Forums >General Running>How to look good in race photos?
We all know that after the race is over, and after you've logged your time on RA, the next most important thing to do is scour the internet looking for that image (preferably free to download) that proves you were a god-like athlete...at least for a split second.
So why the hell after running for almost 4 years have I not found this image yet? I've been in plenty of races, had plenty of photos taken, beaten plenty of other competitors (around the 50% - 75% position in the field), broken plenty of PRs, but every time the shutter clicks I look like I'm standing stationary on one leg. What is the problem?
Don't tell me that I'm just being narcissistic. I KNOW I'm just being narcissistic. I love running from the inside but just every now and again I would like to see that I've created something good on the outside too.
So what makes a good photo? Is it:
1) the speed of the runner (but some slower runners seem to look better in their photos)?
2) how high you lift your knee (but isn't too high somewhat inefficient)?
3) swinging your arms (but my feet determine this)?
4) holding your head up (there might be something in this - I hate looking into the distance and seeing it not get any closer)?
5) turnover / cadence / steps per minute? Increased turnover would certainly reduce the chances of the race photographer catching you with your foot down
6) my weight (I could be slimmer but heavier people than I have been captured in full graceful flow)?
7) something more spiritual? I must admit I am something of a coward in races, and I fear the pain. At crunch time, with half a mile to go, I advise myself to live to race another day. I don't run like Pre. Maybe I don't deserve to look god-like. In fact I know I don't; but I want to anyway.
8) spotting the photographer before he spots you, and then showing your good side? Could interfere with your race plan.
Or am I just not photogenic?
Never been to the Americas, but how many of you guys have ever been to Derby?
For me, the best way to look good in a race photo is not to be in them at all. But seriously, I think you're just over-thinking this. I'm quite certain that everyone else thinks you look great in the majority of your photos (everyone has some where they look like some kind of space alien). Relax and concentrate on your race. - you look fine.
"Most people think everybody feels about them much more violently than they actually do; they think other people's opinions of them swing through great arcs of approval or disapproval."
No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
Your profile pic (assuming it's you) is as good as, or better than, any race photo of mine. But if I had to choose I'd say option 8 is a pretty good bet, at least around here. If I just acknowledge the photographer, I'll get a burst of 3 or 4 photos in a row. Sometimes those are okay.
Of course we can't all be this guy.
Don't worry about it. After all, no one can look as good as this guy:
My opinion is that it is 99% luck. Sometimes there is a good picture of you with some oddball person or thing in the background.
Sometimes you have a beautiful background in the picture but you look terrible.
Also a lot of it just happens to be the split second that the shutter clicks on the camera on how your feet are placed, etc.
I've had one picture that I thought turned out really well, but even then I can nitpick little things about it.
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
Well first you're gonna need one of these. Take your pick..
http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-40-best-worst-runner-costumes?s=mobile
Wear sunglasses. Have good posture. Keep the effort easy. Don't carry any excess body fat.
queen of headlamps
Don't look down at your watch at the finish!
I look like a dork in almost all photos. All a race does is ensure that I look like a dork who is also running.
Hey, another running blog.
IMHO, shorter races = better photos.
In a marathon, it looks like I am just shuffling along with my feet barely leaving the ground. For some reason.
But I have a photo from a 5k where it almost looks like I am actually running (optical illusion).
Dave
Some good advice there and thanks Hayatiggs for that link - I haven't laughed so much at a running related website since the "Shit runners say..." craze a few months back.
I'm confident that one day I'll have my 1/250 seconds of fame. I just have to stop worrying about it. But the sunglasses and excess body fat advice I'm going to adopt right away.
I've also got a notion that my core muscles are weak - well, I hardly exercise them and I am slightly overweight so that would make sense. This means my top half is probably trying to move independently of my bottom half when I run. It's probably trying to fall forwards or something. This surely cannot look good in a photo.
So a few crunches and push-ups from now on, a slight increase in weekly mileage. Oh, and some sunglasses.
probably not fast enough
Oh man, with a 6:44 pace PR in the 5k at 44 years old you're not convinced that your race photos make you look godlike? Man, you DEFINE godlike. Take a look in the mirror and get used to it: you kick ass, and your photos show it, whether you believe it or not.
#artbydmcbride
Runners run
My strategy is to pose for the photographers. I smile, wave, make a crazy face, etc. Since I started implementing this strategy, I've gotten great photos, LOL. Trying to pretend that the cameras aren't there just makes me look stupid. Of course, I don't buy most photos anyway, so it ultimately doesn't matter .
Wow subzerosolid. I'm humbled. Thanks. I guess there might be another way of seeing the world after all...
But I'm gonna work on my core in any case.
Menace to Sobriety
Don't actually run the race. Just jump in about 100 yards from the finish line and cross the line fresh as a daisy, every hair in place.
Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.