SplitPrecision Photography is a gymnastics and dance photography project run by Susie Butler, based in the Pacific Northwest. Susie currently is a volunteer photographer for the University of Washington’s women’s gymnastics team and has been on the competition floor taking photos at gymnastics meets since 2017. She photographed the NCAA Gymnastics Regional competition at Washington in 2017 and 2022, and had her first opportunity to photograph the Pac 12 Championships as credentialed media at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City in 2023.
Susie trained as a ballet dancer at a pre-professional level for many years and has been a fan of gymnastics since 2008 when she fell in love with the sport while watching the Olympics. She began to learn how to use a DSLR camera in 2015 and shortly thereafter found that she very much enjoyed combining the art of photography with her passion for gymnastics. Her experience as a dancer, attention to detail, and perfectionist tendencies help her to capture the best moments and she is always working to improve her craft. Susie loves taking photos at college gymnastics meets and her ultimate dream is to someday be a gymnastics photographer at the Olympics.
Susie is a volunteer photographer and doesn’t get paid for her work, so if you would like to support SplitPrecision Photography then you can buy me a coffee:
What does the name “SplitPrecision” mean?
Both the words “split” and “precision” have relevance in both gymnastics and photography so together they felt like a fitting name for a gymnastics photography project.
Split: In gymnastics photography, photos are typically taken at a “split second”, or specifically around 1/1000 of a second or faster in order to capture a skill without the photo being blurry. “Split” is also a gymnastics term because a gymnast must hit a full split position in a split leap and many other skills in order to not receive a deduction.
Precision: This one is a bit more self-explanatory because both gymnastics and gymnastics photography require a high level of precision. The balance beam is notorious for requiring an extremely high level of control and precision for a gymnast to stay on while performing a variety of skills that range in complexity. Even the most simple-looking skills become much more difficult when performed on the balance beam as just a small error can quickly send the gymnast off the beam and incur a large deduction from their score. In photography, the photographer’s timing must be very accurate and precise to get a good gymnastics photo at the apex of a skill rather than in an in-between position.
Getting a perfect photo of a precise split leap is one of Susie’s favorite gymnastics photography shots to get!
Ads to support the site: