NASCAR Bear at Sunrise

[mjmcgarry]

I took a few clicks to try and get this picture. I took it with a G2 and 420EX angled at 60 degrees for fill. I had the camera set in manual at F8 and was bracketing the shutter speed. This shot was at 1/20s.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/48799708/48834190XHdnkB

The bear is part of the Kansas City March of Teddy Bears and is located at the Kansas Speedway (in Bonner Springs).

- Michael

[Leighow]

MICHAEL

It is a darn nice shot. The crowds have gone. It is quiet, and this guy I guess is getting ready for the fun raiser.


It looked qite sharoe to me -- for 1/20. I assume that the F8 gave you some desirabel DOF. I guess that the ISO was 50 or 100.

It's too bad that the G2 can't shoot at smaller f-stops.

HOWIE

[slejhamer]

leighow wrote:
It's too bad that the G2 can't shoot at smaller f-stops.


True, for the G1 too, sometimes, although the more common complaint is way too much DOF, even at f2.0!

In this case I think the morning haze and white sky are the only detriments. Maybe a haze filter would have helped?? Not sure.

The bear itself is nicely exposed, and I like the kiss of sunlight reflecting on his side. My 3-year old daughter saw the picture and said "What a cute doggy! No, that's not a doggy, it's a teddy bear! Hee hee!" I'll bet that was something close to the reaction you expected, Michael. :)

By the way, there's a sharpening trick in Photoshop that can help reduce haze without really "sharpening" the image. Set amount very small, at 20, set threshold to 4, and vary the (huge!) radius between 30 and 60. This should make the bear a little bit cleaner, although it can't do much for the background. For more info, see this site: http://www.lonestardigital.com/photoshop_quicktips.htm

Cheers,

[mjmcgarry]

Thanks for the comments so far.

The ISO was at the default 50. The morning haze did provide a challange. First of all, I did not have effective sunlight until about 45 minutes after the "official" sunrise.

I only have Photoshop 5 Light Edition [it was OEM with my HP Photosmart 100 printer]. I will play around with the sharpning but my eye may not be as good to notice the subtle differences. It took me a second look at the hotrod pic to see where the picture was actually sharpened.

As for DOF, that was my objective in this shot. As for the G1/G2 having too much DOF, I have noticed that in some of my other pictures. Although, isn't the shutter speed just as important as the F stop in eliminating DOF? I will ask my father tomorrow night, he is the photographer [he has a D30, a G2 and a couple of other EOS bodies].

- Michael

[JasonM]

Fact: Shutter speed is completely irrelavent to DOF.
Opinion: I am a little leary of shooting at f8.0 w/ a G2 after some of my pictures at that apature came out soft. It is possible that there was something else going on, but it spooked me a bit.

--Jason

[mjmcgarry]

JasonM wrote:
Fact: Shutter speed is completely irrelavent to DOF.

My father told me basically the same thing about DOF - the shutter speed doesn't matter. It only changes because the aperture changes.

However, when you're trying to catch an action shot, shutter speed does matter. And it was during our discussion of a photo he took that both a shallow DOF and a fast shutter speed were important.

Opinion: I am a little leary of shooting at f8.0 w/ a G2 after some of my pictures at that apature came out soft. It is possible that there was something else going on, but it spooked me a bit.


Q: Was the shutter speed slow enough that camera movement may have caused the soft picture?


Here is the picture my father and I discussed. He had a sideline pass to a KC Cheifs game and took this picture with his D30.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/49212138/49212242EgHjCQ

Exif Data:
Image description
Artist
Copyright
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS D30
Orientation upper left
X resolution 180
Y resolution 180
Datetime 2001:12:16 12:28:40
YCbCr positioning centered
Exposure time 1/800 s
F-number 2.8
ISO speed ratings 800
Date/time original 2001:12:16 12:28:40
Date/time digitized 2001:12:16 12:28:40
Component config YCbCr
Shutter speed value 0.001250 s
Aperture value 2.97086
Exposure bias value 1.33333
Max. aperture value 2.97086
Subject distance 5.12 m
Metering mode Pattern
Flash No
Focal length 195 mm
User comment
Colorspace sRGB
Pixel X dimension 2160
Pixel Y dimension 1440
Focal plane X res. Unknown
Focal plane Y res. Unknown
Focal plane res. unit inch
Sensing method One-chip color area sensor

He was using an F2.8 70-200mm zome lens for this shot