Utah Gymnastics: Achieving Mid-Season Form

I'm not sure whether my title for this post refers to the Utah Red Rocks or to me as photographer, but it probably is accurate in both cases.  The Red Rocks are looking better with each meet (as evidenced by yesterday's 197.075 at UCLA!), and I'm doing my best to stay no more than a half-step behind them.  The photos here are from Utah's third home meet, vs Arizona.

I suspect that each and every time I've posted gymnastics images on my blog, I've mentioned my goal of capturing the grace, beauty and power of the sport.  Make no mistake about it--the athletes are doing their part!  This time around, for photographing floor exercises, I relied on a piece of equipment that never fails to amaze with its ability to obliterate backgrounds and isolate the gymnasts in glorious ways...when I nail the shot.  The Canon 200mm f/1.8 lens is magical, though not without some risk (see cut-off toes below).  I'm hopeful the special quality of the images  taken with this lens will be evident here.

Clicking on a photo will open a larger version.  Hope you enjoy them, and leave a comment if you are so inclined.