Action Shot & Settings

[Graemey]

Hello all,

I attempted to shhot my son on his bike doing some jumps but could not get them crisp. I seemed to try everything, increase shutter speed, play with aperture, ISO but the shots seemed kind of ok until he jumped. I was standing in front just to his rught.

Thank you,

Best wishes
Graeme

[Hill Country Hack]

Graeme,

Can you post an example for us to look at. It may give those with the knowledge a starting point.

[nickbedford]

With action, you might want to try using continuous autofocus if you aren't. This means you have to choose an autofocus point and "track" the subject with it while the focus button is pressed. It's called AI Servo on Canon.

Also, you want to make sure your shutter speed is sufficiently high. In daylight you can make the aperture as large as possible (shallower depth of field) to let in as much light as possible and obtain a shutter speed at ISO 100 anywhere in the vicinity of 1/1000th and higher. This will freeze the subject, so long as the focus is there.

[nickbedford]

This particular shot was taken at F/2.8, 1/250th at ISO 1600. Only a slight blur is found on places like his shoes near the ground.

[Graemey]

Hello All,

Thank you for your help,

How do I post the images?

Best wishes
Graeme

[SwissJon]

You seem to have managed to attach an image. It looks like you've got quite a bit of motion blur there.. Nick's advice is worth following, increase your shutter speed. It also looks like your camera may have focussed behind your son.. The focus suggestion Nick made would work.

[Graemey]

Hello,

Thanks for all the information, I did use my 70-300 zoom lens so do you think it could have moved also as I did not use my tripod?

Best wishes
Graeme

PS Hoe do I embed an image into my message?

[SwissJon]

very easily.. This looked like you were in a shaded area, which probaly reduced the shutter speed quite a bit... Don't forget, to ensure you dont get camera movement, your shutter speed should be at least as fast as your focal length, i.e. between 1/70 and 1/300

Please post exif data or the original photo if you want further help, this photo contains no useful information.

[sk66]

I see a bit of motion blur (SS too slow) but the focus is also way off (seems to be well behind him).
In tough situations where your camera can't focus quickly enough it is possible to use "zone focus".

Focus at the distance you want to take the picture (in manual focus mode) and trigger the release when the subject gets to that point.

I use this technique quite often for predictably moving subjects (i.e. races).

[Jim Bryant]

the 70-300 lens in low light situations is one slow focusing mother!