I am often asked how to create my long and triple jump action composite photos. And while I’ve written about the process before, I’ve never recorded the process. The image above took just under 23 minutes to edit, and I still didn’t get one of the blend points right. If you look closely, you can see it without zooming in. You can also watch the entire process sped up 800% below.

As you can imagine, some lighting is harder to edit into a composite than others. Regardless of light, the triple jump is particularly complex since the jump takes place across a wider field of action. In the right light, a long jump photo of an elite athlete can be quite a simple process. Long shadows and harsh or contrasting light conditions also increase the difficulty. I actually prefer a slightly overcast day for these shots. The composite below of Tan Mengyi, a long jumper from China, was relatively simple compared to the image above, even with the long shadows.

My Track & Field Action Composites album on SmugMug has several hundred composites. The shots cover the long jump, triple jump, high jump, hurdles, and a couple of finishes in other running events. I’ve attempted to do shot put in the past, but that didn’t turn out too well. And while these take a lot of time to produce, I enjoy the process, and I know the athletes enjoy seeing them. I don’t plan to stop making them any time soon. 🙂