News : A novice\'s guide to taking memorable photos of a swim meet

With practice and diligence, anyone can take a swim photo like this....

... or any of these other photos...

A good photo makes it easy to identify the subject....

like this..

or this...

...or this..

....or this...

A good photo makes a swimmer looks like he is competing in an athletic event.. unlike this one...

.. and this one..

... and this one..

Coach Rob Levis offered us some good advice for swimming photography: Don't fall in the pool.

An unidentified left arm splashes during a VS swim meet Tuesday.

Don't click until you see the whites of their... splashing.

Taking swim photos may seem easy... but it's not...

Let your photo show the context, so people can tell where into what the subjects are diving...

Warning: When taking swimming photos, keep the water out of the camera, and visa versa.

At least the Vikings wore bright pink caps so we could identify them in the water.

Indoor lighting, flashes and other effects make the water look green....

So you want to be a sports photographer?

It’s tough.

All those athletes running all over a football field, or standing 300 feet away in center field.

Maybe you should start by taking swimming photos.

It’s easy.

All the athletes are in one place. They simply go up and down the same little course, not far from the camera.

All you have to do is pick a spot, focus your camera on it, and wait. And when you see the swimmer splashing through you view-finder, push the button.

You can see in these photos here just how easy it is to get a good photo of your swimmer. Just do whatever it is I was not doing Tuesday night during the VS-Decorah swim duel. The coach tells us he could not identify some of our photos. Maybe it's because we were standing too close to him when he turned just time to get blinded by our flash and he is still seeing spots (sorry Coach Levis)...or maybe we just need more practice with the camera.