Synchro Swimming

[Sam S]

Ladies and Gents,

I'm after some advice.

A friend of mine is competing in the Synchronized Swimming British Champs in two weeks and she has asked me to go along to get a few shots.

From what she says, it is a fast routine and they'll be making use of the whole pool (could be challenging to keep track of! )

I've never shot this sort of thing before so no hints or tips are too simple or obvious!

Cheers

 

[W.Smith]

Best I can think of is: get to a similar swimming pool tomorrow and run a series of test settings! Do you know anything about the light situation at the pool where the championship is being held? Or where you can be relative to the pool?
I'd think short to medium tele would be the main working range. In artificial light that will be a bîtch! You would need seriously fast glass. And/or – gød forbid – maybe even a flash extender!

OTOH... a flash extender could perhaps be a great help for fill-in flash in daylight!

Oh, and this might be one of those occassions where the exposure button's response – a.k.a. shutter lag – is a deciding factor. After the photog's, of course.

 

[sportysnaps]

From the experience I have had pools are lit well, but you need to do a custom white balance – if you get it wrong then you may have lots of reds – which you don’t want

Use a fast shutter speed 500th-1000th and fill in flash if you can (-1 or -2 stops) if you can’t do a fast shutter speed sync then use second curtain sync.
If you walk up the side of the pool then 300mm should be long enough but you may be able to get away with 70-200mm. pick the side with the least distracting background.

The environment is very warm and humid – take the camera to the pool 1 hour before you need to shoot – do not let your camera get cold before you enter the pool – when you leave take the cards out and put your camera and lens in a sealed plastic bag for a few hours to prevent condensation inside the camera. If your lens steams up during the shoot it may be the rear element of the lens (I have had this happen to me) remove and clean – very very carefully.
Put your kit in the airing cupboard for a day after your shoot to dry it out

The swimming pool will ask you to sign a form for child protection (even if no children are present) if you can speak to the organisers of the event first and get them to counter sign the form that will reduce your stress on the day – in any case take valid ID with you such as a driving licence and maybe proof of address…

I would set your camera for central point focus – and for it to follow the action

 

[W.Smith]

From the experience I have had pools are lit well, but you need to do a custom white balance – if you get it wrong then you may have lots of reds – which you don’t want [...]

If you shoot RAW, those reds may be redressed in PP.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Would a polarizer be useful to cut down on reflections? ..... I'm not sure, just a though..

 

[sportysnaps]

does anyone now why this was moved from the sport section?

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

I'm guessing because it isn't a photo sports thread...it a general question, so it belongs in general.

Probably.

 

[Sam S]

Sorry - I thought I was putting it in the right place

Cheers for the comments so far

 

[Sam S]

Any last minute top tips that I should know?

 

[W.Smith]

Would a polarizer be useful to cut down on reflections? ..... I'm not sure, just a though..

If the races take place in daylight, I would take my pola filter, Forbid. If the races are in artificial light that won't work though.