Greyhound racing

[pawelx]

Any critique, advice on how these could be improved, is very welcome - tried posting in wildlife forum first, didn't get much traction;)
Thanks!
Pawel

[Vulcan58]

Interesting shots - Where were these taken Pawel?

[pawelx]

Interesting shots - Where were these taken Pawel?

Greyhound racing in Romford, east London. This wasn't one of the main events, actually - those take place on Friday and Saturday evenings, and I was struggling due to the little light that was available (ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/500sec). I came on Saturday morning where some kind of less important racing was taking place.

[Sisyphus]

ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/500sec

Looks pretty dang good for ISO 3200. The EXIF shows ISO 640, though, am I reading this wrong?

[pawelx]

Looks pretty dang good for ISO 3200. The EXIF shows ISO 640, though, am I reading this wrong?

Sorry, you misunderstood me - these are from the morning session, when the light was more than plentiful.
The previous evening, I had to shoot at ISO 3200 etc, and nothing good came out.
Anything that I could improve with these?

[Sisyphus]

Ah, got it. I can't offer much advice, the shots look fine to me. The dogs really kick up the dirt, eh? You can't "pose" these shots so have to take what you can get and position yourself to best advantage -- gather a large number of different shots and select the best of the bunch. That's my simple-minded approach to this type of thing. :)

[pawelx]

Ideally, I think I wanted these dogs running straight in my direction, to create as much dynamic effect as possible. Also, I later found that my 70-200 lens was front-focusing and it went back to the dealer. I shot these at, like, f/8 or f/11 but I think the detail on front dog's face is missing in both. I was using AI servo and high-speed burst mode on these.

[Merran]

#1 is too cluttered for me - I'd have to take out the railing and the dog and crop tighter. #2 looks good.

[perfarny]

composition aside, i think you have two great captures there...the intensity and ferocity in the two lead dogs' eyes is amazing.

[Moccadoke]

Great pics....I would love to see some races first hand.

One question though, I have tried doing some pictures of dogs in other sports and am having problems getting the dog itself in focus (especially the eyes...face) as everything behind it usually looks clear, I have tried a few different lens so I know it is the one behind the camera, what and how are you focusing to get the faces in such good focus?

Thanks in advance

[Anke]

I think the portrait one is nice, the railing is a tad distracting in the first shot.

[Jaysee&Dali]

Hi palwelx,

I had a go at capturing some greyhounds in action last winter [here in Australia] at my local track.

You can see them here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=535082).

tried posting in wildlife forum first, didn't get much traction:wink:In the wildlife section? You serious? Try the Sports section next time perhaps :D

EDIT: Just noticed that you did post them in the Sports section; sorry didn't see'em. I would have commented if I had.

I found that there was a lot of luck involved. Technically, I knew exactly what was required but these dogs go that fast, you need luck!

I put the camera into Av mode, set it f/4 and dialed in the appropriate ISO [from memory, I could get away with 200 or 400; I'm in Australia and we have lots of sun here :D] to get a nice fast shutter speed; from memory I was aiming for 1/1000 or faster.

AI Servo and high burst are a must. Get a good postition [as low as possible; I had 10 races to practice on so found the best position pretty quickly], wait for them to come around the bend, lock onto the front runner and fire away, moving with that runner. One thing is for sure, you're never assured of every shot turning out. But it's a huge thrill when they do!

One question though, I have tried doing some pictures of dogs in other sports and am having problems getting the dog itself in focus (especially the eyes...face) as everything behind it usually looks clear, I have tried a few different lens so I know it is the one behind the camera, what and how are you focusing to get the faces in such good focus?With AI servo activated you just need to keep the centre focus point on the dogs face. With greyhound racing it takes a lot of practice; these things are flying!

cheers,
J&D

[pawelx]

Great pics....I would love to see some races first hand.

