Track "Moore League Prelims"

Track season is coming to an end rather fast and I feel I missed most of it. This year my daughter, who is a senior in high school threw the shot put and I refused to miss of her events, which caused me to miss most of the track season, but I don't regret it at all.

Moore League Prelims and finals are being held at Vet's Stadium in Long Beach Community College. These shots are from the Prelims and this coming Friday will be the finals.

I've been wanting to put together a post on how to shoot track and cover my settings and thought on positioning, which I feel is very important on capturing the action. With track there is just so much going on that someone new to track and find themselves easily overwhelmed.

These first four shots are from the 1600m. I will initially try to get the sun behind me as best I can, but when shooting this event I will almost always position myself just outside the turn and slightly to the side to show the depth of the event (other runners in the background).

Normally I position myself just at the finish and directly in front of the hurdler I'm covering to get a head on shot, but for these first two I tried something different and shot them just as they jumped from the side for a different look.

The next series are from the 400m and 100m race. For these I will position myself just at the finish line. I will watch the race to see who has the lead and then move myself into their lane directly in front of them. This I will usually shoot horizontally to capture other runners on the sides, which again will also show some depth.

I have to say that my favorite event is the high jump, but it's also the hardest for me to cover and get the shots I want. The high jump tends to be near the pole vaulting, which are both at the end of the field. There usually tends to be a lot of athletes and various other people standing and moving about, which will often lead to someone walking between me and my target shot. It does get frustrating at times, but I just try to go with the flow and get what I can.