Shooting Shotguns (See what I did there?)

Hi all,

This Sunday I'm off to a shooting range to see some friends doing what they enjoy most, killing little disks...

Being than I'm a noob to photography, I am going along with my camera! Quite looking forward to seeing what I can manage to capture!

I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some tips? I'd love to capture shots like the cartridge flying out etc. I'd also love to do a shot from the barrel end towards the shooter (obviously unloaded...).

My fastest lens is my 50mm 1.8 which I beliee should be fine as ill be up close and for what I want to achieve, shouldn't need a zoom...?

Any input would be great!

Thanks

I think there are a couple of money pictures. The first is when the shell is just ejecting from the chamber. Another is with the bolt open, the empty shell in the air and smoke coming from the open chamber. I also like to try and get the shot string leaving the muzzle. If the shooter gets 25 then a reaction shot is always good. Finally, if you have a good zoom or telephoto try and get the shot string arriving at the target.

The problem, obviously, is timing. You may shoot 50 pictures before you get a keeper. Don't let it discourage you. If you wait until you hear the shot you'll be too late. You have to time it from when you hear "Pull" to just a tick before the shooter pulls the trigger. Some shoot quickly others do not.

If you want to get pictures from the muzzle end you really need to set up a remote camera for that.

I shot all day long at the Georgia 4-H state trap competition last year and only got a few that I really liked. But when you get it right you'll know it.

Just my opinion.

Dan

I'd be more worried about gun powder residue over all my equipment if your close enough (within a few feet). You obviously won't be able to stop motion on a bullet, but neat idea

I've only done this one time and it was a few years ago but I had fun and the guys seemed to love it. Not sure there's much of a trick to it (its actually very easy shooting (no pun intended). I shot everything with a 70-200 f2.8 so that I had some working room. Truth is that you don't really need fast aperture glass since you'll be outdoors in good light I assume.

Here's a few samples from this shoot. Hope it helps with some ideas. Have fun!!

nephew and father in law...the symmetry is what I think works here

I shoot sporting clays alot, both with the gun and camera. Mostly with a 70-200 2.8 or my Drainpipe. When I'm after string shots or breaks I manual focus where I think the break will happen and try to time the shot. Same with ejection shots, I manual focus and try to adjust where the shell will be. I like to shoot from behind the shooters and go side to side and get different looks. I've never noticed gun powder residue on anything but I understand what your thinking.

I've done a bit of work for clay shooting here in Aus.

Depending on the level of shooter, I recommend shooting in burst mode, f2.8 and if you want smoke coming from the barrel, of even lucky enough to get the wad coming out, you need to be already taking shots when they pull the trigger.

It's good fun though and you'll find your own way of doing it.

So if I set my camera to burst mode and keep my finger pressed, perhaps ISO somewhere between 100 and 400 and with a shutter speed of around 1/1000 would these be a good start?

I have got plenty of chances tomorrow as there are three people shooting 100-200 each.

Unfortunately I don't have any kind of telephoto money is too tight for any expensive stuff which is why I got the 50mm as its super cheap.

Thanks for your posts and ill see what I can get on Sunday and post back my favourite

Play around with it, like you said, you will have plenty of opportunities. Don't be afraid to use the 28-80, if you have good light it may work well for you. Good luck.

hardcorewaterfowl wrote in post #14186649
Play around with it, like you said, you will have plenty of opportunities. Don't be afraid to use the 28-80, if you have good light it may work well for you. Good luck.

Oh thats good to hear, since buying the 50mm and reading old reviews on my 28-80 i've pretty much discarded that lens. Ill give it a go!

Can I just ask one more question, what metering would anyone recommend? On my 400D I've got Evaluative, Partial and Centre Weighted..

If no answers ill just have a play and find out myself

I'm using a MarkIIn and use evaluative when I manual focus.
When using the 28-80, pick a spot out in front where the broken clays are landing and focus just in front of that by 10-15 feet and switch the lens to manual. Watch your shooters and try to time the shot. Keep the lens stopped down as much as possible.This will get you broken clays and possible shot strings. I'm able to get 9fps in good light, I'm not sure what yours is capable of, but just bursting may not work well. I would'nt hesitate to use the 50 on burst mode to get flying shells and maybe wads, but it's going to be short to get anything good out in front. Good luck, we both may have some new shots to share tomorrow.

Hi all,

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed my day! Took lots of shot, not a huge amount of what I would say were great ones but it was a big learning curve for me.

The only real problem I had was that the traps enclosed the shooter a hell of a lot which made composition a nightmare, that and the vast amount of people who just stand in the way!

Anyway, I've picked 3 or 4 of my favourites and would love some comments on them as I plan to go again sometime soon.

I didn't get around to using the 28-80 and just stuck with the 50mm.

The one thing I would change next time is to up my f/ as I would have liked a little more of the surroundings in focus, however not so much as it affect the shutter speed.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

You have some experience and now know what to expect next time. Good images and it shows what you were after.
My morning was too dark for what I hoped to have and I didn't spend too much time with the camera in hand. The shots with sky in the background were good though.

Oh cool shots, can I ask what lens you were using?

The Drainpipe, 80-200.