A year end tradition.
“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”
– Ansel Adams
Please respect the copyright of the images and text in this posting.
It’s that time of year again! Time for me to review my work over the past year and offer some images that have pleased me for one reason or another.
As Olympic year 2012 draws closer, I am working on building up my archive of Olympic Sports and at the same time, trying to find something new to say about the sports and events I cover. There are plenty of action images out there these days and I feel the challenge to do something different is important. I have continued my ‘Art of Sport’ theme at every event I have covered and some of those images feature here along with more traditional action photos.
I’ve enjoyed working with my Nikon D3S camera during the year and feel it has given my work an edge on quality; I’ve also benefitted from working at one or two events with excellent indoor lighting – though a number of assignments have gone ahead in dismal levels of light. The camera’s ability to produce good quality images in poor light has constantly impressed me, especially when I think back to the days of working with film and colour correction filters!
Back in January I worked at the England versus New Zealand Netball Test match and it was a first outing for the new camera. I start with this image as it is a good example of how well it handles a high ISO rating – in this case 3200 ISO. I could have got away with not pushing the setting so high but wanted to test the camera’s capabilities. The image needed little processing and I was impressed by the sharpness, clarity and lack of noise; the subject is simply expressed but hopefully sums up what the sport is about.
A goal about to be scored during the England versus New Zealand Netball test match at the Nottingham Arena January 2011.
Later in the year I was dismayed by the level of light at the European Fencing Championships but once again was impressed by the camera’s performance. I shot a number of generic images on lower shutter speeds than normal and liked the purposeful walk shown by this French Fencer as he went out to compete. The colour cleaned up beautifully and again, I liked the simplicity of the image.
A cropped generic image of a French fencer on his way to the piste during the 2011 European Fencing Championships in Sheffield.
The same venue (English Institute of Sport in Sheffield) hosted the Aviva Track and Field Indoor Championships and whilst the level of light was higher than at the Fencing, additional lamps added a very strong yellow colour cast in certain areas so the images took quite a bit of cleaning up. I spent some of the time working on images of athletes leaving the starting blocks, aiming to capture that final moment of push off. This was easier to capture at high shutter speeds but less so when working on blurred motion. I really liked this example and there’s no doubt that the red of the athlete’s spiked shoes really helps draw the eye to the sharpest point of the image and that moment of push off I was hoping to capture.
A generic blurred motion image of the feet of a sprinter as he leaves the starting blocks.
It was back to this venue for the English Open Table Tennis too – and a slightly different lighting rig. There was plenty of opportunity for shooting action and many of the world’s best players were there, which was an added bonus. As ever I worked on trying to capture some artistic images, especially cropping tightly on hands or faces. This image appealed to me because of the evocative fingers seemingly showing readiness and concentration.
A cropped generic image of the hand of a Korean Player at the 2011 English Open Table Tennis Championships in Sheffield.
Regular readers will already know my dislike of working at the Fenton Manor venue in Stoke on Trent as the lighting is poor in quality as well as in level. I spent a weekend working at the British Sports Acrobatic Championships there and for much of the time concentrated on moments of balance and stillness, so that I could work at a low shutter speed and keep the ISO rating down. For me the essence of this sport is the trust and confidence that exists between gymnasts – whether in duos, trios or groups. I felt that some tightly cropped images of hands and grips could capture this. Here a women’s group show the complexity of the holds and the utter reliance they have on each other.
A cropped generic image of a women's group competing in the Senior Women's Event at the 2011 British Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships in Fenton Manor Stoke on Trent March 26th.
It was a good year to be living close to Sheffield as another major event – the European Cup Synchronised Swimming Championships – was held at the Ponds Forge International pool during the summer. I’ve always loved shooting this sport and been really impressed by the way it has developed over the years – it is now action packed and technically difficult with almost as many moves occurring out of the water as underneath it. I was really pleased with my shoot and my coverage. I have selected this particular image as I felt it captured so much of what this sport is about – action underwater, trust in a partner or group and the build up to a thrown somersault out of the water.
Pamela Fischer and Anja Nyffeler (Switzerland) compete in the Duet section of the European Synchro Champions Cup atPonds Forge International Sports Centee in Sheffield May 2011.
