Shooting a Marathon

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Taunton Marathon 26 miles, 10.30am Tomorrow,I quite fancied having a go at some shots, forcast is sunny :wave: and they run right past my house

I thought about the poor people at the back of the pack, who may be struggling & those who wear costums etc etc, would make for some good shots

Presently I have at my disposal 10-20mm, 18-55mm and 75-300mm lens- any tips advice on best practise / lens, shutter speeds etc are welcomed as I've never done this before

Thanks in advance

Les :thumbs:
 
I think the lens of choice for pro's is a 70-200 f2.8 and a monopod (that's what people use at all the races I've run) so I guess your 70-300 would be the one to use.

Ideally you want the shutter speed above 1/200 so use shutter priority to get that and stick everything else on auto (or if the light isn't going to change (i.e. a totally blue or grey sky) then you could use manual controls.
 
I have saved you the bother :thumbs:

marathon.jpg
 
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Hi Les

Thanks for the pm about the thread, I havent got much experience of this type of stuff, I think if you want to get long shots of a single runner, then use your 70-300, if you want to get the over all feel of the day then your kit lens, as youll get both close ups when they get near you and distant shots with more runners in the shot, I would get a good clear view at the front of the race side, with no one able to stand in front of you at the crucial moment, sorry if thats a bit vague
 
Last year's London 10K:

http://photo.demilion.com/p860982855

All of them shot (apart from the group pics) with a 70-200 /4.

I'd go with your 70-300 (but keep the others handy) and rather than just step outside the door look for somewhere with a decent backdrop and lighting.

I find full body shots a bit boring unless they are in fancy dress or you are taking pics to sell to the runners/press. Half torso shots show the facial expressions and tell the story much better as far as I'm concerned, especially if you site yourself on a longish hill (effort/strained faces etc) or near a vocal crowd (jubilation/smiles/waving).

That gallery is chock full of errors btw - I really should re-edit it! :lol:
 
Much better reply than mine Mark, as I said I dont have the experience of this stuff, but Les pmd me for any help so had to reply

By the way Mark nice shots in the gallery
 
Thanks for the help guys - I'll post some result later tomorrow- good or bad

Les :thumbs:
 
Just Dave said:
Much better reply than mine Mark, as I said I dont have the experience of this stuff, but Les pmd me for any help so had to reply

By the way Mark nice shots in the gallery
Click to expand...

Your opinion is just as valid - probably more so, as that's the only road race that I've photographed so far! :D

Thanks for the compliment btw! :)
 
I use a 70-200 for 99.9% of my running shots, but to get a big bunch shot the kit lens would be fine.

Couple of tips:

Don't cut limbs off, ie make sure you have their feet in the shot, or go for a torso/head shot.

Watch out for that knee bend, you don't want them looking like they are pelicans.

One of mine from the trash bin, so wrong
R6_70.jpg


I can understand and partly agree with Mark that too many full body shots get a bit samie and some nice torso/heads are great.

R2_69.jpg
 
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Thanks for the tips- I'll see what I can do

Being new to this- I need all the help I can get :eek:


Les :D
 
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