M38A1
Admin
I really want to get this sports and action work down, so last night I went to The Driveway again for the Thursday night bicycle races. Having been at Precision Camera the day before and speaking with one of their guys, he gave me some pointers and I gave it a whirl.
In a nutshell, I tried the "P" or Program mode this time. In the past, I've been shooting shutter priority to either freeze or blur the images. After looking at a hundred or so shots of sports that also had the EXIF parameters listed, I came to the realization (doh!) that separation between the subject and surrounding area/background makes a tremendous difference. So I convinced myself to try "P" mode and limit myself to no greater than f/4 for the entire night.
When you use "P" mode, you actually get the best of both worlds as far as shutterspeed and aperture go. From the menus, you set your max ISO you are willing to have the camera use, and you set your lowest shutterspeed. The camera meters, gives a solution based on the aperture you dial in. Spin the wheel right or left and the aperture changes accordingly. I'll say - shooting f/2.8 leaves NO room for error on focus point.
Here's how I set the camera up:
Bright/cloudy bright and 97*F
D4s
Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8
Spot metering
Continuous focus mode w/single point instead of group or D9
AUTO-ISO settings of:
>Max ISO6400
>Shutterspeed min 1/320
Here's a sampler of the work. I'm quite pleased with how this function operates.
What I really like is, you don't have to fiddle with ISO during a shoot. Just set the parameters and go do your thing. These are all pretty much straight out of the camera except for crops. Very little post done on them. The full gallery can be seen HERE I look back at the first bicycle races I shot and I think I'm moving in the right direction. And I DID answer my question about isolation of the subject. It works.
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#14
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In a nutshell, I tried the "P" or Program mode this time. In the past, I've been shooting shutter priority to either freeze or blur the images. After looking at a hundred or so shots of sports that also had the EXIF parameters listed, I came to the realization (doh!) that separation between the subject and surrounding area/background makes a tremendous difference. So I convinced myself to try "P" mode and limit myself to no greater than f/4 for the entire night.
When you use "P" mode, you actually get the best of both worlds as far as shutterspeed and aperture go. From the menus, you set your max ISO you are willing to have the camera use, and you set your lowest shutterspeed. The camera meters, gives a solution based on the aperture you dial in. Spin the wheel right or left and the aperture changes accordingly. I'll say - shooting f/2.8 leaves NO room for error on focus point.
Here's how I set the camera up:
Bright/cloudy bright and 97*F
D4s
Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8
Spot metering
Continuous focus mode w/single point instead of group or D9
AUTO-ISO settings of:
>Max ISO6400
>Shutterspeed min 1/320
Here's a sampler of the work. I'm quite pleased with how this function operates.
What I really like is, you don't have to fiddle with ISO during a shoot. Just set the parameters and go do your thing. These are all pretty much straight out of the camera except for crops. Very little post done on them. The full gallery can be seen HERE I look back at the first bicycle races I shot and I think I'm moving in the right direction. And I DID answer my question about isolation of the subject. It works.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
.
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