Seeking Tips for State Track Meet

[EdBeck]

I'm shooting at the Washington State High School Track Meet in Cheney, WA this weekend (WIAA). I've been shooting track for a couple of years, and have been pretty active with sports photography this year. I've been designated as the school's photographer and am listed as a supervisor as well.

I haven't photographed a state meet before, does anyone have any tips on photographing state track meets? Anyone have any specific information about the WIAA or Cheney?

Thanks,

Ed

 

[mkemd21]

You may want to move this thread to the sports forum. You may get more answers over there.

 

[boomer555]

Ed, here is the link to my kid's school track site I made. Feel free to copy as many as you want when you are shooting. I'm strictly amateur, but I did the site so parents who couldn't make the meets could still see what happened. They can take and print whatever they want. Keeper rate was 20-60 out of usually 500-800 pics.

http://lchstrack2010.shutterfly.com/

Have lots of fun. Oh state meet, Iowa won't let anyone on the track or infield during the state meet or districts. The 05-11-10, Sioux City pics were taken outside of the track. Districts and the sun was awful!!!

 

[mkemd21]

Ed,

I have never shot at our state track meet. I always want to, but either there is another event going on at the same time or the meet is too far away from me. But I have shot at county championships, league championships, and state qualifier meets. Here's what I will do if I am going to a state meet.

Ahead of time I will try to get permission for field access. The quality of pictures will be very different between with and w/o accesses. Since your meet is coming up this weekend, it may be too late to go through the official press pass application process. Since you are the school photographer, you may want to ask your school coaches ahead of time to support you. In the event that the state meet officials challenge you, you will have your school staff to back you up. Another route is talking to your local newspaper and find out if they plan to send a photographer to cover the event. If they don't, see if they can get you a press pass.

When I get there, I will find out the schedules. Track and field events go on simultaneously, and you have to decide which one you want to cover if there are overlaps. There may be star athletes from your school you need to cover, and you want to make sure you are there when they compete. The schedules are usually posted on a wall or at some official tables.

I generally make a mental picture of the shots I want to take. For example, for the 1600m run, do I want to get a shot at the first lap when everyone bunches up together, or do I want to get a shot at the finish line for the winner? For hurdles, do I want to stand behind the finish line to take head on shots, or do I want to shoot from the side? Looking at pictures from posts in this form will give you some ideas.

Since state meet is a large meet, events take longer. There are more athletes in each event and there are more rounds. You have to pace yourself. For example, in high jump, you have a better chance to catch an athlete clearing the bar in earlier rounds, but the height may not be impressive. Since each event takes longer, after you get some good shots of the event you may want to move on to other concurrent events, knowing that the next round or finals will not start until some time later.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. I hope it helps.

 

[EdBeck]

How do you move a thread other than copying and pasting it to a new thread.

Boomer555 - I like your baton closeup, I'll have to see if I can get one like that. Probably not tomorrow though as the only relay race my school is in which uses blocks is the 4x200. In that one staying on the first turn is good because you get all 4 runners.

I also like your long jump shot where your below the jumper landing.

Have to ask you though, I have around a thousand photographs but I have them all in hidden folders so people can't wander into them. Are you and your parents OK with the photos in a relatively open site?

In terms of preperation I've contacted the WIAA and have a gate pass and infield access (I hope, I'm listed as a supervisor, when I talked to the WIAA I specified infield access and they sent me information that I followed).

I've got the heat sheets for the races my team is in, all 21 pages. I took that and deleted everything but my races and runners. put it into a spreadsheet with just the info I cared about, event number, event, time, runners, lanes, and when the finals were.

My batteries are charging now


Thanks everyone I'll go add this to the Sports thread.

 

[boomer555]

Have to ask you though, I have around a thousand photographs but I have them all in hidden folders so people can't wander into them. Are you and your parents OK with the photos in a relatively open site?

No complaints thus far from any parents. I think they know with all the local papers covering the meets, there is a chance the child will end up in the paper. I try to make positive pics of the kids. If someone is lagging behind in a race, a creative crop can turn the pic into a positive.

Another parent from a rival school does the same thing as I do, but goes a step further. He has two daughters running, so he set up a Facebook Fan Site for his photos besides the other hosting site he uses. His daughters then tag their friends in the photos. The friends tag other friends from their school and other schools. He says his photos get more exposure with the kids this way as they go almost viral within days of posting. Just an idea.

I would have loved to have infield access at the Iowa State Meet. Your very lucky. If you don't know if you can shoot from a certain place, ask. It will go a long way in future meets as staff sees you as an okay guy and not someone who pushes the limits and has to be watched. Hoping for good shooting conditions for you.

Happy shooting.

Jon

 

[EdBeck]

If someone is lagging behind in a race, a creative crop can turn the pic into a positive.

Funny, I just did one of these. Distance runner was second or third guy in the pack, then *poof* he's leading it.

He says his photos get more exposure with the kids this way as they go almost viral within days of posting. Just an idea.

My daughter and her friends on the track team do the same. It's amazing how they get around.

If you don't know if you can shoot from a certain place, ask. It will go a long way in future meets as staff sees you as an okay guy and not someone who pushes the limits and has to be watched. Hoping for good shooting conditions for you. Jon

Oh yes, so far this year I've shot volleyball, soccer, football, track, baseball, basketball. Asking the officials is always a good thing.

Thanks for the help. Another thing I'd mention is that other photographers at the meets are great sources. I hadn't shot javelin all year, so I got a 5-minute lesson from another photographer about what to look for and when to start shooting.