I need help!

I really want to learn to take jumping pictures, and I am having trouble learning how the shutter speed works with aperture, and none of my pictures come out nice. They're either black, or too dark, and time is never frozen. Any suggestions on best settings to acheive my goal?

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Permalink Reply by Keith Willette on August 9, 2008 at 1:26pm: What kind of jumping pictures? I have several examples. I coached elite level gymnasitcs and shot it as well.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff on August 10, 2008 at 5:54am: If you have a preset sport setting that may work. The settting is designed for quick action shots; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TAPAS KUMAR MITRA on August 10, 2008 at 8:21am: HEY JEMINI,I don't know the meaning of jumping pictures,but I can make you understand the meaning of aperture and shutter speed how it works,
1>APERTURE?
ans)APERTURE is the amount of light which enters in the cameras photosensitive part .In dslr cameras it can vary up to 22 to1.2 ie(22,17.5,11,7.5,5.5,3.2,2.2.1.8,1.2) it means in 1.2 aperture the light will expose the photosensitive part most but on the contrary 22 aperture will allow the light to be entered least on photosensitive part.(MORE LIGHT MEANS MORE EXPOSURE LESS LIGHT MEANS LESS EXPOSURE)
2>SHUTTER SPEED?
ans)SHUTTER is the thin obstruction between lens and photosensitive part.It actually allows the TIME to expose the photosensitive part by light .shutter speed can vary up to-(10,000 to 1)10,000 means 10,000 of second & 1 means 1 second.The higher the speed the faster your subject can be like a bus,sportsman,car,birds,aeroplane.HIGHER speeds means less time for exposure so increase your aperture also so that optimum light can reach your camera.THE optimum shutter speed will be around 125ms.
3>FILM SPEED OR ISO?
ans)It is the amount of sensitivity of the photosensitive part,in the digital cameras we call it iso.It can vary up to 50 to 3200.If you increase the iso it will increase the sensitivity in same exposures and in same aperture.IF you go on increasing the iso it can create irritating grains, if you print large pictures.

COMBINING THE THREE ASPECTS CREATES A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS.
IN YOUR CASE YOU HAVE TO INCREASE BOTH APERTURE,SHUTTER SPEED & ISO IN adequate proportions for taking so called jumping pictures;).

PL Z reply back if this post rendered any help towards you.Bye :).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jemini on August 10, 2008 at 9:09am: Just like pictures of people jumping, or my dog.. whenever I try, they are streaked, blurry.. I guess practice makes perfect!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Katherine Maguire on August 11, 2008 at 7:29am: Jemini,

I wrote a section on my website about shutter speed, aperture, ISO and how they are used to control exposure.

To freeze motion, you need to have a high shutter speed, a good tip is set your camera to Tv mode, so that you choose the shutter speed and the camera will choose the aperture setting.

Be careful of the background and points of focus as this cause the camera to give incorrect exposure. If you camera supports bracketing, then you can shot a number of shots for the same image and choose the best exposed one.

Also you camera may focus on the background, instead of your subject, so it may be better to select a single point of focus.

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Permalink Reply by David Noelte on August 12, 2008 at 1:03am: well one of the questions here would be "What camera are we talking about". Also understanding aperture, shutterspeed, iso etc is actually essential if you want to get some good results with your camera especially DSLR. in general for jumping pictures you need lot of light because of the high shutter speed you have to use to freeze there subject in place. Also you camera needs to be quick enough. If you have continous shooting option, USE IT. Its normal that on jumping pictures and you not experienced you will maybe get 1 sharp photo out of 20 or more. This is just normal and you need to practice, but my suggestion is get that full understanding of aperture, shutter and iso. Go out and try to shoot the same subject with different settings and then review them on your pc to get a full understanding of what which setting is doing. Sorry if my words are not the best motivating but see it that way. Is it fun to go out and shoot and come home and none of the photos was ok because you dont know what your camera is doing? If you understand those 3 things and something isnt right on your photo you know what to change to improve it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jadeast on August 12, 2008 at 6:10pm: Jemini, All of the above can help with freezing the subject in mid air but a couple of techniques can help as well I suspect one of your problems is that you aren't using your autofocus properly which creates a large lag time before the camera achieves focus. Even then you need to anticipate "peak action", when the motion is stopped going up and before it has started going down. You might also try "panning" . The camera follows the action so that if anything is blurry its the background not the subject and you can control this to some extent by controling DOF. Digital cameras for th most part have a slow response time from pressing the shutter to when the image is recorded, you need to plan for whatever that is with your camera and learn to anticipate!; ▶ Reply to This