Sports/action photography

[purpledove]

I've been invited to join a sports/action photography shoot tomorrow @ a horse track racing facility.

Description states- an opportunity to capture a historic sports palace, spectacular horses, trainers, jockeys warming up as the sun is coming up. Be able to shoot from the rail during the morning workout and will be given the opportunity to take shots of the starting gates during the actual horse races, Winners Circle, stable area, all using the snow capped San Gabriel Mountains as nature's backdrop

I'm excited but I've never done it b4 and wanna at least be ready with a bit of info how to do such shots. I also only have a 28-135mm lens which am aware is not too fast for action/ sports photography. Any suggestions and tips are very much appreciated

 

[Guyzerr]

Depending how much light you have will determine what settings you have your camera at. I would start at 400 ISO on Tv ( shutter priority ), drive set to AL Servo and shutter speed at a minimum of 1/250. From that point I would increase my shutter ( light dependent ) speed in order to stop the action. Do a few test shots of the area your going to shoot prior to the hay burners showing up just to see where your at. That's for the moving horse part.

Tips....

- Try your best to keep the sun behind you.
- If you need to increase your ISO try not to go over 800 if possible. Remember to decrease it as the light gets better. If you can get it down to 200 during the day that would be nice. 100 would be even better
- When your drive is set to AL Servo and you depress the shutter release button 1/2 way and follow the subject the focus should stay locked on. You know that right?
- Your 28 - 135mm lens should work just fine.

The runners circle shots. You know what to do there. Most objects will be stationary or dang near it.

Lemme know how it turns out.

 

[purpledove]

@ Guy: It's forecasted lowest temp @ 46 and highest 78 degrees & sunny tomorrow. I will surely start with those settings you suggested then adjust the settings from there....

Am quite concerned with the Al servo as i see it complicated for me. I have tried it b4 based on the vid tutorial below and i didn't have good turn outs. Most of my shots were blurry

The camera comes with an expansion focus mode too which according to my readings is also good for sports and am not sure how it's different from Al servo :willy_nilly:

I sure will let you know... Thanks much.

http://youtu.be/bUBaxzJ803o

 

[Guyzerr]

Am quite concerned with the Al servo as i see it complicated for me. I have tried it b4 based on the vid tutorial below and i didn't have good turn outs. Most of my shots were blurry

Prop planes honk up to many hundreds of MPH, jets much more and birds... well they can haul some serious ass for their size. Hayburners do what? About 30'ish or so. Because of what I shoot, birds, aircraft in flight etc, I shoot almost exclusively on AI Servo. One thing that differs from your vid and myself is I only use one focal point and not the whole shebang. Combine that with having my camera set to Tv which is critical. When shooting moving subjects I never allow the camera to pick the shutter speed... never ever... I will be brave and assume you had your camera set to auto. Because of that your shutter speed was too slow and your pics turned out blurry.

The camera comes with an expansion focus mode too which according to my readings is also good for sports and am not sure how it's different from Al servo :willy_nilly:

I wouldn't know because I've never used it. Matter of fact I've never read up on it because of the way I shoot now.

I deem three things to be critical when shooting moving subjects and they are.... as mentioned many times... ISO..... shutter speed... and aperture setting. The first two are the most critical imo and the last one is fine tuned with the dial while in Tv. The camera picks the aperture setting while in TV. I'm not fast enough to shoot the stuff I do in manual mode and that's why I shoot the way I do. You have to be a magician with a big magic wand.

 

[purpledove]

Prop planes honk up to many hundreds of MPH, jets much more and birds... well they can haul some serious ass for their size. Hayburners do what? About 30'ish or so. Because of what I shoot, birds, aircraft in flight etc, I shoot almost exclusively on AI Servo. One thing that differs from your vid and myself is I only use one focal point and not the whole shebang. Combine that with having my camera set to Tv which is critical. When shooting moving subjects I never allow the camera to pick the shutter speed... never ever... I will be brave and assume you had your camera set to auto. Because of that your shutter speed was too slow and your pics turned out blurry.

