What am I doing wrong?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Todd on June 22, 2009 at 6:14am

I really like the first one, great job of capturing his intensity. Not sure what's up with the second one. Perhaps a faster shutter speed, like Sport mode to capture motion quickly?

Permalink Reply by Susan E. Spencer on June 22, 2009 at 6:29am

Tell us what camera and lenses you are using and what camera settings you are using or used to capture the above.
This will allow us to be a bit more specific which will help.
For example:
I use Canon 40D, 1D Mark II N and 1D Mark III....my lenses are all ISL lenses (Image stabilization and pro) and the wide open aperture is 2.8
I shoot in AV mode or Manual depending upon the lighting and my position on the field or court

Permalink Reply by Justin Disher on June 22, 2009 at 6:58am

I use a Sony DSC-H7, and I was shooting in Advanced Sports mode with a Circular-Polarizing lens. I believe the shutter speed in that mode is 1/4000, but I'm not positive on the Aperature setting (perhaps 2.7?) [the range is F2.7-F4.5]

Permalink Reply by Rob Bixby on June 22, 2009 at 3:15pm

Justin, the settings whenever you're using an automatic function, fully auto, aperture priority, shutter speed priority, etc, chances are you're not at the extreme ends of the range. I doubt you're seeing 1/4000 shutter speed unless you are shooting directly into the sun. Check the exif data on your original images to see what you actually got.
I don't know what you think is bad about the first shot. Considering the horrible shadows people usually get in bright sunlight, the exposure on this image is very good. The motion blur of the hand shows the action of the image which is a great thing to include in action images. Too often, people think you have to shoot above 1/1000 as Susan mentioned. That's fine if you want the image to look frozen like a statue. More often, in shooting action shots, panning (following the subject with the camera) and shooting at a lower shutter speed will give you background motion blur. This gives the viewer the sense of the action you're trying to capture. extremely high shutter speeds are fine if you want to capture extreme things like the dirt flying from a horses hoof but if you want to give the feeling of motion, slow it down some.
As far as the second one, it looks to me like you're using an averaged metering system, which with the dark fence behind, slows the shutter speed down. Again, the exposure of the face under the shadow of the hat shows this. Then, even the slightest motion will give you the motion blur you have here. The motion blur will be exagerated by using the longer zoom functions on most point and shoot type cameras.
To correct this photo, select the spot metering and center focus options on your camera, then focus and meter on the part you want correctly exposed, the face in this image.

Permalink Reply by Tim on June 22, 2009 at 6:58am

According to the file you have a sony dsc h7
it has Image noise and some processing artifacts listed as disadvantages
What is the original dpi for the second photo?

Permalink Reply by Justin Disher on June 22, 2009 at 7:14am

The original resolution for both photos was identical (1920x1080), but the second image was scaled to (737x939) here.

Permalink Reply by Susan E. Spencer on June 22, 2009 at 2:03pm

Not sure what happened to you second shot, their appears to be a halo affect going on there.
Gonna take a stab at some helpful tips:
When shooting sports with that type of camera (point and shoot without interchangeable lenses)
There may be a lag time....press the shutter and then before it actually shoots a second or two elaspses...if no delay then you may have a motion issue...moved the camera while shooting.
I know companies love their sports settings (automatic) but your best shots will occur when you use the manual settings.
If the day is bright and shooting with the sun over your shoulder....use ISO 400 AV (aperture priority setting) and the camera will establish the shutter speed based on the first two.

Make sure that shutter is always above 1/1,000 of a second if it goes lower then raise your ISO to next level



I saw SONY lending out these cameras at a soccer tournament.....they now have 2 model improvements too.
Users had to be on top of their subjects in order to get good shots.....so get as close as you can to your subject.
Great way to learn is to shoot a dog running around the backyard while you try all the different settings.

Permalink Reply by Rachel Michaels on June 22, 2009 at 2:30pm

Taking pic of moving action is difficult and something that takes alot of practice. The sports mode doesn't always help and with your second pic since he is not moving I would have taken it as a normal shot. It is easy to comment on composition, colour or focus but not so easy (especially for us who are learning ourselves) to tell you what settings you should use. The way I have found best is trial and error (with some research thrown in) - and of course the comments here help alot too.

I like the first pic and you have captured a great look on the kids face. One thing I find that helps is to write down the settings I use in a note book so I can see what worked and what didn't and then use them for future referance.

for action shots see this vid at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnsVX_QtEc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvi...

The guy is a bit boring but he does explain in idiot guide form - Hope it helps

Permalink Reply by Justin Disher on June 22, 2009 at 3:03pm

What I've quickly realized about sports photography is that getting great shots is nearly as difficult as playing the sports themselves, and it's almost the identical process involved. The better your preparation, equipment and anticipation, the better results you are likely to achieve. Like they say practice makes perfect...

Getting a great picture gives the same sense of accomplishment as scoring a game-winning goal or making a key play in a game...now I understand why I see so many people at the games now armed with cameras.

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm often too timid to get into the best vantage points (either due to safety concerns, like a baseball, hockey puck or lacrosse ball coming right at me while I'm shooting or looking elsewhere, or because I do not want to be standing in the way of others), but I know that this is definitely something I need to consider at most of the locations where I shoot. Sometimes, it just can't be avoided, but there are other times when I could put myself into better locations and get more consistent results.

Well, I'm off to the arena tonight to shoot some lacrosse after my own's team's practice...

Permalink Reply by Mike Hiler on June 24, 2009 at 8:29pm

Justin,
The EXIF data on the 2nd shot show the exposure was:
Shutter: 1/200
F-Stop: 4.5
Lens Focal Length: 78mm
Exposure Program: Portrait Mode (program 7)
and the flash fired.

When I 1st looked at the shot I was perplexed, but then it started to look like there may have been some condensation on the lens. Then I saw you mentioned you were using a circular polarizing filter. So...I think there may have been some condensation on the surface of the filter. Also, it appears you actually had the camera in portrait mode rather than sports mode like you thought. Portrait mode changes the camera's internal processing parameters and that, coupled with possible condensation, ruined that shot.

Did you take more shots within a few seconds of this shot? And did they come out O.K.?

Mike :)

Permalink Reply by Justin Disher on June 24, 2009 at 8:38pm

Ok, that makes sense. The portrait setting is right next to the Sports setting on the camera dial, so it likely just slipped out of position for that shot. A lot of the other pictures turned out fine, except I've discovered a small chip in my telephoto lens, which would easily explain some of the blur I've noticed on a few of the photos where I used the zoom. A lot of the shots taken with the telephoto lens still turn out fine, since the chip is just at the very edge of the lens, but if the sun hits the lens the wrong way, it would obviously create the problem I'm seeing.