GoingManual.com It's time to take control!    Home    Tutorials    Photography Forum  Photography Tutorial Introduction Part I – Gear The Camera  -  Focus  -  Resolution  -  MegaPixels Vs Print Size  -  Sharpening Semi auto settings  -  Aperture Priority (Av)  -  Shutter priority (Tv) Zoom and Focal Length  -  A Note About Sensor Size Other Camera Features  -  Viewfinders  -  Lens Hood  -  LCD screen  -  White Balance Extra Equipment  -  Tripod  -  Cable Release  -  Filter systems  -  Polarizer and ND filter  -  External Flash  -  Studio Lighting  -  Reflectors Part II – Capturing The Scene Your First Manual Photo  -  It's All About Exposure  -  The Light Meter  -  Exposure Explained  -  Controlling Exposure Creative Effects  -  Aperture and Depth Of Field  -  DOF Preview  -  Shutter speed Putting it all Together  -  ISO  -  Ap. & Shutter Relationship  -  Stop for a minute  -  So What?  -  The Bulb Setting Metering the Scene  -  18% of Everything Metering modes  -  Matrix  -  Average  -  Center weighted  -  Spot or semi-spot Taking Meter Readings  -  Expose for your subject  -  Sunsets and sunrises  -  Reflecting sun  -  Night Exposures  -  Moon  -  Green Foliage  -  Bright or White Scenes  -  Dark or Black Scenes Understanding Your Histogram  -  Flash Metering Composition Lead in The Viewer Eye  -  Point of Focus  -  Fill the frame  -  The Rule of Thirds  -  Moving Subjects  -  Print and frame Sizes Different Styles Learn by doing  -  Giving and Getting Critique  -  Portraits  -  Groups  -  Children  -  Shooting Outdoors  -  Silhouettes  -  Macro  -  Products  -  Landscapes  -  Sports and Action  -  Panning  -  Rear Sync Flash  -  Abstract  -  Long Exposures  -  Black and White A few Other Useful Things  -  Blown Out Skies  -  Neutral Density Filters  -  Polarizing Filters  -  Electronic noise You're Half Way There! Part III The Digital darkroom  -  Computer hardware  -  Card Reader  -  Printers  -  Mouse Post Processing  -  The Ethics of Altering  -  Choosing Your Program  -  Tutorials   Photoshop Tutorials   Photoshop Primer   Saving Your Image   Adding a Border   Using Levels   Using Curves   The S-Curve   Correcting White Balance   Improving Saturation   The Clone Tool   Correcting Lens Distortion   Blending Multiple Images   Black and White Conversion   Sepia Conversion   Reducing Noise   Cropping for Different Print Sizes   Sharpening   Working With RAW Files   The Gimp Tutorials   The Gimp Primer   Saving Your Image   Adding a Border   Using Levels   Using Curves   The S-Curve   Correcting White Balance   Improving Saturation   The Clone Tool   Correcting Lens Distortion   Blending Multiple Images   Black and White Conversion   Sepia Conversion   Reducing Noise   Cropping for Different Print Sizes   Sharpening   Working With RAW Files   << Landscapes Abstract >> Sports and Action Sports and Action High shutter speeds are key to freezing action. The trade off is wider apertures and a shorter depth of field. Normal human movement is frozen at 1/60s but sports action can start at 1/250 and go much higher. Check your camera for the different drive settings. On a DSLR you will have a drive setting that will take multiple frames if you hold down the shutter release. Any less than 5 frames per second and you run the risk of the camera firing just before and just after the best shot. In that case be ready to capture the action when it happens using the single shot mode. If the action is moving towards or away from you continuous auto focus is a useful feature. It will track a moving object and keep it in focus. Panning Panning is a useful technique in action shots if the action is in a straight line. Sharp subjects and blurred backgrounds are possible using a longer shutter speed. Settings depend on the speed of your action and how close you are but 1/30 sec should be a starting point for fast action like racing, 1/8 for slower movement. A monopod can help as it allows easy side to side movement while keeping the horizontal plain level. Metering can be difficult as you might not have a chance to determine how your subject will be lit as it comes past. You might be able to get away with using a gray card or your palm if your subject will be in the same light, but please, don't stand in the middle of a road taking light readings. Remember if your subject is very light or dark and you're using auto settings it will not expose correctly and you won't know until it has passed. Panning requires lots of practice. On an SRL the mirror swings out of the way to expose the sensor, so you can't see anything during your pan. To increase your success rate find a viewpoint where the moving object is passing you, not approaching, your auto focus wont have to work as hard. If the moving object is approaching, it's not possible to get the whole subject in focus. The reason is, its apparent length changes, as shown below, and stretches causing blur. If you choose one spot on the moving object you can keep it in focus but not the rest. The best you can hope for is to have one area in focus. Notice the effect on the taxi in the picture above. The car appears to get longer as it approaches causing blur. Stand in the position where you'll be when the shutter closes and twist at the hip to the start of your pan. Look through the viewfinder and practice your movement a few times until you feel you are fluid, before firing the shutter. You can practice on a busy street with not only cars, but people too. Rear Sync Flash This is great for producing motion trails. The shutter is set too slow to freeze the action so there is some blurring producing a motion trail; as the shutter closes the flash fires, freezing the movement. By default the camera will not be set on the rear sync so have a look in your manual or look online to see how it is changed. You'll notice the flash fires before the shutter opens as well as before it closes. This first flash is to determine how powerful the second flash needs to be. This technique is great for live bands too, if you can get right up next to the musicians, or for close up sports action. << Landscapes Abstract >>

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