Rowing photography - any top tips?

Dangleman

Dangleman

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Dan
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Rowing as in the stuff with oars, not people having an altercation. Oh ho!
Crap jokes aside:), I don't normally do sport, or even action so much, but I'm trying to broaden my work, and get new clients at the mo. As such I'm meeting up with someone this evening at a local lake that does rowing and sailing, all that type of thing, on a semi-pitch for work.

I think they're after shots of a regatta in a few months, races etc, and pics will end up on my website for people to purchase prints. ie - no fee, all profit on prints. That's my loose understanding and this sort of arrangement normally puts me off, but as I say I'm pimping myself a bit at the moment.

So, any tips for rowing shots? Gear wise I'll have the D3 and 70-200 2.8VR available, just wondering if that will have enough reach. Obviously depends how close they race to the shoreline don't it....
 
I suggest you take the 70-200 and have the 1.4x TC in your pocket just in case it's too short. If the "boats" are coming straight past you a 24-70 might allow you to get the whole width of the boat in shot, so perhaps have a second body with you to get some wider stuff. If you're selling, then I would advise you get as many close ups of the crew as possible. Use shallow DOF to make them stand out amongst the rest of the crew and this will also ensure they get to see something from you that they won't have seen from friends and family who may have shot them in the past with compacts.

Just thoughts.......hope they help.
 
Cheers Ryan. I don't have any extenders though. I used to have a kenko one back when I had a Sigma 70-200 but it never worked properly so I sent it back. Haven't bothered getting one since as I don't do a lot of long range stuff these days.
Second body with a 28-70 (or 14-24) no problem, also good tip on the shallow DOF - you're right, the egos may prompt sales :)
 
If it's a regatta I assume you'll have several boats racing on a straight course at once (versus the boat race), which means you'll almost definitely need more than 200mm on a ff sensor to get shots of individual people to fill the frame, which I'm guessing is what will sell?
I tried taking dragon boat racing in Hong Kong for fun while on vacation, and only had up to 200 with me, albeit on a crop sensor, and it wasn't nearly enough. The guys next to me all had 400mm 2.8's. Actually one had the 300-800 sigma, which I suspect was overkill.
Not sure where you live but it might be a good idea to either check out the location for a practice run, or go to your local rowing club and try it out. If you're in London there are some schools that practice near Hampton Court.

Maybe you could also google or youtube for videos of past events - you might spot a tog in the background and be able to see what they were using.

A quick google also threw this up http://www.bigblade-photos.com/rowing/index.html which might give you some inspiration
 
If you want to borrow mine (1.4 TC) I'd be happy to post it......
 
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