Post Your Pets!

[Poik]

Cagney, Running Free by namethatnobodyelsetook, on Flickr

Nice shots! I went out today in Stockholm with my dog and my sister to try to get some similar action shots of my dog enjoying the snow, and of us sledding down some hills, but didn't really get any keepers. I was doing 1/250, 50mm f2, and ISO 640 to get proper exposures, but it just wasn't fast enough to get sharp images. I think I have this (hopefully) irrational phobia of going above ISO 800. When I got back I came to this thread and checked your settings, 1/1600! Must have been a bright day. Still, I'm going to try to get outside earlier tomorrow, because it was 1:30-2pm, cloudy, and the sun was already pretty far on its decent for the day. The nights are starting to get slightly shorter each day though

[Poik]

Here's one I tried to salvage, though it's not too sharp:


Sledding with Sören by Poik242, on Flickr

I found that adjusting the WB to 15,000 works pretty well for the snow.

[DavidEccleston]

A shutter speed of 1/250th can work for panning sideways shots (even then, I'd use closer to 1/1000th), but for running towards you shots, it's not nearly fast enough. For the dogs running at you, you'll want something like 1/1250th at least, for fast dogs like Aussies and Border Collies. My 1/1600th was at ISO 800 (manually set for fast shutter, and aperture/ISO to just barely not blow out the snow). I'll use ISO 1600, it's 3200 that scares me, though we have some very nice ISO 3200 shots too (just not nearly as many).

It's going to be tough with a 50 and a thin DOF from f/2. We weren't too happy with our action shots until we got a long telephoto. We get keepers with the 85mm, and I do have some 50mm action shots, but it seems much easier to maintain focus on a fast focusing tele lens.

You'll want AI servo, which is obvious, and burst mode, which isn't. Assuming Canon hasn't changed their logic since the early EOS 1 cameras (and I've seen no discussion either way on the subject, so I just assume it's still true), you can expect the first shot to be softer than the rest of the burst. The first shot tracks where your subject IS, and takes the picture when you press the shutter. The focus is off by however much the subject moved during the shutter lag, which at f/2 and a fast dog, may results in many blurry faces, and sharp tails. Subsequent shots are predictive, and will attempt to focus where your subject WILL be, not where it is. With your 50 you may see a long time gap between your first and subsequent pictures as the lens struggles to focus ahead of the dog fast enough. Shoot EARLY, expecting the delay, and expect to throw the first shots away.

[Poik]

Thanks for the tips, really appreciate the advice. This was actually the first time I have used AI servo on my camera, and I used the high speed burst mode as well. You're right that the first ones are the worst. The 50mm actually did better at focusing than I expected it to, since it's pretty slow in that regard. Problem is the rest of my fast focusing lenses I thought would be too slow with the lighting today. Most of the photography stuff I have done has been stationary stuff, often with long exposures, so this is a new area for me.

[ahab1372]

A longer focal length and the resulting longer distance from your subject also mean that your subject moves slower towards you relative to the shooting distance. That makes it easier to frame and focus the moving subject.

[ahab1372]

A longer focal length and the resulting longer distance from your subject also mean that your subject moves slower towards you relative to the shooting distance. That makes it easier to frame and focus the moving subject.

[DavidEccleston]

I was sure that somewhere I'd seen that newer DSLRs would allow you to choose whether the first shot was shutter RELEASE priority (as I described above, where the first shot would be soft), or focus priority (where it won't necessarily take a shot right away, but when it does it should be good).

I see where I saw this now. On my 7D. Custom function III-2, you'll want set to 0. What I describe above, from an old paper discussing the EOS-1, is setting 3. I have no idea what the default is. The whole set of custom functions relating to AI servo tracking starting on Page 225 of the manual. If you've lost yours, there are links at the end of the reviews on this site.

[Busted Knuckles]

A longer focal length and the resulting longer distance from your subject also mean that your subject moves slower towards you relative to the shooting distance. That makes it easier to frame and focus the moving subject.

Was going to ask that question - thanks for the answer

[M_Six]

Comfy Cat

[Poik]

Just restored all my photos from a backup drive and loaded into Lightroom, so I've been browsing through 56GB of pictures. I need to delete stuff. But I found this one that I took of my dog when I was playing around with the 100mm macro lens:


Sören's eye by Poik242, on Flickr