How was this picture taken?
Triathlete, Laura Tingley in Sevenoaks swimming pool during August 1996, crumbs nearly three decades ago.
Back in the days of regular film use an 800ASA film was loaded. A bit extravagent as outside it was a bright summer's day and only one shot would be used from the pool.
With 800 it was possible to obtain 1/500th sec at f2.8, hence the out of focus highlights in foreground and background.
Without the luxury of digital and a screen to check the result and although autofocus (AF) was used by many photographers - it had been around since 1985 - I was still wary of it. However, for some strange reason, rather than pre-focus and hit the button at the right moment which was my motor sport technique, I chose AF.
Without the luxury of digital and a screen to check the result and although autofocus (AF) was used by many photographers - it had been around since 1985 - I was still wary of it. However, for some strange reason, rather than pre-focus and hit the button at the right moment which was my motor sport technique, I chose AF.
The lens was Nikon's superb 180mm f2.8 in its second AF guise with a matt black body but not AFS. (To follow - Why is a prime telephoto lens better than an telephoto zoom? VR and IS versus wide aperture and prime lens use).
At Sevenoaks Chronicle I had inherited an F90 and SB26.
At Sevenoaks Chronicle I had inherited an F90 and SB26.
This combination enabled FP-flash mode which means that a synchronisation shutter speed faster than 1/250th can be used.
So a dash of fill-in flash was used to freeze the water droplets coming off the swimmer's arm.
In addition some panning (following the subject's movement with camera and lens) was used although this is not evident in the finished shot as 1/500th cancels it out.
With film it is never possible to be completely certain that all the tricks have worked to produce the desired effect.
With film it is never possible to be completely certain that all the tricks have worked to produce the desired effect.
It was a nervous wait from lunchtime on the Sunday until Monday morning when the 1-hour lab opened.
The negative for this shot is somewhere within the Chronicle's archives.
The negative for this shot is somewhere within the Chronicle's archives.
I have a 15 x 10 inch hard copy which was photographed with a 4MP compact digital to produce the file used to illustrate this article.
In many ways the original print is of more use to me now than the negative but at the time I was not happy to "give" away my best negs.
In 1997 it was one of two sports photos in my BT Award winning potfolio.
In 1997 it was one of two sports photos in my BT Award winning potfolio.