That was what i was thinking of, that maybe with the Al servo, it should just be 1 focal point- but I wasn't sure. I have read somewhere that with lots of focal points, the focus can jump all over the place affecting the quality of the shot. I just didn't know how to change the settings for Al Servo but I'll try that next time.

 

[Guyzerr]

So how did the shooting go? Any good shots?

 

[purpledove]

am loading them as we speak :tooth

speaking of mph with birds and planes, which i actually admire the pics that you take :nod::thumbup---> any suggestions with this bird shot, i took yesterday? change of trio settings to be clearer?

 

[purpledove]

I used the expansion mode ( high speed, 1 focal point) and here's some of the shots.

I even got a shot of the horse (Fighting Furrari) in Seabiscuit











And Seabiscuit

 

[Guyzerr]

am loading them as we speak :tooth

speaking of mph with birds and planes, which i actually admire the pics that you take :nod::thumbup---> any suggestions with this bird shot, i took yesterday? change of trio settings to be clearer?

I'm not sure what you mean by trio settings.

Gulls are a great bird to practice on for a few reasons. One being there are usually lots of them so your opportunities are many. Two, because they are fast little buggers and that helps hone your skills. But.... you have to shoot a lot of 'em and keep changing the settings until you find what works and what doesn't. In the case of your two shots the bird is above you and that makes it difficult because they basically turn into a silhouette. On the occasion where the sun, moon and stars line up they turn out well. Your lens isn't doing you a lot of favors either but it would help if you keep the birds in front of you if you can. IMO for birds you need at least 200mm or better.

 

[Guyzerr]

I used the expansion mode ( high speed, 1 focal point) and here's some of the shots.

Expansion mode????? Didn't you at least try what I suggested?

Anywhoo.... these two shots I assume are the type you were after and you did well considering your lens. It just won't give you the reach you are after. Your settings seemed to have stopped the action fairly well and I actually like the idea that the hooves aren't stopped dead. A bit of motion blur seems to have occurred and it works. The saturation seems a bit harsh from my end and I'm wondering why that happened. By using the settings you did does it change that as well? ( you have a 7D right? )

 

[Peter Parka]

Lets see what Guyzerr really thinks of your photos -

As far as photography is concerned I haven't posted much here in the last few months. It's a lot more fun to pop in and watch some regulars make an ass out of themselves.

I wouldn't take much notice of Guyzerr if I was you, by his own admition, he's only here to be negative and take the piss. Shame really because he actually is a good photographer who could contribute something constructive like skyblue does. What a waste.

 

[Guyzerr]

Lets see what Guyzerr really thinks of your photos -



I wouldn't take much notice of Guyzerr if I was you, by his own admition, he's only here to be negative and take the piss. Shame really because he actually is a good photographer who could contribute something constructive like skyblue does. What a waste.

Keep it in the other thread Peter.

 

[Tuffdisc]

@PD AI Servo is for subjects that are unpredictable in their movement as in birds and other animals that move unpredictably...horses on race track don't move unpredictably i.e. they run in a straight line so keep it AI Focus for races like the ones in this thread. I would use the central AF point as stated before.

I see that you have used Tv mode, but would use a bit of compensation to stop over exposure as the day in the photo has good light

All good photos, but practice on your focusing on the subject in this case the horse/jockey

 

[Peter Parka]

Keep it in the other thread Peter.

You mean like the way the don't take comments I made about my criminal record and drug use and insert them randomly into a thread that has nothing to do with that? And you call me a hypocrite! LOL!!!

 

[purpledove]

I'm not sure what you mean by trio settings.

Gulls are a great bird to practice on for a few reasons. One being there are usually lots of them so your opportunities are many. Two, because they are fast little buggers and that helps hone your skills. But.... you have to shoot a lot of 'em and keep changing the settings until you find what works and what doesn't. In the case of your two shots the bird is above you and that makes it difficult because they basically turn into a silhouette. On the occasion where the sun, moon and stars line up they turn out well. Your lens isn't doing you a lot of favors either but it would help if you keep the birds in front of you if you can. IMO for birds you need at
least 200mm or better.