One question though, I have tried doing some pictures of dogs in other sports and am having problems getting the dog itself in focus (especially the eyes...face) as everything behind it usually looks clear, I have tried a few different lens so I know it is the one behind the camera, what and how are you focusing to get the faces in such good focus?

Thanks in advance
Thanks for the comments. In fact, I was not too happy with the sharpness of these. It’s OK, but not stunning. Of course it’s mostly due to my poor technique, but also maybe at least to some degree due to (1) the fact that my lens was badly front-focusing, which I lateer confirmed doing lots of silly Moire pattern/plastic ruler/test chart shots, and returned the lens (most likely for an exchange), (2) I cropped these from a larger picture (preserving maybe 40% of original height and 40% of original width).

I was shooting in high-speed burst mode (6.something frames per second, I believe), manual (M) mode, ISO around 640-800 (could have done much lower, but wanted to ensure highest f-number possible). 1/800 to 1/1250 sec, aperture at f/11 to f/8, for as much DOF as I could get, and hence minimizing the risk of mis-focusing. This was my first time shooting action with a DSLR, and I now admire people who can freeze action in poorly lit high-school gyms, using minimal DOF at, like, f/2.8 or even f/1.8, and achieving sharpness better than what I’ve got from 300+ shots on a perfectly sunny Saturday morning!

[PetPirate]

These are incredible action shots -- kudos. I was wondering what they might look like from a slightly lower vantage point though?

[pawelx]

These are incredible action shots -- kudos. I was wondering what they might look like from a slightly lower vantage point though?
I know. There was a fence separating me from the track. But agreed that a lower angle could have given a more powerful effect.

No-one seems to be complaining about sharpness, or slight OOF. Is it me being obsessive, or you guys being polite? :)

[Jaysee&Dali]

and I now admire people who can freeze action in poorly lit high-school gyms, using minimal DOF at, like, f/2.8 or even f/1.8, and achieving sharpness better than what I’ve got from 300+ shots on a perfectly sunny Saturday morning!Don't be that hard on yourself! For "the first time shooting action", you chose a very tricky sport to shoot and did a great job.

There was a fence separating me from the track. But agreed that a lower angle could have given a more powerful effect.The lower the better but yes, unfortuately, they do have to have a fence around the track! :D

No-one seems to be complaining about sharpness, or slight OOF. Is it me being obsessive, or you guys being polite?You did a great job! These fella's are probably hitting 60 km/h so keeping the focus point between their eyes isn't going to be easy.

aperture at f/11 to f/8I found that opening the lens right up [f/4.0 or f/5.6] gave me the best results. It gives you best chance of a fast shutter speed at a low ISO. I don't think you have to worry about a large depth of field with these sort of shots.

cheers,
J&D

[Moccadoke]

Thank you to both Pawelx and Jaysee&Dali for their answers. I will practice and see what happens. I did agility at dusk with no problem but when it comes to weight pulling dogs, that are usually moving slower, I struggle.

Thank you again.

[chopper5654]

dont know if its been said, but i would prefer a shallower dof.

that said, i think they look really good. the lead dog is so intense in both! i have spent a lot of time at dog tracks, spending cash not making it, and not much can compare to the vocal passion of those dogs as they chase that rabbit. your images capture that "sound" very well, imo. but, its something the viewer would have to have experienced already to pick up on....otherwise, they just look angry. happy or mad, if they catch that rabbit.....its over, baby.

the dof challenge is one of quality through quantity. you need that shallow dof, not a deep one. its hard, to be sure, but thats why they look so good when you get one right. (i used to take indoor basketball shots, and shallow dof was mandatory for the newspaper. i think i averaged 1:15 in focus, and my buddy averaged 1:9. but, you just keep blasting away until you get what you need.)

as for the rail being in shot one, i think it's mandatory, too, for a horizontal crop. its a racetrack for gosh sakes....there is supposed to be a rail. again, though, a shallower dof will fix that rail for you.

dont be overly critical of yourself, though. they are nice shots.