Athletics X-Country

[rip55]

Took this and was wondering how to improve. New hobby since retiring. Find it quite difficult to pan. Any tips or advise welcome.
Thanks

Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: DSLR-A900
Resolution: 1024 x 681
Flash Used: No (auto)
Focal Length: 35.0mm (35mm equivalent: 52mm...
Exposure Time: 0.020 s (1/50)
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO Equiv.: 200
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure: program (auto)

[tcberry33]

Im still pretty new at this also. If you want to make them seem frozen you need to up the ISO. I would imagine that you would also wait until a little later in the race so that the crowd is a little more thinned out. That way they are not all out of focus. Hope this helps.

[zebthepilot]

your shutter speed was to slow.

[Beckerbulldog]

Here are a couple of my pics from my daughters cc team.....Just a few different Ideas

[Drkranger]

Yeah, agreed on the shutter speed. Try to aim for a 1/500 and set everything else around that (aperture, ISO). Unless you really are trying to do a panning shot, then a slow shutter is necessary. In that case, focusing on one runner is key...and it's still hard.

[Jim Bryant]

Also try different angles. Get there early to scout the course and find areas that will give you a high angle and low angles. Most of those shots already viewed were taken standing up. So either, laying down or sitting on your butt will provide different perspective . Also find a hill and shoot up into the sun as the runners cross over the top, makes for really neat silhouettes. And always shoot a couple of close-up vertical shots of the running coming right at ya. I try for impact, so I normally shoot at my lowest aperture (f2.8) and a higher shutter speed of over 1000th sec. Just dare to be different

[mdruziak]

Were you trying to get a shot that showed motion or a nice crisp shot like the others have shown?

Find it quite difficult to pan

That's because panning IS difficult if you are trying to show motion. My suggestion is to take a lot of photos when you are trying to get a motion blur shot. Ideally, you want to have at least faces sharp. Or you want everything blurred for a more artistic shot. Either way it is hit or miss, so take a lot of shots.

Think a little bit more about what you are trying to accomplish when you are setting up the photograph. Do you want to feature one runner and show motion? Do you want to show the motion of the group? Do you want to create an artistic image of a cross country race? The answers to these questions will help you select the right lens or zoom point, f-stop and shutterspeed.