I spent the past three days photographing the Colorado high school track and field championships. Athletes from all over the state of Colorado participated. As far as I know, it is the only sport where finals form all five levels are held at the same venue.
Although it was the first time I had shot the track finals, it was a rewarding experience. Photographing track can be a challenge. It requires creativity to photograph a track event from a different perspective than other photographers. I experimented with panning to blur the background and give a sense of motion to some of the photographs. This worked particularly well with the 1oo meter dash. I also tried to focus on capturing the emotion of the event. I looked at the aftereffects of the race to see what the athletes were experiencing. Sometimes it was joy. Sometimes it was pain. Mostly I was just amazed at how fast the athletes could run or jump.
Derek Regensburger is a Denver sports photographer who shoots college and high school sports. His high school photography is published on Maxpreps.com. Call 303 478-7586 to have him cover your event.
