Performance + Knowlege is Key

Performance is key in anything you do or use.  I got a new lens recently and decided to take it for a test run.  It is a Tameron XR DiII 18-200mm.  As long as I had the settings on manual and I could control everything it performed well and responded quickly.  Overall, a good purchase for the time being while I save up for what I really want.  At one point I flipped my settings to auto because I had a surprise opportunity I didn't want to mess up.  Well, I messed it up anyway because my lens wasn't as smart as I thought.  I didn't get what I wanted out of certain shots because I depended on the camera brain instead of my skill and intention.  So I spent over an hour in Photoshop trying to fix it, with limited success.  Lesson learned.

What I wanted to go over was action shots.  Yes, most point and shoots have an action setting but do you know how to get the best out of it?  Those of you with DSLRS who want to know the basics, I am going to lay it out with a few examples.

In general shoot at about 400 ISO unless it is high noon.  The higher ISO will allow you to have a faster shutter speed, thus capturing the action with minimal blur.  Yes you want to show the subject is moving but you also want people to figure out what you are shooting:)  When people are running, move the camera with them.  But what if you are dealing with spinning, swinging, and unpredictability?

Example: Acrobat act
Since I had never seen the act before I set my shutter speed to 400 and my f-stop to 5.6.  That fast of a shutter speed worked well.  The performer was not twirling really fast so I got some great stop motion pictures.  I put my f-stop wide open since I had the crowd behind her I wanted to blur them a bit and my auto focus was able to pick up on my subject since she was close enough to me.  Remember, wide open= shallow dept of field.  Were some of my pictures less than crystal clear?  Yes, but it is the action you capture!  I think I produced some good results.

                     

Remember, make the shot don't just take the shot!  As she was spinning I would wait about a second before she was where I wanted her and start to press my shutter button.  By the time my hand muscle coordinated with what my brain said she was in the perfect place.  It took me a couple trys but by the third frame I got the timing down.  Don't beat yourself up if you don't get the shot.  Try again or set your camera to the multi frame setting.  Most DSLRS shoot about 3 frames a second or faster.

What about swinging?  If your subject is swinging towards you focus on where you want them in the frame of your picture.  As they swing into frame hold the shutter down half way and let the lens focus.  Keep it there and wait for the subject to swing back into frame.  Click the button down and you have got the shot.

Unpredictability?  Is that your problem?  Not at all.  Consider it a chance to anticipate your subject you may end up with something like this.

Too see more acrobatics, my family got to participate in the show, click here.