Photographing Shamu in action

[Ochman]

Hi, I'm relatively new to the forum (1 week old i think).
Has anybody got any tips on how best to photograph shamu in action? I'm going to San Antone next month and I want to pick your brains..
My equipment is a Nikon D60, 18-55mm lens, 55-200 lens (both with VR)
Should I use manual focus and manual exposure, instead of waiting for the camera to get focus (in AF)?
I want to get shots with great DOF since I'm planning to shoot from across where my daughters are sitting so they will be facing shamu in the shot. At the same time, I want to freeze the great whale up in the air

Any suggestion is much appeciated!!
Thanks and looking forward to some responses.

[oblivi]

hey manual focus may be your best bet like you said waiting for AF you may miss something. I would recommend using a tripod so that it will be extra sharp. but setting up may not be doable in a short time since you have to get your daughters seated then run across to set up all before shamu starts to jump.

[Ochman]

thanks oblivi, for the prompt reply..i'm leaning towards that too..no problem setting up..i plan to be in the stadium well before the show starts.
Follow-up question.
When using manual mode, and most probably with the 55-200lens attached, Where should I set focus to (pre-focus) so i don't have to readjust every time?
I'm not sure how much DOF i get from the lens, if say i put Aperture at F8.
I plan to shoot some in Sports mode too but I know what I get from this setting is a low Aperture (probably F5.6) so shallow DOF.

Thanks again.

[teedlepeep]

Go very early as there is a great pre-show show (in Orlando anyway) where they put a lot of folks faces up on the video screen. Is great to get a shot of a shot of your kid up on that Your best bet is to play with the manual focus vs the automatic. Every time I have been, I've kept my camera on auto focus and not had a problem. However, I wasn't trying to get the show and the crowd to be in focus at the same time.

Have fun

[Chip]

This DOF Calculator should help quite a bit, since it tells you the depth of what will be acceptably in focus for any given focal length and aperture. This could help you figure out where you'd ideally like your daughters to sit - too far from where shamu be could make for too wide a necessary DOF.

I'm not quick enough with manual focus to try that exclusively in this type a setting. My guess is that auto focus should work fine - so, I'd recommend trying that for at least some of the shots. If not, try for a large DOF, pre-focus on a spot between you and your daughters (edge of pool, railing at the edge of pool, etc.), and press the shutter when/if sahmu comes in the frame.

Problems could come from exposure - hard to expose both the white and black parts of the animal. If a choice has to be made, I'd likely go for not blowing out the whites and underexposing the blacks - but others may have a different idea. Problems could also come from slow shutters speeds. Don't shy away from bumping up the ISO if needed - the noise might not be too bad, and better to get a nosiy shot than no shot.

Seems like a good challenge. Have fun and good luck with it.

[Ochman]

Thanks Chip for the site. That calculator is handy..

[LeviathanFafner]

Best spot for shooting, at least in the Orlando stadium is the first row just before the "Splash Zone" where you are sitting in front of the railing. That way you don't have to worry too much about heads being in the way.

Next I recommend shutter speed of at least 400 if you want most of the water detail as the orca is going through the air.

I would use auto focus and pre-focus on the spot in the water the orca is about to come up. You can see it because it will be a big dark spot in the pool. Then just follow him up as he goes through the air and snap away.

Another random tip is to keep and eye on the gates on either side of the pool, shortly after one opens there is likely to be a jump.

Have fun at SeaWorld ^^

[Ochman]

Thanks for another great tip.
Keep 'em coming..

[spazoid1965]

Just remember even if you don't sit in the "SPLASH ZONE" you may still get wet if you sit up close. If you get wet, your camera will too. I'd sit several rows back and try to get an aisle sit.