Trio settings: ISO, aperture and shutter speed

gulls and ravens were the only one's I've had the opportunity to take shots on so far. Yup, they were above me and didn't have the intentions of taking them, but i thought i should try.

Expansion mode????? Didn't you at least try what I suggested?

Anywhoo.... these two shots I assume are the type you were after and you did well considering your lens. It just won't give you the reach you are after. Your settings seemed to have stopped the action fairly well and I actually like the idea that the hooves aren't stopped dead. A bit of motion blur seems to have occurred and it works. The saturation seems a bit harsh from my end and I'm wondering why that happened. By using the settings you did does it change that as well? ( you have a 7D right? )

I did use all the settings you've recommended then I've re-adjusted them accordingly. Otherwise, i think i would have struggled tremendously without your suggested settings to start with :tooth

The expansion mode ( high speed, i focal point) was in place of the AI servo given i didn't have the time to learn it b4 the shoot. But next time around, i sure will be ready with 1 focal point on Al Servo.

And yup, I have a 7D and yes, my lens didn't give me enough reach

 

[Alien Allen]

I thought most of those horse pics were really good

nice job

 

[purpledove]

Lets see what Guyzerr really thinks of your photos -



I wouldn't take much notice of Guyzerr if I was you, by his own admition, he's only here to be negative and take the piss. Shame really because he actually is a good photographer who could contribute something constructive like skyblue does. What a waste.

I am hoping that whatever is on the other threads- that you would just leave it there. I am aware that Guy is a good photographer including some others here (am not gonna name names to leave out jealousy etc) Guy have helped me with photography and i do appreciate that. I also greatly appreciate his willingness to help and share his experiences esp his camera settings. I don't mind his critiquing my shots as that's what am after so I can learn. So please leave the drama where it belongs. Thanks

 

[Guyzerr]

@PD AI Servo is for subjects that are unpredictable in their movement as in birds and other animals that move unpredictably...horses on race track don't move unpredictably i.e. they run in a straight line so keep it AI Focus for races like the ones in this thread. I would use the central AF point as stated before.

Personally I have a tendency to shake a bit when I'm hand holding my big lens and following moving subjects and that's one of the reasons why I shoot on AI Serve. You are a hell of a lot younger than me but as you age you'll figure out what I mean. I use AI Focus when shooting still subjects. Either way it works for me and that's why I suggest it.

 

[purpledove]

@PD AI Servo is for subjects that are unpredictable in their movement as in birds and other animals that move unpredictably...horses on race track don't move unpredictably i.e. they run in a straight line so keep it AI Focus for races like the ones in this thread. I would use the central AF point as stated before.

I see that you have used Tv mode, but would use a bit of compensation to stop over exposure as the day in the photo has good light

All good photos, but practice on your focusing on the subject in this case the horse/jockey

I was wondering where my other photography mentor was

:eek Now am confused as what that AI focus is. Is that same as AI servo on 1 focus (central AF) point?

Yup, I've used the Tv mode and 1 focal point (central AF) . And true too that I have over exposed some of them. You should see the other ruined shots

I thought most of those horse pics were really good

nice job

Thanks. Am still learning though and didn't really have a lot of good turn out shots

 

[Tuffdisc]

I was wondering where my other photography mentor was

:eek Now am confused as what that AI focus is. Is that same as AI servo on 1 focus (central AF) point?

Yup, I've used the Tv mode and 1 focal point (central AF) . And true too that I have over exposed some of them. You should see the other ruined shots

AI Focus is for things that are more predictable while AI Servo is for things that are unpredictable

Not that I think you are a terrible photographer, you are going through the same stage of when I first started photography i.e. guessing and not concentrating on noting things down, more commonly known as spraying and praying