Photographing Runners

[photoguy01]

Tommorow we are having a marathon at our church to raise money, and i am supposed to be taking pictures. I will pe using a digital camera with 5x optical zoom-does anyone have any tip to get the best pictures?

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[Big Mike]

Welcome to the site.

Does your camera have manual control or priority modes? ie: Can you set the aperture and shutter speed?

If you want to freeze the action so that the runners are not blurry, you will want a shutter speed in the neighborhood of 1/250 or higher. If it's sunny outside, that should not be a problem. Turning the flash on will also help freeze the action. Flash might also be a good idea if it's close to noon and the sun is high in the sky.

If you want to show some blur to indicate motion, slow the shutter down.

For a neat effect...try panning with a runner. Follow them with the camera as he/she runs by and snap the shot when they are even with you. Try to follow through with your panning so that you don't stop abruptly when you take the shot.

If you camera does not have manual modes, check the manual so that you know which modes are best to use. For example, if you have a sports mode...it should give you a higher shutter speed by default.

You have a digital...take lots of shots and check them. If they are not satisfactory, just keep trying.

[centrerugger]

Don't put your finger over the lenses

[mentos_007]

short exposure speed... to get the runners freezed

[bulat]

Have a look at this list of tips for runner photos

[Tony S]

of tips for runner photos

Ohh gawwdd!! another wonderful misuse of the term "bokeh" in that one..... LOL

[bulat]

Hi Tony,

Can you please explain why Bokeh is not used correctly there. I always though that image has Bokeh when foreground or background is not in focus.

[fotoshooter]

Have a look at this list of tips for runner photos

I disagree with the two quoted suggestions below..

We shoot marathons 2 or more times a month all over the country (New York in 2 weeks) where I work and can say from experience that tripods/monopods slow you down except when doing static photos.. If you want to just shoot one or a few runners a monopod is OK if the organizers allow then in the course..

Aperture priority is the best mode since it allows for faster shooting and you can better control depth of field.. Shooting in manual mode will produce over and under exposed images since the light will change and you don't always have time to compensate since you are shooting fast.. You will lose shots if you stop to adjust exposure..

1. Use a tripod/monopod. A tripod (or monopod) is not only important to make images sharper, but it also makes it easier to take pictures if you are doing it for few hours.
2. Use shutter-priority mode (Tv) or manual (M) mode.

Shutter speeds of 1/500th and faster are preferred as well as ISO no higher than 400 unless shooting in dark situations such as early morning before sunrise or after sunset..

[Tony S]

What the writer is describing is a shallow depth of field that will isolate and bring out your subject. Bokeh is a term used to describe the quality of the out of focus areas in an image. Also, to get the effect the writer is describing you don't always need to shoot wide open, a lot has to do with focal length, distance to the subject and the distance of the subject from the background. For example you can shoot a lens at 200mm, f8 from 20 feet away and if your subject is at least 3 feet from anything behind it that background will start to be rendered soft bringing out the subject more. That setting and subject distance will only give you about 1 ft +/- of anything in sharp focus depending on camera/sensor model.

[EIngerson]

I would recommend using AV mode if your camera has it. (Aperature priority) Set it to a nice low F-stop like F4 or even 2.8. Also if you have the choice, set it to single focus point and AI servo and aim for the eyes. Hopefully your camera lets you control these functions. Good luck.