Nikon Setup for Golf Event

[qwerty628]

Be as invisible as possible. Especially when people playing a shot. Last thing you want to do is to distract them. Don't stand in front of tee box when teeing off. Stand at the side or back.

When someone is playing a shot from the fairway, try not to be in front of the person taking shot. Or at least move to a place where ball least likely hit you. Not everyone can aim straight. (i cant aim straight myself all the time) I've seen people slicing the ball amazingly. Ball can fly anywhere one. So always be on the lookout for balls coming your way.

 

[Jed]

Don't shoot when someone in the middle of swing unless you're sufficiently far away. Someone did that to tiger woods quite some time back and he was quite upset iirc cos he screwed up his shot cos of dat pg

Just stick to what I've suggested in my first post on this thread and you'll be fine. Unless you have supernatural reflexes, you'll be fine to shoot once they start their downswing. You'll not get them in mid swing then.

Speaking as someone who has shot notoriously grouchy golfers.

 

[shelomoh]

Settings up to you one. I woulduse 3D colour matrix and af-s. Golfers dont exactly run around. They stay in one spot when they play. Unless you want to do panning of buggy moving around then use af-c

Buggy is needed for the photographer to go to different holes or follow a flight (I.e. VIP)

if no buggy it is okay. Following a flight is boring. It's not as if the golfers are the Tiger Woods or celebrities.

It's difficult if u do not know golf becos u might get injured or interfere with play.

For 10 flights, normally 5 flights will take front nine and the other start at back nine.
So you can position yourself at hole 1.

Take a group shot of every flight with 17-55. Simple group shots.

Take some shots of tee off with 18-200 at 200mm.
Tee off shots go for point of impact or club hit ball n ball just start flying (very difficult shot) and the player finishing pose (the most important shot).

Then follow the last group of front nine for 1st three holes to take bunker shots, hazard shots and green shots!

For bunker shots show how deep a bunker can be and a good shot how the player hit out of bunker. Use 18-200

For green shot is very important to show the player putt and just before the ball enter the hole so go to ground level. 18-200. And the jubilation of some players when they hole the shot.

For fairway shots. Take players aiming or thinking of their shots or a back shot of they hitting towards the hole. 18-200.

Then go back to hole 1 to wait for the next 5 groups to reach hole 1. Do the same thing.

Then go to the last hole to wait of the 1st flight to finish the last hole. They will shake hands so take that with 17-55.

Go back rest to prepare for prize presentation. And any candid shots.

You should be fine. Just remember safety first. Ball can come from any directions. Especially from behind u.



Then follow the last flight to take some bunker shots and green shots when they put.
Bunker shots focus on show how deep is the bunker

 

[shelomoh]

Rewrote the reply. Part 1 of 2.

Settings up to you one. I woulduse 3D colour matrix and af-s. Golfers dont exactly run around. They stay in one spot when they play. Unless you want to do panning of buggy moving around then use af-c

Buggy is needed for the photographer to go to different holes or follow a flight (I.e. VIP)

It is okay if buggy is not provisioned. Following a flight can be boring. It's not as if the golfers are the Tiger Woods or celebrities. And the event organizers most likely want you to take as many participants as possible.

It's difficult if you are not familiar with the game of golf and it's rules. So the risk is you might get injured or interfere with play. I would recommend you ask the organizer to attach someone who knows the game to be your assistant and follow you. That assistant can help you look out for ball as well.

For a competition of 10 flights, normally the organizer will split 5 flights to take front nine (meaning Hole No. 1) and the other 5 flights to start at back nine (meaning Hole No. 10). Note that at some courses, they may not have hole no. 10 but they use a different course No. 1. For example (just for illustration purposes as I can't remember now) in Palm Villa golf course, they have Palm (9 holes), Resort (9 holes) and Ocean (9 holes) courses. So hole 9 may be Ocean course Hole No. 1. So take note of this. All courses have their course map for download. Go to their web site and get yourself familiar with the course. On the actual day, get yourself a score card which will show the hole layouts. Start planning your shots as you will know which hole will have bunkers, hazards, ... etc. Look out for special holes like the signature hole. It can be the green is protected by a flower like pattern... etc or the most common is the green is on an island.

I would suggest you position yourself at hole 1.

Take a group shot of every flight with your 17-55 lens. Simple group shots to show off their drivers. You can get them to pose rather than the boring stand with driver beside each other type of shot. Just don't make a lot of noise because you can be sure some one else is teeing off.

Take some shots of players teeing off with your 18-200 lens at 200mm. You want to move away at 200mm because noise will affect the players' concentration. Even though for most non-professionals, this is really a convenient excuse for a bad shot. I know because I use the excuses most of the time. But I am sure you do not want to blame for that by your CEO right? Though, it is the quickest way for him/her to notice you.

For player tee off shots go for the point of impact when the club hit the ball. Generally you will see a bit of motion blur at the club head but it's okay for this kind of shot. The best is if you can capture the ball just start flying off. This kind of shot is very difficult as you need practice and fast lens will help. Shots like this but not too much of it because this is to cover an event and not to show others that you have an eye for composition. Other samples are like this, this, this and this.

