Marching Band

[f8ed4photography]

I wasn't sure exactly where to post these, but would like to see what others think of them. Shot with a Canon 40D, Sigma 70-300mm lens. It was my son's first year in marching band and I took my camera one night just to play with the longer lens. :) I do know they're not as sharp as they could/should be... hopefully next time I'll have better luck with that, but any tips would be great!

[asysin2leads]

You have nice DOF with these images. Both of the shots are OOF and underexposed. Exif data isn't intact. What were your settings for these shots? In #1, you have the band member walking away from you. It would be better to see more of the face. In #2, the other member's hat is very distracting. My attention was drawn to it rather than the subject. Lighting at night football games is hard to work with. Search the forums and you'll find that out. You've got a good start. Hopefully you'll have many more opportunities perfect your shots.

[GoHokiesGo]

Sweet, drumline!! I played in snareline through high school and my first year of college, I miss it a ton.

I don't have any tips since I've never shot band, but I'm sure they'll get sharper with practice.

[f8ed4photography]

Hi... thanks for the comments guys. Kevin I'll have to get on my other computer tomorrow and get the exacts for you. (that's where my original is) As for the band member walking away from me, unfortunately that was the direction he spent most of the show! When I did try to get face on shots, they were all like this one where other band members were in front of him... made for quite a few frustrating moments. :) I did get a couple good images (sharp, were better after pp lightening, etc). I'll definately get that exif information for you tomorrow sometime.

[René Damkot]

I see motion blur and OoF. I think a (lot) higher ISO might have helped. That and faster glass...

[f8ed4photography]

Here's my exif data. It's the same for both photographs.

f/5.6
1/125
1600 ISO
focal length 300.0 mm

does that help anybody know what I did wrong?

[Apollo11]

With handheld shots, the rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed that is 1x the mm of the lens you are using, or 1.6x with a crop camera. For instance, on a full-frame camera such as the 5D, you should use 1/300th of a second or faster with your 300mm lens. On a crop camera such as a 40D, XT or XTi, you should use somewhere in the range of 1/450th to 1/500th. This is just a guide, though---with practice you can become steadier when handholding at slower speeds.

If you use a much slower shutter speed, you should use a tripod or monopod. The longer the lens, the more it accents camera shake, hence the shutter speeds to corrispond with the focal length of the lens.

I hope this helps a bit. Somebody will probably post a more in-depth answer.

[f8ed4photography]

Thanks Andrew. I didn't know that about the longer lens will need a faster shutter speed. I thought I'd be safe at 1/125! I am starting to think I learned nothing in this photography class. {sigh}

[Curtis N]

You did great with the tools you had in that lighting. Night football games are a very difficult environment to shoot in.

Short of spending some serious bucks on a faster lens, about the only thing you could have done to improve these is use ISO 3200 to get the shutter speed up.

[f8ed4photography]

Curtis, a huge thank you. I needed to hear that today... seriously... you have no idea.

[Stefan A]

I think the exposure is just fine for a football game. I usually like to see photos look like they would have looked in the setting. A lot of people like to really punch up the exposure to make it "correct". If yours was any brighter, the bass drum head may have been blown out. So, the main problem is focus. A faster shutter speed would obviously help. But did you try the al servo focus mode? That way, the camera would continue to focus while he is moving. Another trick that has worked for me when I shoot in RAW, is to purposely underexpose by 1 stop to get a faster shutter speed. If you did that along with the 3200 ISO, your SS would have been 1/500 - which would have been plenty. Then, in PP, it's easy enough to punch the exposure back up. Finally, don't be afraid to move around the stands and take tons of shots. Better chance of getting a good angle with less distractions.

Your first shot is good - I am sure he liked seeing it.

Stefan

[f8ed4photography]

So, the main problem is focus. A faster shutter speed would obviously help. But did you try the al servo focus mode? That way, the camera would continue to focus while he is moving. Another trick that has worked for me when I shoot in RAW, is to purposely underexpose by 1 stop to get a faster shutter speed. If you did that along with the 3200 ISO, your SS would have been 1/500 - which would have been plenty. Then, in PP, it's easy enough to punch the exposure back up. Finally, don't be afraid to move around the stands and take tons of shots. Better chance of getting a good angle with less distractions.

