Two images here of Sam and Imogen from the Phoenix Performance powerlifting team taken during Day 2 of the A/WPC European Championships. This was the first big competition for both ladies and whilst they were understandably nervous, they were both incredibly focussed.
Both images were taken in one of the warm up rooms just before their bench press lifts.
The photograph of Imogen starting her warm up routine is one I particularly like as it captures the mood of the warm up room with other lifters waiting to use the equipment. I love that Imogen is completely focussed on what she is doing and has complete concentration on her face, everything else is blocked out. Bench press is the hardest discipline to capture due to the position of the lifter. I got very low for this shot and wanted a dynamic perspective as your eye leads down the bar to Imogen’s face. I like to try and capture lines and angles in powerlifting images and again for this shot I tried to capture the lifters entire body. You can see her lifting posture on the bench in combination to the bar and bench.
How was it taken?
Date : 11th August 2021
Photographer : Mark Sims
Location : Manchester
Camera : Canon 1DX mkii
Lens : Canon EF 24-105mm f.4 IS USM
Shutter speed : 1/320 second
Aperture : f7.1
ISO : 1600
The second image is of Sam, I shot from behind the bench and clicked the shutter just before Sam had laid completely flat on the bench. I like the way the image has just captured her as she goes through her routine of positioning herself on the bench and her hair is just in motion. It’s a interesting perspective on her body shape due to the position of the camera relative to the bench and bar.
How was it taken?
Date : 11th August 2021
Photographer : Mark Sims
Location : Manchester
Camera : Canon 1DX mkii
Lens : Canon EF 24-105mm f.4 IS USM
Shutter speed : 1/320 second
Aperture : f5.6
ISO : 1600
