Norske8

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

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Halx

You're not fuckin kiddin. That IS great.

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Shpoop

that is unbeleivable

Norske8

Flexibility, power and grace

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

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Norske8

Another one along this theme

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

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robodog

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.

Norske8

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.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

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Norske8

Bronze Medal Winners from the Olympics.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

ngdawg

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

Norske8

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.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

Norske8

I was able to edit a few more of my photographs

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tropicdiver

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?

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Norske8

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.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

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costello

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.

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woody1

great photo's enjoyable to see

SecretMethod70

Absolutely. The first shot is simply astounding

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

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Norske8

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.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

sherpahigh

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

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KellyC

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.

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Norske8

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

__________________
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

Force 10

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

Norske8

A couple more for your viewing pleasure.

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

Norske8

More photos

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

Norske8

Gotta love sand volleyball

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"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

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Fly

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


thanx for livining the place up.

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saltfish

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

-SF

stonegrody

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!

Norske8

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.

__________________
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

zakool21

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!

Norske8

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.

__________________
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899

zakool21

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!