The need for speed, tips?

[warehouseman56]

Hi,
I have had my camera for a week now, (and still not an expert!) Having lots of fun with it. It's a bit of a learning curve. I was hoping somebody could help point me in the right direction. I am pretty good at things that stay still in good light. One of the things that I would like to be able to do is take pictures of animals or birds moving at speed. To help me with this I have recruited two, young and very active dogs who are more than willing to pose for me at considerable speed. The results that I am getting are just not good enough. Not sharp enough particularly when they are flying through the air. I know I am expecting a lot from an absolute beginner but it's only fun and I have plenty of time to perfect my technique.
So focus seems to be my biggest problem. The camera says it is focused, perhaps the animals are moving too fast. Should I be speeding up the shutter, light sensitivity, apperture? I am just looking for a point in the right direction, you don't have to tell me the secret key. Is there one? I am loathe to use a sports scene (for instance) because I want to understand how and why this works and apply it to other scenarios. There is a lot to learn.
My camera is a Panasonic FZ50.
Thanks, Colin

[Paul mabbott]

Don't know how your camera works but you will want to use a fast shutter speed - a corollary of this, however, is that you will get a wider aperture and therefore narrower depth of focus. So (a) set a fast shutter speed and make sure that your camera gives priority to this, (b) get the camera as close to focussed before you take the picture, (c) to an extent you can move with the subject - if your dogs are moving left to right then swing in the same direction as you click - dosn't always work but it's worth a try! Good luck.

Originally Posted by warehouseman56

Hi,
I have had my camera for a week now, (and still not an expert!) Having lots of fun with it. It's a bit of a learning curve. I was hoping somebody could help point me in the right direction. I am pretty good at things that stay still in good light. One of the things that I would like to be able to do is take pictures of animals or birds moving at speed. To help me with this I have recruited two, young and very active dogs who are more than willing to pose for me at considerable speed. The results that I am getting are just not good enough. Not sharp enough particularly when they are flying through the air. I know I am expecting a lot from an absolute beginner but it's only fun and I have plenty of time to perfect my technique.
So focus seems to be my biggest problem. The camera says it is focused, perhaps the animals are moving too fast. Should I be speeding up the shutter, light sensitivity, apperture? I am just looking for a point in the right direction, you don't have to tell me the secret key. Is there one? I am loathe to use a sports scene (for instance) because I want to understand how and why this works and apply it to other scenarios. There is a lot to learn.
My camera is a Panasonic FZ50.
Thanks, Colin

[glsammy]

I agree (almost!) entirely with Paul. However, there's no hard and fast rule, take this example:



This was a slow shutter speed of only 1/160sec, hand held. What made it work was the panning with the bird, as you can see by the blurred background.

I also used panning with this one, but had a much faster shutter speed of 1/1250sec. due to better light. Still had some background blurring, to show that I was moving the camera.



I suppose I'm saying if you can pan with the subject, you should stand a decent chance of getting a good shot. I'd recommend setting your camera on shutter priority, (although I never use it, I almost always use aperture priority!) This will force the camera to use the fastest shutter speed for the selected aperture, which should be quite open if you want the subject to be separated from the background.
Also if the camera has a servo focus mode, preferably with centre focus, then use that. This means the camera will change the focus as the subject moves .

Edit: I've just checked the spec for your camera, it does offer a continous AF mode, plus spot focus. I'd recommend using those settings.

[nightshade]

Nothing clever but as they both have said pan with the subject
release the shutter AND continue the follow through
so many people stop as they release the shutter and cock-up
a really great shot.......follow through you may even get the chance of a second shot

[eeyore]

if you pm me your email address i will send you the advice sheets i did earlier in the year - i've got one on basics for beginers and another one on photographing action (specifically on birds in flight but the techniques are good for dogs in flight too

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by glsammy

I'd recommend setting your camera on shutter priority, (although I never use it, I almost always use aperture priority!) This will force the camera to use the fastest shutter speed for the selected aperture, which should be quite open if you want the subject to be separated from the background.

I know what you meant graham , and I know you know this but just to clarify for our less experienced members

it is aperture priority (AV) which forces the camera to sellect the speed for whatever apperture is selected - it wont force it to select the fastest , just whatever the metering wants , so for faster speds you need to select a wide apperture , such as f5.6

shutter priority (TV) allows you to set a certain speed , with the camera selecting an appropriate apperture based on the metering - selecting a fast speed will normally lead to a wide apperture (unless the light is very bright)

so therefore if Depth of field , and thus apperture is the most important factor you should use AV , if the speed is the most important use TV.

another factor is the selected ISO - if you want to make faster speed available for a given light level turn the ISO up (but not above 800 if you want to avoid noisy images) , to make slower speeds available at a given light level turn the iso down (most cameras have a min of ISO 100 , tho some dslrs allow ISO 50)

[warehouseman56]

Hi,
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to answer. I have only just had the oportunity to read all of your comments. My Son is home from uni and seems to be on the PC 24/7 which doesn't leave me much opportunity. Sunday morning I tried out Glsammys advice on using continuous AF plus spot focus and got much better results. I will work on the rest of it.
I know this is gonna sound stupid but my problem with setting shutter priority is that we are normally out at dawn, the light isnt great and it darkens the pictures.
Yeah, I embarass myself sometimes too.
It's all fun, better PM Eeyore.
Colin

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by warehouseman56

Hi,
I know this is gonna sound stupid but my problem with setting shutter priority is that we are normally out at dawn, the light isnt great and it darkens the pictures.
Yeah, I embarass myself sometimes too.
It's all fun, better PM Eeyore.
Colin

it sounds to me as tho you are setting to fast a speed for the light conditions - this ought to show up as a blinking indicator in the viewfinder (tho the exact display varies from camera to camera) - say for example that with the apperture as wide as it will go (probably f5.6) and the iso turned up as high as is sensible (800) the meter wants to select 1/125... if you have used TV to force the camera to set 1/250 then all your images will be under exposed by 1 f stop - if you have set 1/500 then they will be under by two f stops etc

in these conditions it is better to use AV and set the apperture as wide as possible - the camera will then select the best available speed - if this drops below about 1/250 which it probably will then forget about conventional flight shots and concentrate on panning - you could also jack up the iso to 1600 but this will cause a lot of image noise in the dark areas.