Pictures of People in Motion...

I always start my posts to remind that I'm still a very beginner lol so I'm definitely all ears for any constructive criticism you can offer. A few of my dance students offered to be my practice models so I can experiment with my camera and really learn how to use the settings for people in motion. I have the Canon Rebel XT with a regular 18-55 lens. I try to experiment with the manual settings but it's very intimidating because I don't know what alot of the setting do or mean.

As far as the pictures of the girls individually, should I be focusing on the subject prior to jumping or wait till they jump then shoot? Also I got a few pictures of them pretty crisp but then the feet are a blur, what would you recommend I put the shutter speed to?

The last 2 pictures of the group I know are overexposed and pretty bad lighting but how do I get all 4 subjects to come out crisp. What setting would you recommend and what would be the best part of the picture to focus on so that they all come out crisp?

Also can anyone tell me what to tweak in the manual settings to take the best motion pictures.

I really appreciate any and all constructive criticism you can offer me. Here are some of the pictures from that day (sorry so small).

#1

The biggest problem that I can see in all of them is that the subjects are back-lit. That puts their faces in shadow. Time of day appears not to be your friend here. It looks like they were taken at high noon, which creates harsh shadows. In all cases, except for the overexposed one, the light meter was metering for the background.

For shots with a lot of movement, I would have one of your dancers stand where you want her to jump into the frame. Set your camera on manual exposure and focus, pick 1/500 for your shutter speed and adjust exposure and focus for her where she stands. Take the shots in the morning or late afternoon when the light is low and illuminating their faces. Also be careful with the dappled shade. It will almost guarantee that highlights will be blown out. It looks like a fun shoot.

Aside from the bad lighting which joedlh covered, it looks extremely un-natural. Every frame bring the vision of you telling the girl "okay, look at me and jump". I've never known anyone who just had an urge to go in the woods and jump.

Your shutter speed is from 1/60" up to 1/800"

The higher shutter speed should have been a fundamental requirement for all of the shots.

All of the shots are backlighted. So, all of the faces are very dark, and the backgrounds all have too much burned out white.

Open shade lighting for this type of photography would be more suitable. A partly sunny day with the sun behind you would also work.

A focal length of 18 - 25 mm is too short for this kind of work. I am surprised that there is no noticeable distortion.

The last shot looks like the contrast was increased in pp, which is counter-productive, because the silhouette effect of shooting into the sun is already giving more contrast than is wanted between background and subjects.

griptape wrote in post #6094698
Aside from the bad lighting which joedlh covered, it looks extremely un-natural. Every frame bring the vision of you telling the girl "okay, look at me and jump". I've never known anyone who just had an urge to go in the woods and jump.

That doesn't really seem like constructive criticism but everyone is entitled their own opinion, in my opinion I loved my idea. But to challenge you, you're telling me every picture you've ever seen makes sense?

The point of the shoot was for me to get pictures of people in motion so I can practice photographing a moving subject so basically yes, I told her jump and she said how high

dancinmyazoff wrote in post #6093057
I try to experiment with the manual settings but it's very intimidating because I don't know what alot of the setting do or mean.

Learn the basics first, once you have a solid grasp on this, you're experimentation (and what it yields) will make a lot more sense and your progress will increase tenfold.

Do not blindly experiment with the settings if you do not know what they do and how one affects the others, you will end up confusing yourself more in the end.

Start here :

http://web.canon.jp/im​aging/enjoydslr/index.​html

and here

http://photonotes.org/​articles/beginner-faq/

and here

http://www.amazon.com …oks&qid=1218585​139&sr=8-1

Do NOT try to digest everything at once, take breaks, practice as you learn, and most importantly....be patient.

There are plenty of us here who have been at this a long time and still can't take a decent photo (myself included).

As for improving these photos, I would set my shutter speed to at least 1/500 (if you are seeking to eliminate motion blur), prefocus if possible (too bad the xxxDs couldn't decouple the focus from the shutter button short of manual focus), use a fill flash or go somewhere less backlit, stop down the lens a little (f/8 ), bump the ISO as needed. A better white balance wouldn't hurt either.

And when your good and ready....www.strobist.com

Thank you to those of you who gave me a constructive criticism on how I can improve my skills instead of just criticism. I can take criticism, but please follow it with a here's what you can do to improve yourself line at least. I appreciate all of your time to reply and your critique of my pictures.

The important thing is that you practiced an extremely creative idea and that's the way to improve your skills.

dancinmyazoff wrote in post #6095184
But to challenge you, you're telling me every picture you've ever seen makes sense?

No, just the good ones. I'm sorry if I come across as not constructive, and I see nothing wrong with practicing, but if you ask for criticism...

You posted shots of people jumping in the woods. Call me small minded, but when in life will being able to take pictures of people jumping in the woods with absolutely no context be useful? If you have a legitimate response, then by all means, develop your style and learn from your practice.

You posted in the comments and criticism question, and my criticism is that your concept makes no sense. On a stage, or against a studio backdrop, or in a dance studio, these would have context. In the woods, they simply don't to me. No hard feelings, just giving you the criticism you asked for.

Dance,
Minimum shutter speed I would try would be 1/500 if I was able to pan.
A vertical pan takes practice.
I would attempt to freeze the action with a 1/1600 or higher.

Dave