Camera Labs

Hello everyone,

My roommate here at school is in a class called "entrepeneurship". One of their big assignments is to create a business and to have it run during the weekend of the Brentwood College School Rowing Regatta. Their goal is to hopefully break even, and to learn how to run a successful business.

Long story short, my roommates business is Regatta Pictures, and he wants me to be one of the photographers! I'm really excited, my first real opportunity to be pressured to take good shots...

Anybody have tips for this? The weather could be good, bad, ugly... I'm also not sure if anybody has seen rowing, but I don't really know what to shoot to make the pictures exciting and "pop".

I'm assuming that they want them to look something like this:



Or like this for a more "artsy" look:



My gear is:
D50
18-200 VR
50mm f/1.8
SB-24

And possibly my Sigma 105mm if It doesn't sell before then.

Should I be looking into getting some more gear?



So, any thoughts, tips, absolutely anything that could possibly help me?

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Eric D.
Nikon D90 | 18-200 VR
"Less is the new Black"---Chase Jarvis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25947744@N03/

Regatta photography is a niche area (rather like my dancesport photography) - it usually isn't enough of a business plan, hence the pursuit of other photographic genres.

My best tip for you is to do with timing (as with all sports). Practice makes perfect, and as much as you might look stupid for doing it, find video recordings of past regattas and play it on your TV/monitor. Sit back and watch the events unfold with your camera ready, and take snaps of the screen to practice your timing, and to see what angles the videographers chose. These angles will be similar to what you may be looking for as a photographer.

This same tip applies to any other sport - to practice timing, use past video recordings on a screen.

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

I am a rower myself, so I pretty much know what will happen, or what should happen, and when...

But yeah, I'll try to practice my timing. Any other tips?

I just thought of this... if the weather is poor, how will I protect my camera/lens from rain/ocean spray? I was thinking of throwing a simple zip-lock bad over the body

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Eric D.
Nikon D90 | 18-200 VR
"Less is the new Black"---Chase Jarvis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25947744@N03/

Sorry to bring up this thread again, but I really do need some assistance... The regatta is in 2 weeks, so I still have a while to prepare...

I just want to do the best job possible because this job may lead to more opportunities.

_________________
Eric D.
Nikon D90 | 18-200 VR
"Less is the new Black"---Chase Jarvis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25947744@N03/

You should go and practice shooting water things. And practice finding the correct settings fast there, it can be frustrating if you don't know what to do then. Go use your gear and learn to use them. I would use the Sigma because of the aperture. You just have to learn focusing on subject fast!

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Canon 450D | BG-E5 | 430 EX II | 50mm f/1.8 II | 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | 17-50 2.8 VC | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

your problem is going to be distance. ive been to one or two rowing events, and all the spectators were located around a 100m area of the bank. if you wanted to get some good shots, i would see if it was possible to tag along in a power boat following the rowers.

If you stay on the shore, then you are going to be very limited in your angles.

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No guts, no glory
Canon 5D mk II, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L USM, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS USM, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 24-60 f/2.8, canon 430EX II, 2x Yongnuo YN560, Cactus v4 triggers

Flickr

I'll be borrowing my photography teachers Tamron 500mm lens, so that should give alot of reach from land.

Also, I will most likely be tagging along in a power boat, I think that would give me the most opportunity to get good angles.

_________________
Eric D.
Nikon D90 | 18-200 VR
"Less is the new Black"---Chase Jarvis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25947744@N03/