 Wendy Godwin |
Capturing a Moving Object
Can someone explain the though process that goes through a photographer's head when he wants to capture a shot such as ,say, your neighbor's crazy chickens that have wandered into your yard and will scoot back off at any minute. Does it get easier with time and practice? I am really hoping it does as I love photography.
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- Bob Cournoyer Contact Bob Cournoyer Bob Cournoyer's Gallery  |
The answer is, yes, it gets easier with time. The setting options are many and varied... :-)
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
For stop action of moving objects I try to keep my shutter speed at 1/250 or faster but this also depends on how fast the subject is moving. In your photo with overhead trees and strong shadows, you may want to use some fill flash to light up the chickens a little better and take away some of the harsh contrast. If you want slight blur you can try panning which does take some practice and you can also get some cool effects when zooming while taking the shot. When I started out, I would use Auto just to see what my camera thought my settings should be then switch to Manual to take the shot. In Auto, the camera does not know if you are taking an action shot and will not always select the appropriate shutter speed (for action shots) or DOF that you may want to change for artistic reasons. Brenda Tharp's "Creating Visual Impact" & Jim Zuckerman's "8 Steps to more Dramatic Photography" are both excellent courses to teach you essential composition & shooting techniques. Good Luck, Carlton
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hello Wendy, For stop action of moving objects I try to keep my shutter speed at 1/250 or faster but this also depends on how fast the subject is moving. In your photo with overhead trees and strong shadows, you may want to use some fill flash to light up the chickens a little better and take away some of the harsh contrast. If you want slight blur you can try panning which does take some practice and you can also get some cool effects when zooming while taking the shot. When I started out, I would use Auto just to see what my camera thought my settings should be then switch to Manual to take the shot. In Auto, the camera does not know if you are taking an action shot and will not always select the appropriate shutter speed (for action shots) or DOF that you may want to change for artistic reasons. Brenda Tharp's "Creating Visual Impact" & Jim Zuckerman's "8 Steps to more Dramatic Photography" are both excellent courses to teach you essential composition & shooting techniques. Good Luck, Carlton
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Wendy Godwin |
Thank you, Bob and Carlton, for responding so quickly to my question. When I was trying to get this shot my thought process went something like this : Ok, sunny day (set white balance to "daylight" ) film speed , ok need to set low number to avoid too much noise ( I think I tried 200) set exposure compensation in case my settings cause over or under exposure ( thought I set it to do this automatically) . I had chosen the Av setting because I thought with Aperture Priority I could open up the aperature as far as possible to isolate my subjects (the chickens) and blur the background. Compose the shot; press shutter button halfway; tried to change the auto focus point but it wouldn't let me ( ??) ; then noticed that a number was blinking at me on my LCD panel indicating over or under exposure ( I guess) ; tried to change aperature setting but the number wouldn't stop blinking; got frustrated , turned some knobs , and just got whatever shot the camera would allow me to take. All the while the chickens are moving all over the place , of course. I didn't even think about using fill flash. Thank you, Carlton, for that suggestion. I guess these are things I will learn with practice but I wonder if it just all becomes second nature to you more seasoned photographers or if you only stick to certain shots that you know to can get without reseting everything. And, is there a "magic formula" for setting aperture and shutter speed ?
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Its kinda funny but I actually seem to use my flash more during the day for shadows, etc.. than I do at night, when I am often shooting musicians, sports & stuff that either doesn't allow flash or I dont want the effect of the flash for the capture like city night scenes, etc.. If you are new to exposing the shots yourself, please take a course or read some books because exposure is crucial to good photography. Sean Arbabi just released a new one - http://www.betterphoto.com/forms/QnAdetail.php?threadID=33792 Its a bit of a learning curve but knowing how to get the shot (capturing the chickens in action) and then how to get the shot in an artistic manner are stages of learning how to control the camera and how to compose and use DOF (depth of field) to your advantage artistically.
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