Focal length: 105mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1/1250s
ISO: 200
Whenever I have the time, I’ll always try to brush up my photography skills. It may be something new, something that I’ve never done before, or it may be something I always do. Same difference. Practice practice practice, and when you’re done, practice some more. Yeah I know I sound like a broken record. But seriously, if photography is as important to you as you think it is, then do yourself the favor. I used to coach swimming in another lifetime, and there’s this thing called muscle memory. Do it often enough and your body will do it automatically. Practice enough and your fingers will know how to find that button or that dial on your camera. No need to look, no need to fumble. You’ll miss lesser shots, and your eyes and mind can concentrate on finding stuff to shoot, instead of trying to find that button on the camera. Sooo, how do I practice? By going on photowalks. Many does it, and I do it too.
Today I had a few hours to kill in the afternoon, and I went to this place SKI 360º. It’s a cable ski place, ring, bowl thingy. I like coming here and have been here more than a few times. There are lots of really talented people here and you can see some awesome stuff. Plus you can brush up your sports photography!
Focal length: 105mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1/1250s
ISO: 200
Basically when I’m here I get to practice two things. Freezing action and panning. To me, freezing action is a little easier than panning. Freezing action is all about having a fast shutter speed. In good light, that shutter speed can be anything from 1/1000s and faster. Personally for me, I like to set a really wide aperture, like f/2.8 and shoot these athletes. I like how the riders seem to pop out in 3D, isolated against the background. But I’m sure you can try a smaller aperture to have a more defined background as well. However, when using a fast lens that has a long focal length, you need to choose very small apertures to get a more defined background, and that is detrimental to the amount of light entering the camera. Which means your shutter speed will drop. You can compensate with higher ISO but you’ll get more noise. Not really my kind of thing.
Focal length: 105mm
Aperture: f/16
Shutter: 1/30s
ISO: 200
Panning is a little different. Basically you choose a slow shutter speed and whatever aperture that will allow you to get a correct exposure. Some possible shutter speed can be something like 1/30s or 1/100s. There’s no real “rule” because it’s all dependent on the speed at which the sports you are taking plays out. You may be surprised but normally people playing sports move a lot faster than say a race car on a track. It it also dependent on how far away you are from the action. So choosing a shutter speed by trial and error is a good way to arrive at that shutter speed. Sorry if all this sounds so unscientific but oh well, I can understand science but experience is a somewhat intangible but important element in photography. Some photographers may prefer not to use a very small aperture with a slow shutter because of diffraction. This is some natural phenomena that occurs in lenses at very small apertures like say f/20. Basically, it makes the image “softer” or more blurred. Then perhaps you can use a Neutral Density (ND) filter to cut down the amount of light entering the lens but I haven’t tried this so I’m not sure how it will all pan out (groan! Yeah get over it!)
Focal length: 105mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1/640s
ISO: 200
So how do I set my camera? To freeze action this is what I do. If it’s a really bright sunny day, I may set the default base ISO, in this case it’s ISO 200, or you can try the Lo 1 setting for Nikons. You’ll however get higher shutter speeds with the more sensitive ISO 200. There may be more noise visible, but I’m ok with it on the D300. Mileage may vary according to camera. Those using full-frame cameras should not even bother about the noise at that level. I then set the camera to aperture priority mode. Gasp! What! What happened to shutter priority?!! Relax! As I mentioned above I like to have a more shallow depth of field in my photos of people doing sports, so I choose aperture priority mode according to what kind of depth of field I want. Naturally for wide apertures, the camera will choose a very fast shutter speed (on a bright day) which will freeze the action. Hooah! I then choose continuous drive mode, 9 – point AF area, continuous autofocus and fire away!
Focal length: 105mm
Aperture: f/16
Shutter: 1/40s
ISO: 200
For panning, I switch to shutter priority mode and choose the slowest shutter that can give the effect I want. What effect is that? I think in order for panning shots too work well, the background needs to blur with a sense of motion or direction, but the athlete needs to have some parts of their bodies sharp enough for someone who sees the photo to understand what’s going on. To feel the emotion or energy coursing through the athlete when they execute their moves. I feel that if it gets any “blurr-er” or undefined, then it enters the realm of the abstract and as such perhaps shouldn’t be considered sports photography. Of course anything is possible in photography and there can be many possibilities (disclaimer!). The rest of the settings are as above. How to pan smoothly? For the above scenario, start following the athlete using your viewfinder, ensuring your selected AF point is on the athlete before the athlete starts his jump, shoot slightly before he jumps, while he is in the air, and follow through with the pan after he lands. This will ensure a smooth pan. Those who have been in the army or have fired moving targets with firearms should be familiar with this. Hold the camera steady, stand or sit in a stable way, and swivel at your hips. Practice it enough and soon you will be real smooth at it. Luck as usual plays a part in all this!
I better end off since I’ve put everyone but that fella at the back, yeah you, to sleep! There are definitely other ways to freeze action as well as pan, such as different camera settings and different techniques, but the fundamentals are the same. So get out there and give it a try!
P.S. I usually make friends with the athletes and offer them some of the photos via email, online download or you can print it out for them if you are ok with the cost. Remember these are people that you are taking photos of so give a little respect to the amazing stuff they do. Many have become my facebook friends, and they may even ask you to come along the next time they are out. So far, only one rollerblader has rejected me outright, and he had a really haunted look on his face when I approached him to offer him the photos. I think it might be my hair… So yup, let’s put some feeling into our photography!
