European Figure Skating Championships UPDATED

Tyke Tiler

Tyke Tiler

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Tomas
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Updated. Ive added some more stuff to my blog:

Have a gander

........

Finally found a little time to post a few from last weeks events.

It was my very first time shooting at an event on a scale such as this, the pressure and velocity of it all was a little overwhelming at first but after the first couple of days I sunk into the routine much better.
I was pretty much always leaving around the same time each night morning after ftp'n my shots out. It snowed like a right b*****d too, made the trip home through the city much more interesting.

It was a fantastic experience all in all and I'm very lucky to have been part of it, I met some awesome people, Johannes the Reuters guy from Berlin was really sound, very welcoming, always having a good time with it and working very hard.

I also met a very well established Finnish sports shooter, Kari Kuukka, some of you may recognize the name from this here post by Rob Galbraith.
Kari is a top bloke! Very encouraging, readily shares knowledge, advice and guidance, just the type I really love to be around, Kari really liked my stuff and I hope to be shooting with him in some future projects.

Anyway, here's a few from out of the thousands, I'll include a few behind the scenes-ish ones too.

1: Natalie Penchalat and Fabian Bourzat, France
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2:
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3: Laura Lepistö, Finland
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4: Kiira Korpi
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5: Sinead and John Kerr, Great Britain
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6:Total **** up this but I like it all the same.
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7: Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, Germany
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8: ISO 12800!
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9: Alena Leonova, Russia
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10: Sinead and John Kerr, Great Britain
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11: Susanna Pöykiö, Finland takes a bronze
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12: Laura Lepistö, Finland
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13: Laura Lepistö, Finland
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14: Laura Lepistö, Finland, hugs coach after a successful program
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15: Kiira Korpi
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16: Ari Pekka Nurmenkari and coach
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17: Hartwall areena
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18:
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19: My shooting post, reserved by Getty
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20:The horse in his stable/press centre. Hands orf my ham samidge!
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These are (y) (y) Tomas....except for numbers 5 and 8 :cautious:


I think they're (y) (y) (y) (y)

12800 iso? :nuts: I need to get one of dem Etch-a-Sketch thingies :LOL:
 
Fantastic set and write up...always interesting to hear the behind the scenes info :D

I love number 8, ISO 12800 as well....beautiful :D
 
Flash In The Pan said:
These are (y) (y) Tomas....except for numbers 5 and 8 :cautious:


I think they're (y) (y) (y) (y)

12800 iso? :nuts: I need to get one of dem Etch-a-Sketch thingies :LOL:
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Nice one Graham! I tell you what mate, I'll swap my Etch-a-Sketch for your D400. Deal?

P.S, I was watching the Strobist set you sold me this morning, so far I'm really enjoying it, ole Hobby waffles a bit but I do love him. Cheers for floggin it us (y)
 
Yv said:
:eek: they are just amazing Tomas, you did brilliantly....well apart from those ones of Flashy-babes in his kilt :whistle:
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:nono: not me.......I'm a true Scot.....he obviously isn't :naughty:


Tomas Whitehouse said:
Nice one Graham! I tell you what mate, I'll swap my Etch-a-Sketch for your D400. Deal?
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It's a deal (y)

P.S, I was watching the Strobist set you sold me this morning, so far I'm really enjoying it, ole Hobby waffles a bit but I do love him. Cheers for floggin it us (y)
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He does a bit, doesn't he? :LOL: Not sure you'll learn anything from him though ;)
 
Excellent stuff.. I am so jealous.. small town like this there are no opportunities for such photography ... absoloutly love these :)
 
i absolutely adore the elegance and strength of figure skating and those are all excellent shots Tomas (y)
 
