf-etiquette-silence.html
 
This is turning into a typical thread for those people who just cherry pick what they read and then leave a comment. If you search the web you will find thousands of pics that are taken at all different times of the swing. But no! lets just join in and sound off. Being a low handicapper and lucky enough to have played with some of the pro's and celebrities at various charity events, i can assure you that not one of them has complained on the first tee about their picture being taken during their swing. The rest of the round the togs were nowhere to be seen, because they are preparing the shots they had taken for selling when all the golfers return to the clubhouse. This is how money is raised at charity events which is what i quoted in my original post.
 
dekeyboy said:
This is turning into a typical thread for those people who just cherry pick what they read and then leave a comment. If you search the web you will find thousands of pics that are taken at all different times of the swing. But no! lets just join in and sound off. Being a low handicapper and lucky enough to have played with some of the pro's and celebrities at various charity events, i can assure you that not one of them has complained on the first tee about their picture being taken during their swing. The rest of the round the togs were nowhere to be seen, because they are preparing the shots they had taken for selling when all the golfers return to the clubhouse. This is how money is raised at charity events which is what i quoted in my original post.
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When I am up the range, I can carry on a conversation with someone whilst hitting balls, but out on the course it is different. Even on a Sunday afternoon at my local club, when someone is about to tee off at the first, there is silence, it is just good manners.
 
dekeyboy said:
This is turning into a typical thread for those people who just cherry pick what they read and then leave a comment. If you search the web you will find thousands of pics that are taken at all different times of the swing. But no! lets just join in and sound off. Being a low handicapper and lucky enough to have played with some of the pro's and celebrities at various charity events, i can assure you that not one of them has complained on the first tee about their picture being taken during their swing. The rest of the round the togs were nowhere to be seen, because they are preparing the shots they had taken for selling when all the golfers return to the clubhouse. This is how money is raised at charity events which is what i quoted in my original post.
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I'm not cherry picking. I've read everything that you've written so far, and the fact still remains that unless you are taking set up and posed shots, shooting before the ball strike is phenomenally bad manners, no matter what your own handicap is.

Just because an act isn't complained about does not make that act correct behaviour: post hoc ergo propter hoc!
 
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