I did take all of the photos in the slide show - even the "Avoid This" ones ;-) Well, except for the one that I'm in of course, and the "Model" one, both of which were taken byAndrea B.
The thing I like most about my SLR is the lack of shutter lag - when I push the button the photo is taken immediately. With my point and shoot there is a delay that seems to be "forever" (possibly 0.1 second?) and I lose so many photos - it is just too difficult to compose the photo correctly when the athlete is moving and you have shutter lag. And then there is the flexibility of having total control of the apperture / shutter speed to get cool effects such as blur and panning. And the DSLR's flash is more versatile too. But really these are just "excuses" I used to justify getting a DSLR ;-)
Great to see so many great photos - very inspiring. These are the kind of image that conveys the excitement and challenge and nature of our sport
Great photos by Hirppa. I would like to emphasize Hirppa's point about showing in the photo where the runner is going. I heard once from a very good source (
Blake Jorgenson) that one of the most important aspects of a great action photo is to show where the athlete has come from and where he/she is going to - the viewer will look for that and may left a little flat if it is not there. The second and fourth photos of Hirppa's above are excellent examples - the fourth especially very nicely demonstrates the idea and shows just how subtle it can be, but notice how when you look at the photo you will look to see where he came from and where he's going. Like all "rules" in photography it ain't hard and fast - but if you watch out for it I believe you will find that many of the action photos you like have this. For Blake, who makes his living taking action shots, it is his number one rule of composition.