How to optimize results for ACTION photos?

So Ive had my G6 for a month now and love it, but Im not having great luck with action photos--particularly photos of runners at races. I took about 300 photos at a recent half marathon and theyre not as clear as I was hoping theyd be.

Any comments on how to improve these would be much appreciated! THANKS!

Here's a link to the thumbnailed, as well as cropped and very compressed versions: http://www.fasttwitchp​ro.com/brightwoo/sfhal​f

And below are some larger images:

Im very much a novice and am still trying to figure out this camera. I had it set on Aperture-Priority mode. Im not exactly sure how to focus on runners either--by the time I get focused on the runner, he's out of my viewfinder, or away from where I wanted him to be. Any tips welcome!

These shots aren't bad but here are my recommendations. You want to minimize the shutter lag as much as possible. Here's what I do: set the exposure manually so the camera doesn't try to set it as you are pushing the shutter release; set white balance manually or pick the appropriate white balance setting other than auto; pre-focus on the area where your subject will be and anticipate when the subject will be in place. (You have to account for the shutter lag.)

It takes some practice but you can get pretty good with it.

Michael

The exposures are fine, Your exif data shows that,The aperatures vary from f 2.5 to f3.0 and the shutter speeds from 1/500 t0 1/1250. which is no problem.

I think that using manual exposure settings in these lighting conditions may be a little hard for a novice, as you have to be very accurate in these high brightness range conditions, or you burn out the highlights too much.
But as you get more experienced it wold be the way to go.

The main shutter lag problem is finding focus, this takes quite a time on a G series camera. In each of your pictures is a sharp area , but not where you wanted it.

This needs manual focus.
I pre focus on a spot where I know they have to pass and set it with the manual focus .
I then use the view finder and watch some one on to the spot and fire the shutter.
I then look at the review screen and see where they were, when the shutter fired.
The next shot is fired when they reach a spot the same distance before my first chosen spot as the person had been in the review picture.
With any luck they will now be in focus.

The next thing to try is to follow the person in the viewfinder and keep it swinging as you take the shot .This is called panning. this allows you to use a slightly slower shutter speed.
say 1/500 second set at TV
This will allow the f stop to close down more giving you a greater depth of field.
You will not need to be so accurate with the focus, as a bigger area will be sharp.

The view finder is not very accurat on a G series camera, You must reall fill the view finder, then in the actual picture there should still be space all round. It makes a 20% allowance,which is too much .

All this comes with experience, shutter lag was not something one had to worry about with film cameras, as it was minimal. For sports work the new dslr cameras have much shorter lag times, and would be the way to go if this is the type of work you want to specialise in.
But don't get me wrong G cameras are excellent allrounders, and you can learn their foibles and take exceptional pictures with them.

Enjoy your Photography, You have made an excellent start.
Keep asking questions... it helps.

Terry

I agree with mikey, those are perfectly respectable shots, i'd be pretty happy if i got those.

Also, for variety, maybe consider a slightly *longer* shutter speed ,maybe use Tv mode between 1/60 and 1/125, then prefocus as described above, and pan with the subject as you release the shutter. that might help emphasize the speed and motion by blurring out the background and other runners. It's risky if you need one good clear shot of a friend as he or she runs by, but practice it on other runners for fun and see what you can get. Hopefully you can get some nice, more arty, more dramatic shots.

If it's very bright out, you may need to use the built-in ND filter to get a good exposure at a lower speed. Also, this works best from the side, it's hard to do if the subject is running towards you.

thanks for all the feedback. i knew the bright morning sun wasnt going to help! i know i need to experiment more--problem is when i get to the race and there's not enough time for me to experiment with different menu settings b/c i want to get all the runners photographed, so i didnt fiddle around with manual mode.

i'll have to go to the park this weekend and just experiment on random runners.

i do enjoy this, so i think a dslr is in my future (i know this camera wont take the kinds of photos of runners that i want to take)--distant future, though, b/c ive only had this G6 for a month!

I've got basically the same problem with my G5. I'm getting into sports photography and my G5 has terrible noise with a high ISO setting

I'm looking at a 20D in the near future!!!