Iowa Photo: Long exposure blurs sports action

Earlier this month, I was assigned to cover the Hawkeye women’s wrestling Iowa Dual. The assignment hit a few firsts for me: it was my first wrestling photos and first time attending a wrestling match.

As I covered the match and got into a groove of taking photos, the idea to try a long exposure popped into the back of my mind and made itself at home. I had a few attempts, none of which were quite what I was picturing. I quickly realized I needed something more sturdy than the monopod I brought. So, I decided the next time I covered wrestling, I would bring a tripod and try to grab a long exposure.

I spent the warm-ups finding the right shutter speed, and debated whether I wanted it at 1/3 or a little higher to try to freeze a bit of the action. Eventually, I decided I wanted the action as blurred as possible. In the next couple of matches, I took normal photos before slowing down the shutter. The real trick was training myself not to follow the action after clicking the shutter, which would make the backgrounds come out a little fuzzy or just as blurry as the rest of the photo.