Nevertheless, the most important and much easier shot is to take the player finishing pose. I.E. their finishing position and they looking at where their ball fly. Samples are like this, this or this or this.

After taking the first 5 flights, follow the last flight of the front nine for 1st three holes to take bunker shots, hazard shots and green shots.

For bunker shots it will be good to show how deep a bunker can be. Basically you take the ground and the player standing inside the bunker. A better shot is to capture the player hitting out of bunker. So freeze the ball flying out of the bunker, some sand being kick out, ... etc. You can use your 18-200 lens at a distance.

Samples are like this, this, this and this (but I highly recommend that you don't take this shot!).

 

[shelomoh]

Part 2 of 2

For fairway shots. You can take players aiming or thinking of their shots or them concentrating on a shot to show how the player take the game seriously. Capture the emotions of the players. Another shot is to shoot the back of the golfer hitting towards the hole. For this kind of shot, make sure the background is interesting. Use your 18-200 lens.

Samples are like this, this, this, this, this, this.

For green shot it is very important to show the player putt and the best moment is just before the ball enter the hole so go to ground level and shoot from that perspective. You can also take the players reading the putt. Like how they check out the ground. Use your 18-200 lens. And do not forget to take the jubilation of some players when they hole the shot. Some of them will jump (especially the ladies) and damaged the green. And for some misses, do not forget to take the frustration on their face. Some might throw their hands up into the air or throw the putter down to the ground.

Samples are like this, this, this, this, this and this.

Expression shots are like this, this, this and this.

Now when you have enough of these shots, go back to hole 1 to wait for the next 5 flights to reach hole 1. Repeat the same process I mention earlier so that you can show the organizers you cover all the players.

You don't have to follow the last flight beyond hole no. 3 (especially if you don't have a buggy). I would suggest you back track and go to the last hole (i.e. Hole 18) to wait for the 1st flight to finish the last hole. Usually when the players finish their last hole, they will shake hands (it's a gentlemen game after all) so take that with your 17-55 lens. Take note that if it's some important partners or customers of your company, this shot can be 'crucial'. It may even accelerate your promotion.

Samples are like this and this.

Now you don't have to take the last hole for all the flights. Just enough to give general feel that they finish the game. Now go back and rest a while to wait for all the flights to finish. Because you have to prepare for prize presentation. This is also the time for you to empty your memory card to your laptop if you don't have enough memory cards.

For the prize presentation, I suspect you know what to do. And do remember to take any candid shots along the way.

Samples like this and this.

Do also look out for golf fashion. Some people will dress better than others. And you will want to capture that. So treat them like models. And some female caddies can be quite cute as well. You can take their pictures or get their number and pass it to me. Or if you have pretty and single colleagues, you can also pass me their numbers.

Samples like this, this and this.

Bring water with you. Under hot sun and no shade, you can get dehydrated easily. Worst is heat stroke. If there is lighting and thunder, just go back to the club house or half way house or any concrete shelter (please not trees) as soon as possible. Generally you will hear a siren but don't depend on that. Common sense should still prevail as much as possible.

Put on sun block unless it's your intention to get a good tan. You can be sure one of the golfers will have it. So if you don't have, get some from them.

Wear a hat and wear bright colors (not green) clothing so that you can be easily spotted by the golfers before they take their shot. If you blend into the green, they may not see you from a far.

Get insurance. =) Ask the organizer if the golf club has golf insurance for the players and if you can included for the insurance.

You should be fine. Just remember safety first when you are on the course. Ball can come from any directions. Especially from behind you. So be generally aware of what is going around you. It's not a paid job, don't put your body on harm's way. Even if it's a paid job, still watch over yourself.

 

[Jed]

shelomoh has written a few lengthy and detailed replies. While I am sure some of the information contained therein is useful, I would caution about going into the shoot in that amount of detail. You're just going to end up stressing yourself and worrying about so many things that you might just end up making a mess of things.

Photography isn't generally one of those things you can plan to an Nth degree. What if you've spent half an afternoon memorising what to do if there are 10 groups, and suddenly it turns out there are 7? Or 15? Play it by ear, keep your wits about you. Look for photographic opportunities as they happen.

If you asked me for advice about how to shoot the last few hours of a tournament, I'm not sure there's much I could tell you. One tournament is different from the next, and ultimately unless it's a blatant procession (like Louis Oosthuizen at this year's Open and even then only for the last 9-12 holes), you're never going to be able to call it. Part of the skillset of a good sports photographer is being able to assess the action as it unfolds, and make calls about what to do and where to go.

Relax. You're not being paid, it's not your day job. Follow a couple of simple ground rules so you don't get in trouble, and after that just go out and express yourself.

 

[SpyGlass]

Thanks for the informative and lengthy post Shelomoh! those are really the examples i need and i can visualize when planning my shots.

Ultimately, ill try to stay safe and feel my way around. Yeah since i'm doing it for free, my safety and equipment come first before anything else..

anyway its going to be held at NSRCC at the end of september. perhaps some of you golfers may be around that that time haha (don't feel shy to come up and ask me if i'm a noob at the tip end of an arrow)

i believe enjoying the experience is important, information and planning can help but things evolve quickly in the field and like Jed mentioned, it gets messy after awhile but i guess ill have to take what i can and try to make the best of what shots i can get.