[Members - MMSwimming] Video and Photography of Stroke Work for Mississauga Masters Swim Club

[Mississauga Masters Swim Club]

*** Sending on behalf of Doug Elsey ***

Hey everyone, in case we haven't met, I'm Doug Elsey, a professional 
underwater photographer. You can check out my work at Www.DougElsey.com 
(if you're looking for something to kill time!). Normally, I swim in 
lane 6, which is the first “slow or rehab” lane near the door. My wife 
Marney and I have been members of this club for a long time (Darren's 
edit: Like 40 years!). These days, I mostly swim to stay active and 
prevent injuries, but I also love cracking jokes while I'm at it! Every 
February, we head to Roatan Honduras for some diving and photography. 
Doing photography for the club keeps me sharp in my underwater 
photography skills, and I genuinely enjoy doing it for all of you. It's 
a win-win situation!

As a documentary photographer, I like to capture the real moments, the 
hard work, the triumphs, and the joys of what you all do. I want you to 
feel proud and have pictures to prove it. I'm going for that "hero shot" 
of yours, trust me, I can handle it! 😉 (I shot for NATO Naval Special 
Forces for 20 years – I KNOW what a “hero shot” looks like!!! )

Over the years, I've been designated as the club photographer, taking 
pictures of all you amazing people for our website and more. I'll be 
taking pictures on the deck, at the water's edge, and even underwater. 
If you're interested, you can have access to the pictures I take, just 
give me a shout.

PROCEDURE:
Here's how it's gonna go: starting in November, I'll bring my underwater 
equipment to the pool area and record stroke videos of interested 
members. All you need to do is bring your phones and either transfer the 
videos right then and there or give me your email address. It's pretty 
quick and easy.

We'll do one lane at a time for each interested member in that lane, so 
we don't disturb everyone. If there's someone in the lane who's not 
participating, we can switch to another lane temporarily. I'm confident 
we'll figure it out and keep the disruption to a minimum. The camera 
angle is wide enough to capture your whole body from about 3 feet away.

The procedure is simple: I'll start with a surface shot of your smiling 
face to establish who's in the video, and then you'll swim about 3/4 of 
a length for each stroke, totalling 4 lengths. No need to swim all the 
way to the end of the pool for a turn, it takes too much time and I need 
to keep up! You can pretty much do whatever you want for those 4 - 3/4 
lengths. It should take around 2 minutes. Afterward, we can transfer the 
video from my iPhone to yours using AirDrop (if you have an iPhone) or I 
can email it to you.

These videos are private and meant for your use only. Take a look at it, 
show it to your coach for feedback, whatever you want. I delete the 
videos I take to save space on my system, I need to keep all the pics of 
my grandkids and selfies! 😂

Each swimmer will take about 3 minutes, and I also plan to film some of 
the weeknight members. I'll have the underwater equipment with me for a 
few weeks, so nobody interested will be left out.

(Quick note: If there's any reason you don't want me pointing a camera 
at you, capturing your pool or deck moments, just let me or the club 
know. We respect your privacy and won't take any pictures you're not 
comfortable with. If you'd rather not be photographed, feel free to give 
me a thumbs down, wave a finger, or throw something at me to get my 
attention! I have a sense of humor, I'll understand! Please keep in mind 
that there might be others swimming in your lane that we are shooting 
and you are not the intended subject, so if you prefer not to be in the 
frame, just let me know, no hard feelings. Not saying anything assumes 
that you are ok with the video or photography. Let us know if you aren’t 
please to avoid any “awkward moments”. )

Our plan is to do this again in the spring, so you can see any changes 
in your swimming progress, for better or worse!

Wishing you all the best in swimming,

Doug Elsey