XSI & Wakeboarding

Hi there, James here

Ive had my XSI for around 3 weeks now and while trying to shoot everything, im going out on a friends boat sunday and would love to get some shots of him in the air, now i usually shoot in AV mode but with it on continuous it lags sometimes, ive seen in a post on here before to change a couple of settings and while i cant remember these, i did change them but it didnt sort the problem out,

Im sure this is criminal to say this but should i put my camera in sport mode so that i dont miss a shot ?

Also what lens out of the 18-55, 55-250 and the 50mm 1.4, i was thinking the 50mm as i think the zoom could be an issue with the moving about of the boat but like always would love your views

Thanks

Hi James

I dont shoot much wakeboarding but I do shoot a lot of watersking. You will need a minimum shutter speed of 1/640, so depending on light you will need to up your ISO to get at least that speed. Best to use your 55-250 as you will need the extra zoom to fill the frame. I use AI servo and my 70-200mm at about 70mm from the boat and track the skier usually the best skier photos are round the buoys (turns) where the best wakeboard photos are behind the boat.

You can sit at the back of the boat to get the rope out of the foreground part of the shot (if your friend uses a mast).

Dont know the settings of your camera but you might be filling your buffer if you are shooting in RAW the buffer will fill quicker than small/medium JPG but you will have all the RAW advantages.

cheers
Ali

Don't shoot in sports mode. Shoot at or near wide open on aperture priority to get as high a shutter speed as possible. My gf switched my cam to sports mode to shoot me tubing a few weeks back and every picture came out blurry. On the XTi it locked the shutter at something like 1/200 and with my 70-200 on the end an bumpy boat, 1/200 just wasn't enough to get a sharp shot. Here is a shot of my gf that came out razor shart at f/4.5:
http://farm4.static.fl​ickr.com …29156931_c8cc34​1d9e_b.jpg

Also remember that the length of rope is fixed so don't need to AF.

Hey guys, thanks for all the help, great pic there banditSRT

lungdoc wrote in post #6324579
Also remember that the length of rope is fixed so don't need to AF.

I have tried on MF but I have had best results on AI Servo/AF unless you have the camera fixed to the pylon the distance to the boarder/skier will change.

http://picasaweb.googl​e.fr/alistairksmith/SG​Nautique#

cheers
Ali

BanditSRT wrote in post #6324274
Don't shoot in sports mode. Shoot at or near wide open on aperture priority to get as high a shutter speed as possible. My gf switched my cam to sports mode to shoot me tubing a few weeks back and every picture came out blurry. On the XTi it locked the shutter at something like 1/200 and with my 70-200 on the end an bumpy boat, 1/200 just wasn't enough to get a sharp shot. Here is a shot of my gf that came out razor shart at f/4.5:
http://farm4.static.fl​ickr.com …29156931_c8cc34​1d9e_b.jpg

agreed about AV mode

cheers
Ali

Thanks ali for the tips, il look forward to putting this into practise and showing some shots when i get back sunday, this might be confusing but when you said to get my shutter speed up to 1/640 i will need to increase my iso, any ideas how much or is it just going to be trial and error

Thanks again

James

Think i will be shooting in jpeg, yes i will lose the advantages of raw but will have more chance of getting that 1 shot that kicks ass

Hi all, ali, you said to shoot in av mode, if i do this i wont be able to control my shutter speed, should i use your settings and go for manual mode, should i shoot at the lowest aperture ?, my 55-250 will go from f4 to 5.6

Personally, I'd shoot in Manual, am going to be shooting some cable wake boarding on saturday!

So yeah, take a reading from Av and set that into manual. A change of background etc can really screw with your exposure, so have it set up for the rider. Only issue will be when the boat changes direction and you get different light but shouldn't take long to set it up again.

Also Use Ai-Servo and look to moving the focus button to the * on the back in the custom functions.

Edit: yes I'd personally shooting around f4-f/5-6 to remove the background as much as possible. If 50mm turns out to be a great focal length you could play with your prime at f/2-f/2.8 for a while for some dramatic bokeh.

If your burst mode feels slow it could be that High ISO noise reduction is on. Not really sure about the XSI though

Thanks for the help, hey jbgeach, ive turned that option to off but with no difference, not a problem tho im sure, thanks again

jamesnisabelle wrote in post #6331934
Thanks ali for the tips, il look forward to putting this into practise and showing some shots when i get back sunday, this might be confusing but when you said to get my shutter speed up to 1/640 i will need to increase my iso, any ideas how much or is it just going to be trial and error

Thanks again

James

Just depends on the light available. Shouldn't be trail and error, check your exposure and push the ISO up until you get the exposure required. I often overexpose by 1/3 or 2/3 stop because the waves are white and can darken the skier/boarder. Dont waste too much time taking shots into the sun. Once you have a few silhouette style shots you will find that you get bored with the look. Sun at your back/in the face of the boarder gives the best look.

In the meantime if you want to see how a pro does it check out.

http://www.thomasgusta​fson.com/

See if you can spot how he took the photos from behind the wakeboarder.

cheers
Ali

Pete-eos wrote in post #6332065
Personally, I'd shoot in Manual, am going to be shooting some cable wake boarding on saturday!

So yeah, take a reading from Av and set that into manual. A change of background etc can really screw with your exposure, so have it set up for the rider. Only issue will be when the boat changes direction and you get different light but shouldn't take long to set it up again.

Also Use Ai-Servo and look to moving the focus button to the * on the back in the custom functions.

Edit: yes I'd personally shooting around f4-f/5-6 to remove the background as much as possible. If 50mm turns out to be a great focal length you could play with your prime at f/2-f/2.8 for a while for some dramatic bokeh.

Because I shoot waterskiing mostly from the boat I find that the exposure can change from left to right handside of the course so manual could leave me over/under exposing on one side of the course.

With shots only behind the boat it should be possible to manually set the exposure for each pass.

cheers
Ali