Athens
Olympic Aquatic Center at Athens Olympic Sports Complex or “fighting with light
and space”
Later
this May I came across a difficult challenge which I feel I have failed
although I managed to salvage all the shots up to a satisfactory (for others)
degree. I took some shots during an event in the Athens Olympic Aquatic Center at Athens Olympic Sports Complex that stretched my knowledge and
steadiness more that I felt I could handle.
There
was an aquatic exhibition performed by small children at the Aquatic center’s
closed pool and they had told us we were going to sit in the stands above the pool and I
imagined a distance of at least 10 meters away from the subjects. This
tricked me into taking just the Sigma 70-300 macro APO Super II lens with me in
conjunction with the Cullmann D 4500-C Flash in Auto E-TTL Mode at 0 EV, which could help with the near
subjects. The weather was dull and overcast with no sun visible and we
expected to rain that afternoon (but it didn’t). The light conditions
inside the center were no good either. There was a green light coming
from the tinted windows and combined with the tungsten lights of the center it
made the colors to render weirdly in camera.
I took
some test shots only to find out that they came out too dark although I had
boosted my ISO to 1600 (which was the only reason I could salvage the photos
later). I had the right type of lens since I was around 10 meters away
from the subjects but I was too far to hold the camera as steady as I wanted,
since I had to work at 70-150mm. Then it strikes me! I saw some
people with cameras near the pool and I quickly ran down the stands to find an
exit leading near the pool. I was lucky to find the exit right away and I took
some test shots again. This time I was too close!!! The minimum focal length
of 70mm was too restraining and suitable only for portrait photography at
a distance of no closer than 3-5 meters.
I did
what I could with the equipment I had and took some nice (but not so steady)
shots. I had also had a hard time balancing the green white balance with
the skin tones of the children, but seeing the other photographers' fainted
shots I felt lucky to at least have more vivid and contrasted colors. I
know that if I had not changed the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS lens with Sigma 70-300 macro APO Super II I would
have shot brighter and clearer pictures, since I found the way to the
pool.
The dull weather outside the center drove the auto-focus of my camera crazy since I had mounted a
dark and long lens, but the photos came out brighter and crispier (although I
had a couple of them out of focus because of AF missing the subject). Next time I will know that my Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS lens is not to be separated again from my camera!
