float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
Claire Schlimm, a senior at MU, has been swimming since she was two years old. She has been swimming club at MU since second semester of her sophomore year. Not only has joining the club team allowed Claire to be a more confident and outgoing person, but it has also allowed her to push her limits as a swimmer. "I hit a huge wall in high school and I never got the opportunity to overcome it. Now I'm beating every high school time I've ever had," Schlimm said.
Morgan and I were partners, and we both photographed MU club swimming practice. I've never shot swimming, so this was both exhilarating and frustrating. I loved capturing the water in motion, and the multiple flash gave the photos a more professional and serious look. The lighting diagram shows exactly where our strobes were, but it was a lot harder than it looked. You had to have the swimmer in the exact spot that the flash was firing, so timing was extremely important. Also, we had the most difficult time getting both strobes to go off every time because for some reason the strobes just wouldn't connect with the master remote that was on the camera. The strobe's infrared side had to be literally facing the master remote, which would sometimes hinder the photos that we could take.
I think the multiple flash is really good technique to learn. I think I learned that when doing any sports shooting, you have to be very patient and anticipate what the subject is going to do next. We tried to see if there was pattern to the swimmer's breathing habits so we knew where to wait and shoot, but sometimes it's just too unpredictable.