Sheffield had also played host to the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships early in the year but this time at the Sheffield Arena, where we could work in a good level of light which needed very little colour correction post shoot. I was really struck with the vibrancy of the colours and am looking forward to working at the European Figure Skating Championships there in 2012. There were no photographic positions to get close to the start of the races so I chose to shoot from behind and spent some time working on cropped images which I hope illustrate the concentration of the skaters as they wait for the gun to go off.
A cropped generic image of the boots and blades of a Canadian skater during the 1500 metre heats at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sheffield
As Olympic Year approaches everyone involved in Gymnastics has been following the fortunes of the British Teams with interest as they have worked this year to qualify. For me it has been an absorbing and inspiring experience to watch them training, competing and going through the roller coaster emotions of good – and not so good – results. During one training session I spotted this tattoo on the arm of one of our gymnasts who is following his dream of competing at an Olympics. I captured several shots but this one of him tightening his handgrips with such determination proved to be the most telling one of all.
A tattoo on the forearm of Theo Seager.
Not long ago I worked at the World Trampoline Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham and again it was another Olympic qualifying event and many of the world’s top performers were there. Clean backgrounds were in short supply but there was one angle I found that gave a good black background – providing you shot early enough in the routine, when they were bouncing at their highest. It was a perfect opportunity to shoot some multiple exposure images and this photographic technique is ideal for showing the movement techniques used in the somersaults. A shutter speed of 800thwas sufficient to capture this layout somersault at its peak.
A multiplie exposure image of a trampolinist competing at the 28th World Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships 2011 at the National Indoor Arena Birmingham.
My most satisfying event in terms of photographic quality was undoubtedly the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier, France. The light was good and there were some excellent clean, black backgrounds. I hope this first image is a good example of that – but I include it mostly because of the impressive perfection of technique, style and expression shown by the gymnast. Normally if gymnasts wear dark bodysuits it is a real problem to capture the action against a dark background but note how the light has lifted her dark coloured legs and also how the whole body is evenly lit.
Alina Maksymenko (Ukraine) shows a perfect leap while competng with Hoop at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier,France.
I have cheated with my next example as I have included two images where there should be one but I wanted to illustrate two ways of shooting the same event with different approaches. With the action shot of Daria Kondakova (Russia), I was trying to capture her dramatic style and felt that cropping and emphasising her face was the way to go. With the image on the right I worked on a low shutter speed; I had seen the gymnast (Chrystalleni Trikomiti of Cyprus) perform this spinning move of the ball on one finger, in an early round of the competition and wanted to see how it would look as a blurred motion image instead. I like the way the slow shutter speed has blurred the movement of her dress with its silver sequins yet still kept some detail of her face and her concentrated focus on the apparatus.
Daria Kondakova (Russia) left and Chrystalleni Trikomiti (Cyprus) right competing with the Ball at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships.
The final image from Montpellier always raises a bit of a smile with me; I’d seen this happy snapper sitting in the audience and wanted to try to photograph him with some evidence of the gymnast HE was trying to capture, during a routine. Exposure was a bit awkward as the light dropped off over the audience (great for most of my images but not so good for this one!) so I needed to drop down the shutter speeds enough to be able to photograph him but at the same time make sure I didn’t over expose the competitive area. I was lucky that the slow shutter speed blurred the gymnast’s ribbon and even though we don’t see her we can still tell what the photographer is trying to do.
A photographer in the audience at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier,France.
My choice of my twelve best images may not be yours of course but I hope the notes I have added will give some indication of my reasoning.
Olympic Year 2012 is upon us with all the challenges and opportunities it will present. I hope to be in London for what will be my 13th Olympic Games and I will do my best to convey my photographic experiences both there and through the year.
Finally, all good wishes to my readers for Christmas and 2012 and I close with a seasonal image for you.
An icy river bank with ducks swimming.
© Eileen Langsley 2011
Thanks for continuing to share your knowledge. I especially like how your words always seem to convey a respectful admiration for the sports you shoot.
-Dwight N.
By: Dwight Normile on December 30, 2011
at 1:40 pm