Milltown to Moors Half Marathon

[cargo]

Hi all.
My wife ran in this race on Sunday just gone. I went along to carry the bags and suppport her. ( cause i'm a good boy)
Took the camera and parked myself near/around the run up to the finish. I am not an expert at all but had a go and was itrigued to see the 3 proffessional guys photographing at the finish line.
After seeing my photos (which are nothing special) as they are just one shot after another from same spot. It got me thinking though that the guys at the finish line will just be doing the same as I guess it is just a matter of capturing each runnner as each shot is a potential sale or am I wrong ?
I have been on the photographers website to view there images and that does seem to be the case.
Anyways here are few from Sunday.

Comments are welcome as to what I could have done better considering my chosen view point. lens was 24/105 f4


Gaz
1

2

3

4

 

[aePhoto]

Gaz,

Firstly, the pics look fine, and I would guess look just as good as the "professionals". I like 2 because of the slant makes it more interesting (but others will disagree).

Secondly, the world of an event photographer is a strange one! Seeing 3 on the finish line is not unusual. Their job is to take a very formulaic image along the lines of full length portrait picture of a single runner who is dead centre and a nice clear border. They will even be told min/max exposure settings. This way they minimise post processing, which allows the fastest possible turnaround for the images. It's a pretty boring job, and as you can see all the images are the same. Why people buy them I don't know!

What could you have done better? Well your settings and positioning look pretty good. I would normally stay at F4 or below (2.8!), keep low and in front of the runners. I would try to keep away from flat areas. Think about the background, looks like they were coming up a hill, is there a spot on the brow that gives a better background?
Also on overcast days (the best for lighting) images can look flat, so if you can get close think about using a flash to add a bit of drama.
Other than that carry on using the one advantage you have over those "pros", namely licence to use your imagination!

 

[Woblee]

Number 2 is the pic of the bunch for me as well, the slant works as the runner is still close to vertical. Not easy making Oldham town center look good on photos

 

[cargo]

Gaz,

Firstly, the pics look fine, and I would guess look just as good as the "professionals". I like 2 because of the slant makes it more interesting (but others will disagree).

Secondly, the world of an event photographer is a strange one! Seeing 3 on the finish line is not unusual. Their job is to take a very formulaic image along the lines of full length portrait picture of a single runner who is dead centre and a nice clear border. They will even be told min/max exposure settings. This way they minimise post processing, which allows the fastest possible turnaround for the images. It's a pretty boring job, and as you can see all the images are the same. Why people buy them I don't know!

What could you have done better? Well your settings and positioning look pretty good. I would normally stay at F4 or below (2.8!), keep low and in front of the runners. I would try to keep away from flat areas. Think about the background, looks like they were coming up a hill, is there a spot on the brow that gives a better background?
Also on overcast days (the best for lighting) images can look flat, so if you can get close think about using a flash to add a bit of drama.
Other than that carry on using the one advantage you have over those "pros", namely licence to use your imagination!

Hi Anthony. Thank you for some great feedback/tips and good to know I did ok.Most times I use my camera it would be in Av but for the running I decided to use shuter priority set @ 1/640 just for freezing the action really. I was aware that f4 would be best for blurring the backgrounds.
I have had a look at your website. To say I am impressed is a understatement. You seem to use flash a lot. I am assuming this would be a speedlight bare on camera and in most cases are under exsposing the background light.
So many great images on your site. I would ask loads of questions but I don't want to bore you.
Thanks again.
Gaz

Number 2 is the pic of the bunch for me as well, the slant works as the runner is still close to vertical. Not easy making Oldham town center look good on photos

Thank you sir.
Ha yes Oldham is a fab place innit

Gaz