Bowling shots

[amitkhanna84]

So I went bowling the other day. The place was very dark in general with lots of bluish light on the lanes and some more lighting on the sides with a swanky bar behind.

I wanted to take some silhouette in-action shots against the lights but most of my attempts were very blurry. I also found it very hard to focus on the dark subject. The AF won't work and I was too slow/inaccurate with the manual.

In the end, this stationary shot is all I could get (massively cropped) - Checkout the set to get a feel of what the place was like.

1/80s f/2.5 ISO 800

Camera: Canon EOS XSi (450D)
Lens: 50mm f/1.8
I also have the kit 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 but thought the prime would do better.

The entire set is here Strike - a set on Flickr

[GadgetRick]

Hmm, I really like this shot. I never would have thought bowling would give such a great shot.

Is there any way you can change the crop so the circle the bowler is in is fully displayed? That would make this a perfect shot (for me anyway).

[hey joni]

i like this shot, nice one.

The circle being cropped on the left doesn't cause any issues for me (again, just my opinion!) as if it was wider the bowler wouldn't feel as locked into the frame.

you could maybe have set the lens to manual and used infinity mode if you were really struggling (if it has that option). Luckily, you seemed to do well regardless.

[Mr.Gene]

Very nice color

[digirebelva]

Moonlight bowling..., love how the bowler is silhouetted against the background..draws my eyes right to it

[AshNZ]

Originally Posted by amitkhanna84

So I went bowling the other day. The place was very dark in general with lots of bluish light on the lanes and some more lighting on the sides with a swanky bar behind.

I wanted to take some silhouette in-action shots against the lights but most of my attempts were very blurry. I also found it very hard to focus on the dark subject. The AF won't work and I was too slow/inaccurate with the manual.

In the end, this stationary shot is all I could get (massively cropped) - Checkout the set to get a feel of what the place was like.

1/80s f/2.5 ISO 800

Camera: Canon EOS XSi (450D)
Lens: 50mm f/1.8
I also have the kit 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 but thought the prime would do better.

The entire set is here Strike - a set on Flickr

Love the shot! Maybe you struggled with focus because f/1.8 is too large? You will get very less dof with this and hence some trouble with focus. But then again, a smaller f would have meant that you would need longer shutter speed and or iso number. Still I think it's a great shot.

[amitkhanna84]

Thanks for all the suggestions and praise. I forgot to ask this in the original post, but titles for the photo are welcome.

The reason I cropped the circle is that some dude was standing there but I really liked it that way ... so I adjusted the rest of the crop accordingly (i.e. cut the top left circle too)

[brian_dg]

Amazing capture. Maybe, just maybe it is a little bit crooked but overall, a really nice shot.

[tan2sie6]

Hmmm never tried moonlight bowling ...looks like fun...good ideea