Post your best current shots

[Kayaker72]

Some great action shots Chris. I love the facial expressions. Denise, the geese and the goslings are adorable. Great pictures.


Here are two from around here yesterday:


7D, 100-400L @ 400 mm, 1/320, f/5.6, ISO 800


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7D, 100L Macro, 1/125, f/4, ISO 100


[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/0640.Macro-IMG_5F00_9034.JPG[/img]

[Richard Lane]

Denise, Nice captures on the previous page. I also love the cute little chick shots above, very adorable!


Brant, Nice capture and composition of the woodpecker, and that flower shot looks even better.


Rich

[comalleyphotography]

Thank you Rich! I will take any tips I can get.


I have gotten to a point where I am so fed up with my computer where, unless I am getting paid to do photos, I just don

[ddt0725]

Thanks again, Rich!


Beautiful macro and nice woodpecker shot, Kayaker!!


Here are a few from yesterday ...

[Richard Lane]

Thank You Rich! I will take any tips I can get.


I was kind of jumping between shooting in manual exposure mode, shutter speed priority mode, and sports mode to see which had the best results. The problem with manual mode is that as it gets darker, ya gotta keep adapting, and it seemed that every time I took the camera away from my eye for more than five seconds, I missed a good shot.

You're Welcome, I'm glad I could help!


It's tuff as the light keeps changing, especially when you're continually tracking the action through the viewfinder.


Unless I feel lucky, I usually don't let the camera automatically adjust 2 settingswhen it comes to; Aperture, Shutter Speed, or ISO. However,I don't mind letting the Camera automatically adjust one of those values to lock in the proper exposure. Since the main thing in Sports is freezing the action, then you must set the shutter speed to it's minimum acceptable value. In AV mode it's too easy for the camera to drop the SS below frame freezing action, especially with slower lenses. You can't fix slow shutter-speeds. The only time that I use AV mode for sports would be on a bright sunny day that assures me fast shutter-speeds at f/4 or f/2.8 and I do like it for those situations.


TV mode could work at 1/1000sec and a fixed ISO, but then you lose control of your DOF and subject isolation as the aperture fluctuates. If it becomes cloudy then the aperture will open up and you may get a shallower DOF then you would like, and if the Sun comes out then the aperture will stop down and you'll have too much DOF with distracting backgrounds.


If you use TV mode and Auto ISO and it becomes cloudy, then the lens will try to stay wide open as the ISO goes up, and you'll narrow your DOF, this may not be a problem depending on what Sport you're shooting. However, if it becomes Sunny again, then you'll have a deeper DOF with distracting backgrounds.


The best mode for Indoor Sports would be manual mode with a fixed ISO.


For Outdoor Sports in Manual Mode with a fixed ISO, if the Sun comes out then you're over exposed, if the Sun goes behind the Clouds, then you're underexposed. If the exposure is only off by 1-2 stops then you could easily adjust this in PP.


Your "best mode" for Outdoor Sports in constantly changing lighting would be Manual Mode with Auto ISO. Set your aperture to it's widest setting that will allow you at least 1/1000sec, then use Auto ISO and let the camera adjust the ISO. This way you'll get fixed action stopping ability with a fixed pleasing DOF. The only thing that you'll have to keep your eye on in the viewfinder will be the ISO, as it will slowly creep up as the Sun goes down, but you could always easily remove the noise in PP. If you max out on ISO, then you'll have to drop your shutter speed down a little or buy a faster lens.
<div>If there's constant Sun or constant Clouds (not varying), then you could just use Manual Mode with the appropriated fixed ISO.</div>


I have found that Auto ISO usually does a better job in changing lighting conditions over a 3 hour period, than I could achieve, especially when I'm so focused on tracking the subjects in the viewfinder and not looking up to see what the Sun is doing.


If I'm shooting a stationary object then there is more time in between shots to adjust manual exposures with a fixed ISO.


However, I have come to realize that the varying flight patterns of a bird in flight is very unpredictable, as the scene could change from the shade of a tree, to the water, or they can take-off into the Sun, and under those conditions the Auto ISO feature can perform better than I can using the fixed ISO in manual mode, which leaves no wiggle room for the camera to adjust to a rapidly changing scene. So keep in mind that, Auto ISO, not only works for c"hanging weather conditions," but it could also be very effective for "quickly changing scenes" as in Birds in Flight, even if the weather is consistant.


Sorry about the long post, but sometimes the hardest thing for me to do, is to recognize that the light is varying greatly before it's too late, as I frequently get so caught up in the event that I'm shooting.


Believe me.., I don't always get it right either!


Rich

[neuroanatomist]

Great tips, Rich. One correction, though:

Your "best mode" for Outdoor Sports in constantly changing lighting would be Manual Mode with Auto ISO. Set your aperture to it's widest setting that will allow you at least 1/1000sec, then use Auto ISO and let the camera adjust the ISO.

That option won't work for Chris. He's shooting with a T1i, which means that in manual mode, ISO is manual too. Setting the mode dial to M (manual mode) with ISO on Auto actually sets the camera to a fixed ISO 400. Only the more recent Canon bodies (7D, T2i, 1D IV, 60D, T3i, and even the'lowly' T3) have the capability to automatically adjust the ISO for a correct exposure in Manual mode (and I must admit - it's a very handy feature for shooting in rapidly changing conditions).

[Richard Lane]

Thanks John,


Funny thing is that I actually looked up the specs on his T1 Camera before I posted, but I interpreted the specs incorrectly.


I looked under specifications, about 1/2 way down the page, under exposure control.


No need to varify this withthe link below, I'm just providing it for reference.


[url="http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_rebel_t1i_ef_s_18_55mm_is_kit#Specifications]http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_rebel_t1i_ef_s_18_55mm_is_kit#Specifications[/url]


I'll post the the specs below, It states that:


[b][i]<span class="bold_text"]"ISO Speed Range
ISO 100-3200 (in 1-stop increments), H1: 6400 H2: 12800; Basic Zone modes: ISO 100-3200 set [/i][/b]automatically"


Inoted that it statedISO 100-3200 set automatically, but didn't notice that,that only pertains to "Basic Zone Modes." Whatever Basic Zone Modes mean?


Thank you for pointing that out. Well, at least everyone else with Auto ISO will have some funlight reading above.


So.., in the words of Rosanna RosannaDana from Saturday Night Live in NYC...., "Nevermind."


Rich

[neuroanatomist]

<span class="bold_text"]"ISO Speed Range
ISO 100-3200 (in 1-stop increments), H1: 6400 H2: 12800; Basic Zone modes: ISO 100-3200 set automatically"


Inoted that it statedISO 100-3200 set automatically, but didn't notice that,that only pertains to "Basic Zone Modes." Whatever Basic Zone Modes mean?

Basic Zone modes are the automatic modes - Portrait, Landscape, Sports, etc., i.e. the little pictures on the mode dial that take your control away. (But I'm not biased or anything.)





What "Basic Zone modes:ISO 100-3200 set automatically" means is that in one of those modes, you cannot set the ISO yourself - pressing the ISO button does nothing, as Auto is the only option. Those 'basic' modes aren't even available on xD series cameras.

[Richard Lane]

Ah..., Thanks!

[ddt0725]

Beginning photos of practicing on photographing hummingbirds. We'll see where I'm at with this in a few months!










It can only get better ...I hope!

Denise