How
To Take Gymnastics Pictures Part III (
continued from Part
II)
Is it possible to be faster than a digital camera?
Yes, I can do it. It is the opposite of impressive. Here's what I did. I
pulled the camera
card before the camera was finished writing to it. Bad idea -- way to
corrupt most of the pictures. Darkroom disaster. Half of the pictures
were not to be found... at least not quickly. Digital data is generally
recoverable. I used
PhotoRec,
free software (Win or Mac) and got my pictures back,
giving you the gallery above.
In the How To Take Gymnastics Pictures parts I and II, I talked
about:
- not taking pictures (just don't do it),
- lighting (no
flash),
- seating (no tripods),
- fast shutter,
- deleting digital pictures,
- the mental
gymnastics of picture taking,
- and I just covered recovering
photos.
What I haven't mentioned is the camera.
It doesn't matter.
The Camera
Okay, it matters... but not much. Any camera can take amazing pictures.
Sometimes the camera's durability is more important than any special
features, and cameras today are not designed for heavy wear and tear.
If you carry your camera through Arctic conditions, let it warm up
before taking pictures. And work with the camera's settings to prevent
flash and noise.
There are three options that are significant to gymnastics photography:
optical zoom, image stability, and recovery time.
If you are taking pictures so close to the action that you may become
part of the event, then you don't need optical zoom. But all others
could use a good
optical zoom. The difference between optical zoom and
digital zoom is that digital zoom is essentially just cropping the
center of the subject area. I always turn off the digital zoom.
Most digital cameras have a 3x optical zoom, which means the pictures
are three times closer than they would normally be. The pictures above
were taken with 12x (the equivalent of a 420mm lens) and 18x
compact digital cameras. With powerful zooms, the camera's
image
stability software becomes increasingly important for picture sharpness
without a tripod.
Gymnastics is fast. The camera needs to be faster. Camera speed can be
measured as recovery time.
Recovery time is the amount of time the
camera takes to save one picture and become available for the next
picture. Recovery time depends on what options have been selected, so
at best the manufacturer can only list an average recovery time.
Gymnastics will not wait for the camera to be ready.
But again, the camera doesn't matter. What matters more than anything
that has been discussed so far is why to take the picture.
A Great Picture
What makes a great picture? Is a great gymnastics picture a mid-air
expression of agony and effort? Is it an effortless smile amidst
amazing moves? Does it need the apparatus as a frame of reference? Like
gymnastics, a great picture can be a series of elements. How many great
elements does a picture need to be great? Is photo-journalistic
objectivity the goal or is that a myth? Or is the goal to highlight the
athletes and the sport?
Maybe the goal is to lighten a serious sport, while highlighting the
athletes and gymnastics.
Ultimately, it's these decisions that matter most in gymnastics
photography.
~ ~
