Tips for panning dog shots in a park?

[JJD.Photography]

I would like some tips on shooting dogs on the loose in a (controlled) park.
My first attempt was the other day and I am pretty happy with most of the shots. I know there is room for improvement though.

The park is a large fenced in area that covers about 2 acres. The dogs run freely as the owners stand around chatting, playing with the dogs, and even throwing balls or toys that the dogs retrieve.

The sun was nowhere to be seen, so I shot with the ISO at 400 to keep the fastest shutter speed possible & mostly with the Aperture wide open. I tried a few in Av and Tv mode, then eventually went to full Manual mode. I have not had a chance to really sit down with the pics, but with a quick scroll through them here is what I am thinking:

1) Need a nice sunny day so I can put the ISO down to 100.

2) Bump the aperture up to at least 5 to get more DOF. The f/2.8 shots did not have enough DOF on the dog(s) at times.

3) Shoot Tv & Manual mode

4) Practice, practice, and more practice :-)

Body: XSi
Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
Handheld. I don't want to use my cheap tripod to pan. My hands are pretty steady, but hope to try panning with a tripod once I get a quality piece.

Hoping to get back out there before the week ends.

The shot I would really love to master is when the dog is chasing after a ball that is heading my direction :lol:

Thanks for any tips!

PS <> If interested I will post some sample shots from the other day

[TrishaW]

I have a decent tripod with ball head, and have been trying to improve on this
as well with my 70-200mm f2.8 L IS. I will bump up the ISO and keep on persevering!

Even handheld is a challenge with my dogs. Hoping with continuous shot mode I might
get lucky. I realize my shutter speed has to be 250 or more, I overlooked this in my zeal to get the shot below. :rolleyes:

I am looking forward to what others have to say as well.

Please post your pics!

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o140/toyota_015/_MG_6156-1.jpg

[JJD.Photography]

Here are a couple of my better "action" shots straight from the camera. I am very new to PP with PS and Lightroom, so just left them as is until I figure out what I am doing with PP'ing.

[tracknut]

The shot I would really love to master is when the dog is chasing after a ball that is heading my direction :lol:


If that's the shot you want, you need a longer lens. Pop the 2x on your 70-200 for it. You will not get a decent sized shot of a dog at 200mm unless he's moments away from hitting you in the face. I'd recommend not worrying about ISO 400, and get your shutter speed at 1/1000 or faster. Leave the aperture as wide as possible if it's just one dog in the shot.

Dave

[saintlover]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/CCDP/11-18/IMG_8324.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/CCDP/11-18/IMG_8318.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/CCDP/11-3/IMG_7861.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/IMG_0473-1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/IMG_3306.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/IMG_3342.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g124/lezigan/IMG_0169.jpg

My best piece of advise for you is to anticipate the shot. Anticipate the dogs next move so you can capture the moment as it is happening.. When I first started out, I got alot of "after the fact" shots... Hope that makes sense. These arent the best photos, but they show the anticipated movements.

[Mustang GT]

This was done with the 28-135 is, she likes chasing sticks more than balls at dog parks so I had my girlfriend throwing them towards me. I keep it on ai servo set to focus on the center using AV mode cranked as low as the lens allows and I adjust the ISO according to the amount of light I have. It's hard to pan on the dog so you'll probably get a lot of blurry shots unless you're using a 70-200 with an extension tube because it is hard to get a shot like you want and even harder when they're 20 feet away from you.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg77/phillipsl0921/Rambo%20and%20Ellie/ellie.jpg

[Larry Weinman]

Photographing dogs in motion is allot like photographing birds in flight. Put your camera into Servo focusing. Use only the Center focusing point. Try to keep the focusing point on the dogs head. ( you will be continually keeping your shutter button pressed half way in Servo.) Keep your shutter speed at at least 1/250 if the dog is coming towards you and 1/500 if the dog is crossing the frame. Keep your pan going with the dog and don't be afraid to shoot many frames. Use continuous focus. Quite often the first frame might not be sharp but the second frame is. Two acres is a big park so plan your shots as the dogs come closer to you. The 70-200 should handle that just fine. Shoot at smaller apertures. F 2.8 simply doesn't give you enough depth of field to handle a moving subject. Don't be afraid to bump up the IS to 400 or higher if you have to. I disagree with the poster who recommended a 2X TC. I used to have the 70-200 f 2.8 and the image quality suffered with a 2X. It slao slowed the focusing. Good luck, everytime I point a camera at my dog he comes running and tries to lick the lens.

[freebird]

Practice ,practic, practice.!!

You have the gear to get er done.

Keep in mind the background when composing your angles.

You probably can shoot a little wide and crop nicely with that body.


Good Luck