Hints For Shooting You Own Great Photos At The Olympia!

Many of you have been asking how to take better for yourself at the Olympia and at other shows. Now you probably won;t be taking in all of the professional gear and long lenses I will that does not mean you can't take some fun photos!

First don’t think that you have to shoot a close up frame filling photo of the competitors. A lot of interesting photos are going to be wider views of the stage and even what is going on around you from the crowd to the arena. Also just the people going in and out, waiting out front, any number of things. It can be a lot of fun.


If you are shooting with just a small personal camera, turn off the flash if you are trying to shoot the stage. Flash only carries a few feet and with it on, your camera will expose accordingly and you will have good photos of the bald heads a few rows in front of you. Turn off the flash and use a higher “iso” for low light and hold your camera really still.


Shooting with a more advanced camera and a longer lens will give you more options. If you have the choice, shoot in “RAW” format. You will be able to make more adjustments afterward to get a better picture. You will want to adjust your white balance later to get your skin tones right and that will actually make it look like you have better focus too. Use a higher “iso” above 800 and the newer cameras are good up to 1600 and more. You will be able to use a higher shutter speed so less camera shake and a sharper photo. Try to get your shutter speed over a 250th. And no flash, you will be exposing for the stage lighting.


After you shoot some, get back to me and I will help you out with some post processing tips. But be creative, look around at what is there and take photos, you will be happy you did!


And here is a slideshow of my photos from the 2009 Mr. Olympia Finals...




Mr. Olympia 2009 Finals - Images by Ian Sitren

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