Ok, I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is to spend my lazy days shooting sports. There is something hypnotically relaxing being able to just follow the action and shoot. There is a rhythm to every sport and once you can get on that beat, you can get some amazing photos.

Swimming is a bit different than most sports I’ve shot. Mainly because the athletes have their heads under the water for most of the race. This breathing thing, kind of slows them down. So really you might get only three or four really good opportunities to shoot a good profile shot. Of course there is other interesting shots you could find if you had an underwater kit.

The Technical Stuff: I plunked myself down in front of lane 5 (the middle lanes will have the fastest racers). I placed two Nikon SB-800s (set to 1/4 power and zoomed in) on small stands on either side of this swimming lane and pointed towards the middle lanes. I didn’t want the flash to be direct. This way the light wraps slightly around the swimmer. My ISO was at 320, Nikon D700, AFS-300mm lens, F2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/320sec. Ahha! You say. The D700 only synchs to 1/250 sec with off camera flash. You’re correct. At this speed there will be a small black band along the bottom of the frame. (Another trick from Strobist). And this is what I wanted to increase the drama of this photo.