My daughter who had been a very successful triathlete converted to her forte, running, about 2 years and three months ago. I've been into photography all my adult life (I'm 61) so I started to photograph these races. I had photographed some triathlons before that, so I wasn't starting from scratch.
For many forms of photography there's loads of advice on-line.
For this form, there's almost nothing useful.
I've learnt mostly from trial and error, but some from comparing notes with other photographers at races, most of whom have come to identical conclusions, and some of whom are professionals at this.
1. Kit.
If you don't have good autofocus, or indeed any autofocus, you can still shoot stuff but in a limited way. You do this by either pre-focussing on a spot, and or going for a big depth of field. This is ideal for this kind of shot, though I did use autofocus for it.
Lizzie heads for home, Clonakilty HM by gearoidmuar, on Flickr
This shot in very poor light was done using pre-focus.. You pic a spot and get the focus at that distance.
Cit 203 by gearoidmuar
2. If you're shooting with AF, I don't know of any camera system that is really reliable with multipoint AF turned on. I have an Olympus E3 and I'm afraid that the AF on that is terrible for running, full stop. I have Canons 1Dsii, 1Dsiii and Idiv. All of these are good but not so with multipoint, at least with telephoto lenses. I use servo (continuous) AF and a single point. If I'm shooting with the camera horizontal, I use a single point in the centre. If I'm shooting vertically and I'm going to focus on the jerseys (higher reasonably good percentage) I leave it in the centre. If I want to focus on the face, I'll use the far right sensor and keep that on the face.
That's how this one was shot..
foa 285 by gearoidmuar
Now, that's for subjects coming head on. This particular one was easy because Lizzie was alone. What's very difficult is when you've a bunch coming at you and your runner is hidden. Sometimes there's no way to do it. Autofocus is very fast on the Canons but it's not instant. You can get a perfect focus on someone in maybe half a second (I use 70-200 F4L, Sigma 300mm f2.8 and Canon 400 f5.6L as my main lenses, but also use 70-300 DO zoom and 24-105mm L. I sometimes use 100 f2). Where the AF lets you down is where in an instant you're trying to flick from one person to another, and the race is gone. In such circumstances you'll do better with a wider-angle lens and a smaller aperture. But, it's hard to anticipate.
3. Choose your viewpoint. Very important..
This is from a bridge overlooking the start of a race. It's got two points to it. It's a crop (often the best running photos with modern kit are crops). Second, the high viewpoint gives a different look (as can a low one).
foa 412 by gearoidmuar
For middle distance track races, a bend is a great place to get dramatic shots.
AN9J4290_2 by gearoidmuar
This is one I already posted.
For road races you can get on a wall etc.
4. Rat-tat-tat.
You will take dozens of running photos to get a great one. Frames per second are a help. My 1Dsii does 4, the 1Dsiii 5 and the Idiv 10. Five is desirable, 10 is better, but I don't leave it on 10 all day.
When runners, especially female runners touch the ground you can get unattractive legs, facial expressions etc from the shock. Don't publish them, though here's one as an example!
foa 413 by gearoidmuar
Finally, there are runners who have an ungainly action who only look well at the gainly point of the action, if you follow me.
This girl who is very good looking has a gait in which her heels kick outwards when they go back, like Zola Budd of old. You need the 10 fps to get her looking like this, though the background is too busy.
Jessie by gearoidmuar
Now before you make suggestions on setting up the AF in my 1Div, I've tried everything. At the moment I allow the point to stray to the next point and the sensitivity is average. I gave up on multipoint and a few pros I've spoken with don't use it either.
A FINAL POINT: Before you shoot a race, arrive in time and check everything on your camera. Are there cards in it? And, importantly, are they empty? What ISO, exposure override, type of AF, metering setup etc., is in it. Practice focussing on a few things and so on.
If the light is tricky but not changing, take a few shots in the direction you are shooting, find one with correct exposure and set that up manually.
If the light is tricky and you're shooting with the same background, dial in the appropriate exposure compensation for that view.
I always use Aperture Point priority with my Sigma 300mm as I want to keep it wide open.
Otherwise Programme is fine.
