Swim media day at Sierra Canyon
Swimmers spend their season underwater and at the far end of a pool deck, which makes them one of the hardest teams to photograph well during the year. Media day fixes that. Sierra Canyon's swim team in Chatsworth got the full setup this spring, team photos, senior groups, and a portrait of every swimmer.
Lighting on the pool deck
We shoot with four Westcott FJ400 strobes on a Canon R5, with the 70-200 and the 24-105. Two strobes go behind the swimmers as rim lights and two go in front as mains.
On an outdoor deck, the sun and the water both bounce light everywhere. We read the ambient with the camera first, bring it about a stop under a normal exposure, and then use the strobes to put soft, even light on each face. There is no light meter on set. The camera meter and an eye for the picture handle it, and the lights move as the sun does.
The order of the day
Team photo first. Then seniors, then coaches. Then we re-rig the lights for individual portraits.
Every swimmer gets a clean headshot for the roster. After that come looser portraits with the pool and the lane lines behind them, where each swimmer gets room to show a little personality.
Media day for your swim program
If you run a swim program in the Valley or anywhere in Los Angeles, see how our high school media day works, or browse team and athlete work on our sports portraits page.
