Pro Beach Volleyball
 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ske8/Apex2.jpg

I got some great photos of pro beach volleyball today in Chicago. This is just a little tease. More to follow.

You're not fuckin kiddin. That IS great.

that is unbeleivable

Flexibility
 

Flexibility, power and grace

Another one
 

Another one along this theme

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Norske8/web2.jpg

Ok, that first shot is almost perfect. It has a horizontal plane at the bottom, classic pyramid construction with the player and the Sears Tower, vertical framing with the building on the left and the tree on the right. It also has a great balance between the foreground action and the cityscape in the background. I really don't know how you could have possibly composed that better except maybe to be positioned such that the ball was between the antennas on the tower =) Overall I would say it could have been used as an example in any of my art theory classes.

"No Net"
 

Thanks Robodog! I also submitted the photo to another message board. The negative comment there was the fact that I did not include the net in the photograph. The ref's stand is on the side that I took the photo from so if I would have included the net I would have violated your principles and the ref's butt would have been in the photo. Believe me that booty did not look like this one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Norske8/web3.jpg

Bronze Medal Winners
 

Bronze Medal Winners from the Olympics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Norske8/web4.jpg

Your settings are excellent-what type camera?
(also thinking, I should take up volleyball!!)

Canon Digital Rebel
 

NG, the camera is a Canon Digital Rebel. The weather on Friday varied a lot. The airborne photo in the first shot was taken at f11 with a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second. As the day wore on the sun broke through and I was able to move the shutter speed to 1/4000th of a second to stop the ball almost without blur.

I am a volleyball fanatic. I play in three leagues during the summer. My skills are nothing compared to these people though.

Edited a few more
 

I was able to edit a few more of my photographs

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Norske8/IMG1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5051.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5091.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5097.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5291.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5296.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/IMG_5342.jpg

Norske, really enjoyed this thread with your photos. Especially liked the composition of your first photo, but they all were great. What about the lens you used? :cool:

Lens
 

Tropic, the lens I used for the first shot is a Canon 24mm. It is so small that my camera almost feels naked compared to the telephoto lens that I used to take all the other shots. That was the first new lens I purchased. All of the other ones are used.

As my telephoto shots demonstrate, I need to get the L series 70-200 with the image stabilization that everyone seems to love. It is just so darn expensive that I may have to wait until Christmas. These telephoto shots are ok, but just not sharp enough. The telephoto lens I am using right now only cost about $60 used. It is a 75-300 mm lens.

oh man that first pic is absolutely astounding. the other ones are wonderful too but there's just something about the first one. slap that damn thing on the cover of a magazine.

great photo's enjoyable to see

Absolutely. The first shot is simply astounding :D

By the way - welcome to another Chicagoan :) Where was this located?

Thanks
 

Thanks for the kudos.

Secret, the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) has its annual beach volleyball tournament in Chicago typically around the end of August every year. This year I believe it was pushed back because of the Olympics. They have the tournament at the North Ave. beach.

I had actually thought about the first shot for a year waiting for the tournament to return. As it turned out I had to walk to several courts to find some players with a picturesque jump serve and an unobstructed view of the skyline (not easy to do). I am glad you like the results.

Wow... those are some great shots. I'm a big fan of the first one as well, incredible composition. :thumbsup:

holy cow! Someone put this in the hall of fame for photography!! First pic, I'm stunned. You mind if I repost this else where? It's too good not to share.

Repost
 

KellyC, I edited it with my copyright on it so I don't mind if you link to this.

Amazing... These are excellent. Many, many thanks!

A couple more
 

A couple more for your viewing pleasure. ;)

Sun
 

More photos

Last one for now
 

Gotta love sand volleyball

hella good shots man..........nice job.


thanx for livining the place up.

I dream about composing a photo like the 1st one; simply amazing.

-SF

Excellent shots! As a volleyball player, these pic's are very cool to look at. Hope you have more of these or of other events coming. You did a great job of capturing the players at just the right moments. Hope to see more soon!

Thanks
 

Thanks guys.

Saltfish, actually I did "dream" about that shot last year. A year ago when I was at the same tournament I saw a couple of excellent jump servers near the area on the sand with the best view of the skyline. Unfortunately I did not own a wide angle lens at the time. So for over a year I thought about the shot and waited for a match to start in the location where I needed the match to be for the photograph.

Believe it or not, but jump servers of this beauty are not that common in the pro beach volleyball circuit. Most players take the safe serve.

Here is another one not as picturesque because my timing was a little off.

Great shots. You have talent with this. The optical quality (or lack thereof) with your current telephoto lens shows, which is a shame.

"As my telephoto shots demonstrate, I need to get the L series 70-200 with the image stabilization that everyone seems to love."

In regards to that, there are two other versions made, the f/2.8 and the f/4. I myself have the 70-200mm f/4L. If you do outdoor shots, the extra stop doesn't help all that much, but if you have the cash, the (extra stop and) IS really does work!

Bit the big one
 

Zakool21,

I bit the bullet today. I ordered the 70-200 mm f2.8 L lens. Who needs to eat right? I bought the 2x extender also. Now all I need is a sideline pass for some sporting events.

Sounds great. I've never used the IS version, although I have shot a few baseball games with the f/2.8. It's a very large/heavy lens, and the IS model is a bit heavier. Have fun with it though, it's one of the best tele zooms canon makes!