An interesting viewpoint is down low by a trackside using a wideangle lens. It looks very striking.
A final point. I don't shoot running in Raw. Too limiting in burst mode.
For many forms of photography there's loads of advice on-line.
For this form, there's almost nothing useful.
I've learnt mostly from trial and error, but some from comparing notes with other photographers at races, most of whom have come to identical conclusions, and some of whom are professionals at this.
1. Kit.
If you don't have good autofocus, or indeed any autofocus, you can still shoot stuff but in a limited way. You do this by either pre-focussing on a spot, and or going for a big depth of field. This is ideal for this kind of shot, though I did use autofocus for it.
Lizzie heads for home, Clonakilty HM by gearoidmuar, on Flickr
This shot in very poor light was done using pre-focus.. You pic a spot and get the focus at that distance.
Cit 203 by gearoidmuar
2. If you're shooting with AF, I don't know of any camera system that is really reliable with multipoint AF turned on. I have an Olympus E3 and I'm afraid that the AF on that is terrible for running, full stop. I have Canons 1Dsii, 1Dsiii and Idiv. All of these are good but not so with multipoint, at least with telephoto lenses. I use servo (continuous) AF and a single point. If I'm shooting with the camera horizontal, I use a single point in the centre. If I'm shooting vertically and I'm going to focus on the jerseys (higher reasonably good percentage) I leave it in the centre. If I want to focus on the face, I'll use the far right sensor and keep that on the face.
That's how this one was shot..
foa 285 by gearoidmuar
Now, that's for subjects coming head on. This particular one was easy because Lizzie was alone. What's very difficult is when you've a bunch coming at you and your runner is hidden. Sometimes there's no way to do it. Autofocus is very fast on the Canons but it's not instant. You can get a perfect focus on someone in maybe half a second (I use 70-200 F4L, Sigma 300mm f2.8 and Canon 400 f5.6L as my main lenses, but also use 70-300 DO zoom and 24-105mm L. I sometimes use 100 f2). Where the AF lets you down is where in an instant you're trying to flick from one person to another, and the race is gone. In such circumstances you'll do better with a wider-angle lens and a smaller aperture. But, it's hard to anticipate.
3. Choose your viewpoint. Very important..
This is from a bridge overlooking the start of a race. It's got two points to it. It's a crop (often the best running photos with modern kit are crops). Second, the high viewpoint gives a different look (as can a low one).
foa 412 by gearoidmuar
For middle distance track races, a bend is a great place to get dramatic shots.
AN9J4290_2 by gearoidmuar
This is one I already posted.
For road races you can get on a wall etc.
4. Rat-tat-tat.
You will take dozens of running photos to get a great one. Frames per second are a help. My 1Dsii does 4, the 1Dsiii 5 and the Idiv 10. Five is desirable, 10 is better, but I don't leave it on 10 all day.
When runners, especially female runners touch the ground you can get unattractive legs, facial expressions etc from the shock. Don't publish them, though here's one as an example!
foa 413 by gearoidmuar
Finally, there are runners who have an ungainly action who only look well at the gainly point of the action, if you follow me.
This girl who is very good looking has a gait in which her heels kick outwards when they go back, like Zola Budd of old. You need the 10 fps to get her looking like this, though the background is too busy.
Jessie by gearoidmuar
Now before you make suggestions on setting up the AF in my 1Div, I've tried everything. At the moment I allow the point to stray to the next point and the sensitivity is average. I gave up on multipoint and a few pros I've spoken with don't use it either.
A FINAL POINT: Before you shoot a race, arrive in time and check everything on your camera. Are there cards in it? And, importantly, are they empty? What ISO, exposure override, type of AF, metering setup etc., is in it. Practice focussing on a few things and so on.
If the light is tricky but not changing, take a few shots in the direction you are shooting, find one with correct exposure and set that up manually.
If the light is tricky and you're shooting with the same background, dial in the appropriate exposure compensation for that view.
I always use Aperture Point priority with my Sigma 300mm as I want to keep it wide open.
Otherwise Programme is fine.
An interesting viewpoint is down low by a trackside using a wideangle lens. It looks very striking.
A final point. I don't shoot running in Raw. Too limiting in burst mode.
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