Tips for Flyball Photos?

[kayanem]

Anybody have any tips for getting great flyball photos?

I find flyball can be a bit more challenging than agility to shoot, there are limited view points and the rings are always netted to waist height.


33/52 by kayanem, on Flickr

This is one of my favourite flyball photos but I think it would have been better if I had been lower down, but I was lucky to get this position behind the box anyway and the netting prevented me from crouching or sitting down.

(That's at f5.6 and 1/2000 - I stick with similar settings for most flyball shots.)

[jluna]

Find a big hole in the netting to stick your lens through
But no, I understand fully. Having only been to flyball competitions, I manage to get the hang of it fairy easy!!
With most of my images, I tend to crouch on my knees and bring the netting down with my lens slightly, not enough for the dogs to notice, but enough so I can get a good shot! I tend to photograph the higher divisions anyway, and they dont easily get distracted, espically just by a camera lens!
These three were shot with moving the netting down a little bit




And this was shot through a hole that was in the netting, once I find one, I tend to stay next to it all the time and keep my lens through it ;D



It works with starters dogs too


Also what I sometimes do is just sneak into the ring and sit behind the ring party and shoot that way, so if I want to shoot the dog with a ball in his mouth, i'll sit behind the scribe, or if a box shot, I'll sit behind the box judge! Again usually it's the higher divisions so no ones minds me sitting there!


I tend to stick the setting of about f/4.5 and 1/2000 - 1/4000

[dograd]

i find bending down the only answer too! i don't have much experience with flyball pictures yet but i have unfortunately discovered the very annoying "perfect-places-are-blocked-off-with-ugly-netting" thing. at bakewell it was particularly hard, but so long as i was bending down it was fine. however it's that sort of can't quite stay on my knees to rest but can't stand up, that awful hovering that kills your limbs.

i have asked ring party before if i can just sit on the floor by them and take pics, no one has said no yet bar someone on the team asking if i can just hide the camera for her dog who might get freaked out.

[canislupess]

The second dog from the bottom is Ollie from Rotherham Teams, lol...can't mistake his split merle/black face:P I have many photos of him.

I used to stick my camera lens under the netting too and get some low view shots. A little tip that a regular flyball pro photographer (Also a flyball person himself) told me about was to pre-focus on a hurdle or whatever and then switch to manual focus and then just press the shutter as the dog was jumping the hurdle....seemed to work pretty well.

[jluna]

Aug 20, 2011 20:29:04 GMT canislupess said:

A little tip that a regular flyball pro photographer (Also a flyball person himself) told me about was to pre-focus on a hurdle or whatever and then switch to manual focus and then just press the shutter as the dog was jumping the hurdle....seemed to work pretty well.

I do that constantly, cause it always ends up focusing on something else!

[dograd]

yeah i do that too, i couldn't imagine actually following the dog!

[kayanem]

jluna/canislupess - the other dogs are Anya and Murphy from Sheffield

I used to stick my camera lens under the netting too and get some low view shots. A little tip that a regular flyball pro photographer (Also a flyball person himself) told me about was to pre-focus on a hurdle or whatever and then switch to manual focus and then just press the shutter as the dog was jumping the hurdle....seemed to work pretty well.

I do this all the time, following the dog is a nightmare-idea

I think I'm ok at the head-on shots, it's side shots I have problems with. Tried this weekend and found it very hard to get the timing right, and also had some focus problems (ended up manually focussing most of the time). Need more practise!

Did speak to someone this weekend who said shooting at 1/3000 was best - seemed too precise for me (I vary between 1/1600 - 1/4000, depending on the lighting), but maybe there is someone else who agrees?