Action shot from Wimbledon (nice legs too!)

[Didache]

Hi all

I went to Wimbledon yesterday to get some action shots for a club competition (I only live 7 miles away). This is, I think, the best of them - it is harder to get a pic with the ball in a good position than you would think! The player is Cara Black who is a doubles specialist (she won the ladies doubles last year).

As always, any comments welcome,

Cheers
Mike

[ivaaannxcore]

Oh wow, that's excellent. Ha, look at how manly her right arm looks. Nicely done Didache.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera do you use?

[Seb]

Hi all

I went to Wimbledon yesterday to get some action shots for a club competition (I only live 7 miles away). This is, I think, the best of them - it is harder to get a pic with the ball in a good position than you would think! The player is Cara Black who is a doubles specialist (she won the ladies doubles last year).

As always, any comments welcome,

Cheers
Mike

Mike,

I am not into sports photography by any means but I think that this is a good shot. I do like the ball position and how you framed the action. Your exposure is excellent too given the fact that the sun light seems pretty strong.

Seb

[MooshuBeef]

Wow, you caught that picture in an awesome spot--the tennis ball is almost frozen and the blur is very minimal in respect for the speed it is going.

It would be more sports illustrator like if the backround were more blurred, now I am just starting photography but I noticed a low f stop decreases focal range, and also i believe that a telephoto lens would be cool to have for sporting events.

But someone correct me please, because I am sure i am wrong...

[Didache]

Thanks guys for your kind words. The camera was a Pentax *ist DL with an 80-320 zoom. I agree that, in an ideal world, the background might have had a tad more blur, but it really was a very bright day (around 2pm on what has been the hottest day of the year in the UK so far) and so it was a fast shutter speed AND a small/medium aperture (typically that day it was 1/750 at f8.0 to keep a little blur on the ball). I did about 100 photos in order to get just one with the ball in the right place!

Mike

[mpreslar]

Great capture Mike! In general, dropping your aperture down to blur the background would be better, but in the case of tennis, I am not sure if this doesn't work better. You can see that ALMOST every eye is on the ball. (Makes you wonder what that guy directly to the left of the player is looking at...?) I think the longer DOF adds to the story here.

[SmartWombat]

Do you have more to post in the Sports forum?

I like the way almost everyone is looking at the ball.
A few seem to be looking almost directly at you and smiling.
And then there's the kid and (Dad?) not looking at either...
More rewarding the more I look.

[GB1]

Great shot. I love her stance and the sharpness of her and how you got the ball in the frame. The ony thing I wish was different was the background, I wish you could have blurred it so that I could ssee the ball better. Looks like you were real close, esp since the angle shows that you were very close to ground level !

GB

[charm87]

Very nice job of capturing that one. I think a blur is especially appropriate if your subject is moving, but for this type of shot there isn't much movement to accentuate between the subject and the background. It wouldn't hurt, but not necessary in my personal opinion. The blur of the ball, however, adds motion and helps you feel a tad bit of the anxiety that poor Cara must be feeling as she rushes to get herself into position during that brief second.

[Didache]

Thanks once again for your kind words. I will certainly consider putting some stuff on the sports forum. "blur" seems to have beena comment of many. I think that some sports actively NEED blur to convey speed (eg racing cyclists). Tennis is a little different - thinking about it, the best approach is to catch the player in a POSTURE that conveys action, rather than be blurry.

Anyway, thanks again.
Mike

[Lava Lamp]

Hi all

I went to Wimbledon yesterday to get some action shots for a club competition (I only live 7 miles away). This is, I think, the best of them - it is harder to get a pic with the ball in a good position than you would think! The player is Cara Black who is a doubles specialist (she won the ladies doubles last year).

As always, any comments welcome,

Cheers
Mike

I think this is pro-quality shot in every respect except the spectators need more blur - you might accomplish that through a lens with a larger max. aperture, or photoshop.