KIPAX said:
Excellent stuff.. I am so jealous.. small town like this there are no opportunities for such photography ... absoloutly love these :)
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Cheers mate! All the more reason to pop by for a visit oo'er these parts!
We have the synchro comps next :)

vodka said:
i absolutely adore the elegance and strength of figure skating and those are all excellent shots Tomas (y)
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Muchas gracias! (y)
 
gingerjon said:
I might as well sell my gear. This stuff is spot on. Especially love the expressions in #10 but you've caught the grace, strength and athleticism throughout.
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Don't sell anything! This time last year I was shooting with a 30D and a 2.8 70-200L IS, good gear, the lens was superb but the AF on the body for sports was a little hit and miss in my opinion. When I bought a second hand 1dmkI my love for the lens was quadrupled! 2.8 was sharper than jiff lemon in the eye.

Lenses are far more important, but I would advise to buy an older, more pro body like a 1DmkI or a D2H body etc and get a great quality 70-200 2.8 rather then say a 40D or a D300 and mediocre glass.
IMO, Avoid cheap third party alternatives, especially f4 and slower. The AF is normally much slower and less responsive. Top quality Nikon and Canon glass is the only real deal for me. sigma doesn't do too badly but I still experienced slower and less reliable focus.

Then comes, practice, patience and determination.
Indoor sports is a monumental challenge at the best of times.
I'm no where near 'pro', the AFP photographers rinsed me, their shots were always top league, Olivier Morin and Yuri Kadobnov. Awesome shooters!

Cheers for the comments (y)

turbotoes said:
Wow, great work, the shots from the gala are really striking. Brilliant!!

Tara
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Thanks Tara!
 
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Wonderful pro shots Tomas! well done. Kind regards Graham.
 
great stuff - you should have paid your way with these OK (y)
 
Fantastic stuff here Tomas, lovely crisp sharp shots (y) (y) (y)
 
What on earth do you mean Tomas, you're nowhere near Pro... phah, don't make me laff matey :)

These are fabulous shots indeed, I'd love a fraction of your ability (oh, and that D3 too ;)) hehe...

Great set, really great set.
 
theMusicMan said:
What on earth do you mean Tomas, you're nowhere near Pro... phah, don't make me laff matey :)

These are fabulous shots indeed, I'd love a fraction of your ability (oh, and that D3 too ;)) hehe...

Great set, really great set.
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Cheers John (y) I really am no pro though (rhyme-tastic there), I've only really been shooting figure skating for just over a year, I missed alot of shots which the more experienced shooters didn't. I'm happy with my results and Getty and the Editor at Taitoluistelu are also happy too. I still have miles and miles to learn and look forward to it! (y)
 
Ben-Whitehouse said:
I dont like them, I think your well poo! I think you need a shave! I think You should just give that camera too me! And that samich...... :woot:
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Imagine that samich left for a month, see the rotten lettuce and ham.................. that's your mum that is. :)
 
All good, but No5 takes the biscuit, the energy, excitement and movement is incredible.

First class work all round
 
I think #8 is wicked! Great set regardless.

(This is prob 1st time i ever commented)
 
That is an outstanding collection of images and my personal favourite is no. 2, the lighting is spot on particularly the rim light effect caused by the rear spotlight.

What camera/lens combo were you using?

:clap:
 
photopaul said:
I think #8 is wicked! Great set regardless.

(This is prob 1st time i ever commented)
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Ta (y)

Tobers said:
#8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delicious shot. Amazing. Rim lighting! Exposure is spot on - masterful photograph. Brilliant etc etc.
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Muchos gracias (y)

Hacker said:
That is an outstanding collection of images and my personal favourite is no. 2, the lighting is spot on particularly the rim light effect caused by the rear spotlight.

What camera/lens combo were you using?

:clap:
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Thanking you kindly Colin,
I had a really good time with these, a lot of pressure but I'm very grateful for the opportunity and the experience. I'll never forget it.

