How to freeze motion?!?

[passingby]

Okay this question is going to sound silly..I'm not that new to photography but lately I've been really struggling in regards to freezing motion I have a nikon d3000/18-55mm/70-300mm all with VR.

I just need some tips. For eg. I went to the zoo yesterday and was snapping at an eagle soaring around in hope I could 'freeze' it yet all I get is blurred motion...I've tried ALL my setting from the pre set ones, to my own combinations in regards to shutter speed and with/without flash...help me!?

[dlambert]

The short answer is shutter speed -- a fast speed will stop action. For stopping birds in flight, you'll want to be at *least* 1/320, and probably more like 1/1000 or even 1/2000.

The long answer is that you probably want to read up on the exposure triangle, because you really need to have a bit of understanding of aperture and ISO speed in order to get that sort of speed out of a zoom lens like that.

Take a few shots and pay attention to your shutter speed as you do so. You should start to see your photos "stop" more as you increase shutter speed (decreasing exposure duration).

[passingby]

okay thanks I'll play around with it even though i def was up in the thousands when attempting to freeze these birds

[RichardTaylor]

Can you post an example or two along with exif data?

[dlambert]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

Can you post an example or two along with exif data?

+1 - The EXIF tells no lies. My camera has a setting that will "help" you in Av or Tv by making changes to your settings if you pick a fast shutter speed, for instance, that ends up underexposing your shot. I took a couple dozen photos like this one time before noticing that I wasn't getting the stop-action I expected. It turns out the camera was helping me out by changing my shutter speed so it could keep the exposure within bounds. Needless to say, I found that setting and turned if off.

You might have the same sort of thing going on, and a look at the EXIF for your photos would show that right away.

[passingby]

That's interesting I will def check that out. If I have it in 'S' mode and choose a high shutter is that the same as 'help' mode? as in, would it just adjust my shutter to the exposure or by having it in the specific 'S' mode, my exposure is adjusted to the shutter?