Surfing Trouble

[photobum]

I took this picture from the Huntington Beach pier. There has been no post processing or cropping because I wanted to show the image and get a critique of how I captured the image prior to modifying it. Is it me or does it look like the image is not very sharp? When I cropped my images they looked even worse. I'm just wondering what I am doing wrong, or what I could do better in order to get a sharper image.

I shot this with a Canon T1i and a 70-200 f/2.8L non IS lens. I used AI Servo and automatic AF point selection so that if I couldn't keep the center AF point on the surfer one of the other AF points would pick it up. Is this the correct technique? I have used the center AF point in the past and had similar results, so i figured that I would try the auto AF point selection.

ISO 400
135mm
f/10
1/500
circular polarizer
tripod

[mlinfoot]

New to photography, new to these forums and DPS, and first ever critique...

What a great shot! You have lots of room for creative cropping and giving it even greater impact.

I would think the main focus would be the intense look of concentration on the surfer's face, but it does seem to be a bit fuzzy. Maybe using a single AF point instead of the auto sensor? Also, I think it could use a bit more light in that area to bring out some of the detail.

Wish I had taken this shot -- I'd be quite pleased!

[photobum]

Thank you for the nice comments. Cropping almost seems counter productive. I feel that the image would be a lot better if it were cropped in, but it seems to look very fuzzy that way. That's the problem that I'm having. It's that way on every picture. Most seem sharp, but when I crop they become too fuzzy.

[MattG]

Regarding the fuzziness - what settings are you using for the image storage, i.e. RAW/JPG setting. It might be that you are using a lower resolution JPG and that could be the issue. Other possibilities - could be the lens, artifacts from the spray/light and possibly motion - I am not sure but whilst 1/500th seems quick on a 135mm focal length, you might need to up this to ensure motion blur does not occur at this focal length.

[mrteacherdude]

My experience with shooting what you have here is pretty limited, well... nonexistent, so I'm not sure if I can help. But I'll give it a try.

Overall it looks like the lighting conditions were very challenging. Some parts of the image are underexposed, while other parts are overexposed. Between the black wetsuit and the ocean spray, there is a fair amount of dynamic range you are trying to capture. It also looks to me like the sun was pretty much overhead, but a little bit behind the surfer. Glare off of the water can be significant under these conditions which is probably why you are using the CP.

The exif data has been stripped from the file, so I don't know what mode you are shooting in, what time of day, etc. I figure you are setting the camera to shutter priority so you can control the shutter speed, but I really don't know. I'm also guessing that you have your camera set to evaluative metering, and you are pointing the camera at the surfer's black wet-suit when preparing to take a photo. Again, I don't know if this is the case.

If I were looking at this from the perspective as if I had taken it, I would probably come to the conclusion that I'm having more of a lighting and exposure challenge than an autofocus problem. I've used the lens you are using (well, the same model anyway), and I have seen similar results. That is, the lens is incredibly sharp sometimes, but I can get not so great pictures other times. The times I got pics that were not so great was almost always due to difficult lighting and/or having the camera set wrong for the lighting conditions.

The CP may actually be counterproductive in this case. I might try shooting without it to see what happens. The filter cuts down on the amount of light coming through the lens, which can cause metering difficulties in dark parts of the scene. And if memory serves me right, is not likely to be very effective at reducing glare when the sun is directly overhead, or what appears to be parallel with you when you captured this photo. I would probably also try spot metering, or whatever is the closest to spot metering you can get with your camera. That way I am exposing for the surfer and not the entire scene. This will likely cause a lot of blowout of the water spray and the light parts of the surfboard in this case (it's already blown out anyway), but at least you'll increase the likelihood of getting a sharp, properly exposed surfer. I don't recall where the sweet spot is on that lens as far as aperture goes, but f10 may actually be a little too small. I might try opening it up a little and knock down the ISO. I don't know if a faster shutter speed would help, but it might be worth a try since there is a lot of stuff moving around in the scene and reflecting light all over the place.

I can't speak from experience on your AF point selection method. Intuitively it seems like it should be ok under these conditions since there really isn't much that gets in the way of your subject to provide your lens with a challenge of "deciding" what it should focus on. I personally feel more comfortable with setting my AF point and attempt to keep my subject there as it moves. If I know what direction the subject is going to move, I set my AF point accordingly so the subject will be framed properly for what I am trying to achieve. But that's just me; I've read that some people really like auto AF point selection.

If nothing else, hopefully this gives you some ideas. What we can hope for is someone who has way more experience, particularly with these kind of photos, will add to the thread.

[Jensers]

I am a little late here, but I use the center point, put the action in the center of the frame, and give myself enough room to crop it how I want in post so to improve the composition.

One thing that often helps me is to pull the bad image up in post to get up close and personal with it to look for clues as to how I screwed up... Perhaps the image IS in focus - just not where I wanted it to be! That happens a lot. If part, or the whole of the image is out of focus I know that I probably hit back focus, but missed the subject inside of the depth of field restrictions I created.

If you shot this at F10 you should have had a lot of wiggle room with your DOF (within reason) so that seems strange.

I love seeing surf photos here, so I hope you will get back after it so we can see some more.

[sk66]

Does your camera have auto focus point expansion? That's the setting you want.

To me it doesn't look like bad focus, it looks like "missed" focus.

[inkista]

+1. The wall of the wave in the center of the frame is in focus. The surfer is not. Have a feeling your camera latched onto a different AF point than the one you wanted. Open up the photo in ZoomBrowser and see which AF point was active when the shot was taken.

[photog1107]

You might trying changing over to back-button focus and panning with your subject to use the single focus point to a greater degree of accuracy and control.

Here is an explanation. I have changed over to do my sports shooting (and now, everything else) and I would never go back.

Canon DLC: Article: Back-Button Auto Focus Explained

[danbaileyphoto]

It actually looks pretty sharp to me. If there's any softness, it's from one of two things: Either the AF tracked on the wave breaking right above the surfer, or else the 1/500 sec was just not quite enough to perfectly freeze the subject in motion with the 135mm lens. Usually, 1/500 is enough to stop action, but sometimes you just need to go faster.

Like I said, though, it looks pretty sharp. Nice composition and good job getting this shot!