I was using my D3 and a 300mm 2.8 AFS predominantly, one one occasion I used a 200-400 f4 VR which was very nice but the sharpness and bokeh from the 300 is much better IMO.
The lenses were all borrowed, if I had one choice a would have loved to use a 400 2.8 VR, awesome pieces of glass and should be for around 10,000 euro :eek:

Metering was centre weighted (I think :thinking:), AF was on nine point selection. ISO was on auto, minimum shutter speed was 1/800 but I found that the lightning was so good in the arena I could easily pull 1/1250 to 1/1600 with a constant aperture of 2.8, which is quite crazy for an ice hall.
ISO's were so different depending on the position of the skater and also the dress colour. Anything from 620 right up to 12,800 including the gala on the Sunday.
Overall hit rate was honestly around 90%, I came away with just under 10,000 images in five days and around 900 were OOF, gotta love the D3 (y)
 
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Tomas Whitehouse said:
Thanking you kindly Colin,
I had a really good time with these, a lot of pressure but I'm very grateful for the opportunity and the experience. I'll never forget it.

I was using my D3 and a 300mm 2.8 AFS predominantly, one one occasion I used a 200-400 f4 VR which was very nice but the sharpness and bokeh from the 300 is much better IMO.
The lenses were all borrowed, if I had one choice a would have loved to use a 400 2.8 VR, awesome pieces of glass and should be for around 10,000 euro :eek:

Metering was centre weighted (I think :thinking:), AF was on nine point selection. ISO was on auto, minimum shutter speed was 1/800 but I found that the lightning was so good in the arena I could easily pull 1/1250 to 1/1600 with a constant aperture of 2.8, which is quite crazy for an ice hall.
ISO's were so different depending on the position of the skater and also the dress colour. Anything from 620 right up to 12,800 including the gala on the Sunday.
Overall hit rate was honestly around 90%, I came away with just under 10,000 images in five days and around 900 were OOF, gotta love the D3 (y)
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Thanks Thomas, some great info there. I should think if someone said to you five years ago that you could shoot an indoor arena at 1/1250 you'd think they were mad! Don't you just love Auto ISO although ISO 12800 is just crazy, crazy, crazy. :LOL:


Mmmmm, 300mm f/2.8, I'd love one.
 
Hacker said:
Thanks Thomas, some great info there. I should think if someone said to you five years ago that you could shoot an indoor arena at 1/1250 you'd think they were mad! Don't you just love Auto ISO although ISO 12800 is just crazy, crazy, crazy. :LOL:


Mmmmm, 300mm f/2.8, I'd love one.
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Indeed mate, I would have sold my soul for this kind of capability, it's only going to improve as the technology races on too!
I'm very please that I brewed up the courage to switch from Canon, Canon are good but I really 'found my brand' with Nikon :D

It's a shame that there is still some prejudice out there when it comes to auto ISO, it does nothing but assist you in the best possible way in circumstances like these, it's a great facility.

To be fair, a second hand 300 2.8 AFS isn't that bad price wise, it's not exactly wallet friendly but it's possible to get a good copy for less then 3K.

Before the recession and price rises began there was plenty available in the UK for anything between £1800 to £2400. I was considering one but thankfully my good friend from Aamulehti (Finnish newspaper) kindly borrowed it to me.
You'd certainly have a great time using one with the equine events you cover :naughty:.
 
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Tomas Whitehouse said:
To be fair, a second hand 300 2.8 AFS isn't that bad price wise, it's not exactly wallet friendly but it's possible to get a good copy for less then 3K.

Before the recession and price rises began there was plenty available in the UK for anything between £1800 to £2400. I was considering one but thankfully my good friend from Aamulehti (Finnish newspaper) kindly borrowed it to me.
You'd certainly have a great time using one with the equine events you cover :naughty:.
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Still too much at the moment though. :crying:

I've got a big indoor event next Saturday and have just found out it is on Saturday evening which I think will be....erm....challenging! :LOL:
 
These are crazy good ,everything about them,to me their so alive and vibrant.Bloody good effort ,:clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
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