Kite Buggy Pics

[Jonny]

Hello Guys,

Yesterday i was trying out my new 1.4x extender on my 70-200 F2.8. The images look great with no obvious degredation whatsoever!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.speed/Forums%20Pictures/buggy777.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.speed/Forums%20Pictures/buggy77.jpg

But heres the my question guys.

For these shots i was using shutter speeds of between 1/400 and 1/640 sec as i was pretty nervous of camera shake. i dont have the steadiest of hands and the weight of these lenses really doesn't help.
As you can see i have no sense of motion in these shots even though the subjects were moving quite fast.

How do you overcome the need for a high shutter speed and the need to capture motion. Is a tripod the only answer?

[gmen]

How do you overcome the need for a high shutter speed and the need to capture motion. Is a tripod the only answer?

You could try panning shots at slower shutter speeds... See this thread for some advice http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58417

If you're not panning, work your way down through the shutter speeds until you find a speed that freezes the overall motion BUT allows for some blur on the wheels of the buggies - this will impart some sense of motion to the images.

Also try some different angles - get lower perhaps as this will also make your images more dramatic and, importantly, DYNAMIC!

[Jonny]

You could try panning shots at slower shutter speeds... See this thread for some advice http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58417

If you're not panning, work your way down through the shutter speeds until you find a speed that freezes the overall motion BUT allows for some blur on the wheels of the buggies - this will impart some sense of motion to the images.


Thanks for the advice but how do you check for sharpness in the field? If i drop the shutter speed i risk getting home with a card full of crap! the LCD seem useless to assess you pics. Is the only real way to use the LCD and zoom in?

Thanks again

[Phil V]

Thanks for the advice but how do you check for sharpness in the field? If i drop the shutter speed i risk getting home with a card full of crap! the LCD seem useless to assess you pics. Is the only real way to use the LCD and zoom in?

Thanks again

Remember we used to have to wait till we got our prints back, I appreciate the lcd isn't perfect, but it's wonderful compared to nothing.:confused:

BTW a monopod is a good compromise between handheld and a monopod. Panning and slightly lower shutter speeds are the things you need to be doing.

[Mastineo]

Hi
where were these taken?

John

[Cadwell]

With practice you can judge sharpness using the LCD... but it does take practice. I find a heavier lens helps for panning. The weight of the lens makes for a smoother pan and follow through action.

A monopod is the ideal support for action sports - I use one a lot with my heavy long lenses. Tripods are a waste of time for most sports.