Your first shot is good - I am sure he liked seeing it.

Stefan
Thanks Stefan... very much. I am afraid I don't know what al servo focus mode is. Never heard of it. And when you said at 3200 ISO my SS would have been 1/500... what is SS? Sorry I am new to all the abbreviations. (so new I might even be new to what SS is altogether! HA!)
I am still a little timid about moving around in front of spectators, etc. I move around more during the field show than I do the football game. Here in Alabama, I'm likely to lose an arm (and a camera) if I get in the way of some of these "fans". :) And thank you also for the compliment. I needed that today. And yes, he did enjoy the photo. :) He thought it was pretty cool... guess it's easy to please a 14 year old. :)

Never mind... Shutter Speed... I got it. DUH. :D

[Curtis N]

Your camera has three autofocus modes:
One shot - Used for when neither subject nor camera are moving. It locks focus and quits.
AI Servo - Used for moving subjects. You hold down the button and it will try to maintain focus as the subject moves. AI is an abbreviation for "artificial intelligence".
AI Focus - A rather poor combination of the two. It locks focus and stays there until it detects subject movement. But it usually detects it too late. This mode is normally one to avoid.

Have another look at your 40D instruction manual. It tells you how to select the AF mode.

[f8ed4photography]

Your camera has three autofocus modes:
One shot - Used for when neither subject nor camera are moving. It locks focus and quits.
AI Servo - Used for moving subjects. You hold down the button and it will try to maintain focus as the subject moves. AI is an abbreviation for "artificial intelligence".
AI Focus - A rather poor combination of the two. It locks focus and stays there until it detects subject movement. But it usually detects it too late. This mode is normally one to avoid.

Have another look at your 40D instruction manual. It tells you how to select the AF mode.

Thanks Curtis... I have only skimmed the surface of my manual. I carry it in my camera case and take it out when I have something I'm in question about. I appreciate you defining those better for me. :) I really need to be taking notes! :D

[Stefan A]

I am still a little timid about moving around in front of spectators, etc. I move around more during the field show than I do the football game. Here in Alabama, I'm likely to lose an arm (and a camera) if I get in the way of some of these "fans".

Yeah, I know what you mean about that. I don't like to get in front of people either - and thus drawing attention to myself. I shot a concert several weeks ago and there was another photographer there without shame. He just walked around and stayed right in front of people. I would just go to a spot, take a couple of quick shots, then get out of the way. He was also using flash at a classical concert and got right up next to people while they were playing. These things tell me he wasn't a very "professional" professional. I understand the need to get good shots, but not at the expense of the performers/audience comfort.

I see Curtis has answered your other questions. Reading the manual is a common, but very important piece of advice around here. AI Servo would definitely help with a Marching Band while they are moving.

Stefan

[f8ed4photography]

Yeah, I know what you mean about that. I don't like to get in front of people either - and thus drawing attention to myself. I shot a concert several weeks ago and there was another photographer there without shame. He just walked around and stayed right in front of people. I would just go to a spot, take a couple of quick shots, then get out of the way. He was also using flash at a classical concert and got right up next to people while they were playing. These things tell me he wasn't a very "professional" professional. I understand the need to get good shots, but not at the expense of the performers/audience comfort.

I see Curtis has answered your other questions. Reading the manual is a common, but very important piece of advice around here. AI Servo would definitely help with a Marching Band while they are moving.

Stefan

One thing about it, those flashes can really interfere with a performer and I don't think I would ever use one unless it was specifically permitted. Thanks to you and Curtis both for letting me know about the AI Servo. I had never heard of it before so will definately be checking my manual out. I just got done doing some shots of my cat and when I looked at the EXIF info, I did see that it's one-shot AF so just learned something new. :) Thanks a bunch!