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What did i do wrong?
Submitted by bungle bear on Thu, 19/07/2012 - 20:30
hey all im try to get good at taking pics like this but it always seems to come out a little blured like this. can anyone offer me some tips on getting a better pic? also for full description of pic its in my gallery
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Faster shutter speed!!! That's the answer or a good panning technique if you want to blur the background.
Shutter priority and keep it above 1/500th. Sports photography is not my strong side but that's what I'd do to get the shots I need.
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Just a calculation. Don't know how fast the bikes go, let's estimate 150 km/h. That is 42mtr each second, or 8cm in 1/500sec
I would say your photo is pretty sharp for that..
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At least 1/1500 to 1/2000. Keep the apeture wide so the camera lets in more light and the backround is blurred. All of this can be done in Manual mode (M).
I don't have any good pictures so there is not a link to my gallery, just a quote.
"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything"- Alexander Hamilton (under debate)
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A faster shutter speed would certainly help. Put the camera into S mode and set a speed above 1/500th. The camera will automatically set the aperture to get the exposure right. If you find the camera can't set a big enough aperture for the exposure (shows up as red in the LCD/EVF), try increasing the ISO a little. Just remember that once you get to 800 ISO and above, you will start to see more noise in your images.
Andy.
My gallery http://www.myfinepix.com/gallery/498548
I have a photographic memory. Unfortunately I forgot to remove the lens cap!
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There are two other thing I notice apart from what has already been said .
You need to fill the frame more as there are not enough pixels within each bike / rider to really give you any detail and it would help if all the bikes where traveling in the same direction. You have one going left and two going right .
One or two will suffer if you are panning.
If you don't pan with a shutter speed that slow all of them will suffer to a degree.
I think you need to get closer and risk shooting through the netting as you are not totally clearing it anyway and the greater the distance you shoot from , the more distortion you will get from atmospherics anyway .
Long zooms are meant to fill the frame with subject matter , not really to allow you to take pictures from further away .
The further away you are , the more atmospheric distortion you get and the less contrast you can achieve .
Sports of any kind takes a fair bit of practice.
If you get three good shots out of a hundred to begin with you are doing well.
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thanks all so much for you help im off to the bike racing this weekend so im going to make a not of everything everyones said and try see what i get and hopefully get some good shots
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Some examples of 'filling the frame' per Rays comments
Advice given about shutter speed is all good. I very rarely go above 1/800 secs Position yourself so that the bikes are coming out of the bend as 1. they are slower, 2. They have a good angle of lean. They are coming at you, rather than across. Check your exposure with a few practice shots on the warm up lap and adjust ISO if necessary. Use the framing on the camera as a guide as to when you should depress the shutter. Remember there is a delay and the difference is a good picture, a back wheel only or an empty track! A have a fine collection of the last two!
See also my blogs from WSB and BSB. http://www.myfinepix.com/blog/8991/306514 http://www.myfinepix.com/blog/8991/323228
I hope this helps. It's a great form of photography if you are into bike racing, but frustrating at times. Good luck
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This cheat sheet may help: http://media.digitalcameraworld.com/files/2012/06/Shutter_speed_photogra...
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You may want to check of shaun-d's blog. He to is a serious petrol head and a very good photographer Link attached http://www.myfinepix.com/blog/476502/298436
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right here is the photos i took starting with where i was on the track and onto the best of the bunch i took.
any hints tips or criticism is always welcome, and thanks again for the advice so for its been a real help.
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right here is the photos i took starting with where i was on the track and onto the best of the bunch i took.
any hints tips or criticism is always welcome, and thanks again for the advice so for its been a real help.
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I think it's mainly a distance problem.
Warm day equals atmospheric distortions in the air across the tarmac and the cooler areas you are standing in.
Longer distances stresses the image stabilisation of which sensor shift is not possibly the best type in this situation.
Group shots need to be much faster shutter speeds to accommodate varying speeds of riders within the pack which is hard without narrower dof . The settings are counter productive to each other at this point . A tripod shot would be much better for that providing the head is fluid enough.
Distance makes pans harder not easier.
While it's a slower pan than close up , the ability to keep subject matter within the frame to stay in the same place is much harder. Even the slightest movement is magnified and comes out as a softer image even though it doesn't look like camera shake , that's basically what it is , coupled with a change in size of the machine and rider as it gets closer to the lens. That makes the exposure look soft at the edges of the subject matter and graphics soft .
To stop that you need to place yourself in a spot where you have little change of size of your subject matter as you pan.
That is invariably on the inside of a curve. Tight or sweeping is of no concern . Knowing the racing line and how to place yourself is.
The more you understand the technicalities of your sport , the better you will get at your picture taking .
Each sport has it's own problems that the best photographers know about . Look out for them and study where they shoot from and try to figure out why.
You are also shooting well ahead of yourself with a camera that does not track objects coming towards it very well compared to a system that uses blocks of phase detection cross type focusing sensors used in groups which is much , much faster .
For that you need a camera with a very good predictive auto-focus .
With a more basic camera better results are achieved when the subject matter doesn't vary in distance during the shot such as on the inside of a curve directly ahead at right angles to the track at the apex of the racing line which may well be different to the curve itself .
That's not to say it's impossible , just much , much . harder.
Good luck at your next meeting.
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You got some really good shots from Brands. I would consider cropping them. I hope you don't mind but I cropped the shot of Tommy Hill and added a little fill light using Picasa as the strong sun gave too strong a contrast from light and shadow at the bottom of the bike. I hope you approve. Note I have left space for him to 'ride into' another little trick when composing sports photographs.
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thanks for the comments, ray i think i may print that out and take it with me next time thanks again, and john ive just downloaded picasa so im going to give it a go, cheers
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Glad I could help. I am off to the WSB qualifying day at Silverstone next saturday. I hope I get as many good shots as you did. Keep an eye out for the blog.