Help needed for shooting water-polo event...

[londonray]

Hey guys... going to shoot some blokes playing water polo this sat... I used to play the sport.. so I do know a little about the game... however, i have never shot photos of such events before... such as swimming or canoe-polo. Was wondering if you guys can give me some advice as to how best to go about capturing the event...

I dun really need to cover the entire event... meeting the match... more looking for nice pics of "tackling" scenes... or shooting or saves... similar to any football match i guess... I am planning to use my 80-200 AFS... oops... i shoot with a Nikon D70 btw.

It's going to be an indoor pool. Hopefully good lighting... any ideas what shutter speed I should be setting the camera to achieve the "freeze-frame" effect? Should i set it on Shutter priority and let the aperture take care of itself? or should I just go manual?

Also, where around the pool would you set up? behind the goal on one side? or along the side of the pool (near the middle)? I was wondering which angles would give me more eye-contact...

Any special precautions needed to ensure that my equipment doesn't "get soaked"? prevent splashes etc... that are bound to happen... this part i am really clueless.... please help...

Hope that i have made my questions clear... hope that some people over here can offer some assistance... cheers...

 

[destiny_star]

Probably Sehsuan can give ya some tips on it.... he's pretty good with sports photography..

 

[billpepsi]

Yup, Sehsuan is the expert here.

 

[JediForce4ever]

I cant offer you tips on how to frame or effects...but I can advise you on how to look out for action opportunities.I guess you know that in waterpolo, watch their formation and eyes then you can pick out the shooter or the moment the goalie is goin to jump and save the ball...also look out for them tackling the opponent, especiall at the 4m mark area...where they press each other...
hope this helps, btw you not shooting in S'pore right?

 

[sehsuan]

cover your lens with a light towel, and fit on the lens hood, if you have one supplied with the lens. AFS 80-200? you mean, AFD 80-200? open to the widest aperture, use AF-C, center AF spot only. you may want to set custom white balance, since you're going to be indoor, anyway.

what i'd suggest you do indoors is to use manual exposure, since reflections off the water surface would screw your metering. if there are strong lights, position them above and behind you, so you get maximal illumination, and manage to get at least the faces. sitting on the ground just about a foot or two away from the pool would suffice, and positioning wise, you might want to try camping out near the "corner" position, but along the goal end instead. do not pick up the habit of running around, trying to get different angles etc. if pros don't run around (because they're bogged with a 400/2.8 and restricted by game officials), i think the logic can apply to us - if they can come up with good photos, i'm sure we could do so too. good luck!

 

[londonray]

thanks to all that contributed... yah... the Settings part would come in really handy... thanks once again... I am currently in london... so there's quite a big water polo scene here... play here a little.. so i am going up with the "big boys" to take some pics for them... and also for myself... yups... It's the 80-200 AFS ... i am sure that it's the correct lens... it's not the VR... but the one before the VR came out... yups...