Water sports photography technology

Splash waves, sunlight shining on bright clothes and intense water activities are all exciting themes of dynamic photography. In recent years, the development of water sports has provided many shooting opportunities for people who are committed to creative use of cameras.

Contrary to popular belief, dynamic photography does not always require the use of long lenses. In fact, using relatively simple photographic equipment to shoot sports activities such as kayaking, speedboat driving, rowing, windsurfing on sandbars, whitewater rafting, surfing, etc., can take eye-catching photos.

A lens of 300 mm or longer is expensive and heavy. At the same time, in order to achieve good results, long lenses need precise focusing more than short lenses.

I found that the secret of using a short lens in this situation is to get as close as possible to the subject. Sometimes. This means going into cold water and shooting on your knees. At the same time, it is particularly practical to focus on a figure in the foreground and keep the audience and other athletes in the background.

If a special sport is to be played on a fixed track, I usually measure the distance in advance and choose several best pre-focus points. Choosing several lenses with different lengths can achieve different effects.

Remember, you don't have to use a high-speed shutter to take good pictures of water sports. A blurred photo can often show the strong movement of the subject, but a clear photo can't. However, to master this skill, it is necessary to find out how much ambiguity is just right, which is best understood from practical experience. This skill also depends on what kind of movement you are shooting, the focal length of the lens used, and the size and shooting angle of the moving body. When the shutter speed is lower than 1/60 seconds, the result is hard to predict, but it has an advantage that it can take beautiful special effects photos, almost like oil painting. When the camera is placed on a stable tripod and exposed for a long time, the flowing water photos taken also look beautiful.

Another technique is to take subsequent photography at a speed of1125 seconds or faster. The object photographed in this way is still quite clear, but there will be fuzzy stripes in the background. In order to freeze the fast flowing water, the shutter speed should be adjusted to at least 1/500 seconds.

Especially when shooting high-speed moving objects with a slightly longer lens, it is difficult to focus accurately. This problem can be solved by focusing on a certain point of the subject in advance or following the focus. The former technique is simple and suitable for different situations. The latter technique is difficult to master, so we should constantly adjust the focus so that the subject can be clear when approaching or leaving. If you use an ordinary spiral focusing lens, practice this technique before you feel unskilled.

If you use a lens with a focal length of more than 200 mm, you need to practice your skills even more. It should be noted that if you use lenses from different manufacturers, some lenses are focused clockwise. Some focus counterclockwise, so make sure that all the lenses you use are focused in the same direction. Otherwise, at the climax of sports, you may confuse the focus direction and miss the most valuable shooting opportunity.

The most important skill a sports photographer should have is to be able to foresee the peak of action. Cartier-Bresson called this a "decisive moment". The ability to recognize this peak is accumulated by carefully observing the motion to be photographed. I realized that I sat down quietly and carefully conceived the kind of photo I wanted to take. It is very important to estimate the possible problems before shooting. This won't let you take some documentary photos. You can also draw a few sketches before shooting and consider the desired effect, which is also particularly beneficial.

In my opinion, mental preparation is at least as important as choosing the right photographic equipment. Being mentally prepared can not only help you catch unexpected scenes, but also help you overcome the difficulties you will encounter in a bad environment. Even whether to bring rain boots and umbrellas is related to success or failure. Sometimes wearing a waterproof cover can prevent the camera from being splashed or soaked by water. It's true. Professional photographers had better buy a sturdy waterproof cover. If you don't use it often, you can buy a fairly cheap and flexible polyethylene waterproof cover. I found this waterproof sleeve very durable and not easy to slip off my hand. Once, my camera was spared from shooting the rapids and drifting of Zambezi River.

Now how to determine the correct exposure. Unfortunately, the automatic TTL exposure meter is easily underexposed due to the reflected light from the water surface. When the polarizer is adjusted to the ideal orientation, it can reduce some annoying reflected light and increase color saturation. In addition, you can measure the reading of incident light and the reading of reflected light on the back of your hand with a hand-held exposure meter. And press 1/2-2/3 to increase the exposure. If you use a polarizer, don't forget to add the necessary exposure compensation. (Add 1/3) Manual adjustment of TTL exposure meter to measure the reflected light reading of the back of hand can also achieve the same effect. If the exposure meter on your camera can only be controlled automatically, you can compare the readings of your hand and the scene, and then adjust the exposure appropriately. In this case, there is no need for exposure compensation because the polarizer is already installed on the lens.