Aperture.

[cwindle1]

Hi all, I know you're all starting to get bored of my stupid questions so sorry for another one!...

You all, (most of you) know I photograph horses. From portraiture to high speed cross country sessions. I shoot on manual mode and have recently posted a feed about jumping photos coming out not how they're planned. The jumping photo's are focused on the jump more so than the rider which is causing the jump/back ground to be sharp but horse and rider are blurred. (not motion blurred, more like not focused). A lot of you have said that I need to lower my aperture for example something on F9 or F10+ and not to have it wide open to which will cause a shallow depth?? (or deep? ahh can't remember, my bad!!) of field.

However, my issue is, when I set my aperture lower, obviously the image comes out darker depending on my shutter speed. I shoot 1/1000+ for high speed horses. I don't want my ISO to come up due to noise. How do I go around this?

I shoot with a Nikon D5100 and nikkor 70-300mm 4.5-5.6

 

[snowbear]

Yes, wide open will have a shallower depth of field. A higher magnification (ie: longer focal lengths) will also produce a shallower depth of field than a wider focal length.

I don't know how fast the horses are going but I would think you could drop your shutter speed a bit. If I calculated properly, an object going 60 MPH is only going to move just over an inch in 1/1000 second (60MPH = 88 feet per second = 0.088 feet in 1/100 second. 0.088 * 12 = 1.056"). 1/500 second will give you one stop smaller aperture, all else being equal.

Additionally, most lenses are their sharpest at a stop or two down from wide open.

 

[cwindle1]

Yes, wide open will have a shallower depth of field. A higher magnification (ie: longer focal lengths) will also produce a shallower depth of field than a wider focal length.

I don't know how fast the horses are going but I would think you could drop your shutter speed a bit. If I calculated properly, an object going 60 MPH is only going to move just over an inch in 1/1000 second (60MPH = 88 feet per second = 0.088 feet in 1/100 second. 0.088 * 12 = 1.056")

I find if I go below 1/800 doing fast jumping work I start to get blur and I want it sharp sharp sharp! My problem is how do I adjust the aperture but not crack up the ISO with using such a high shutter speed as it just goes really dark but if I lower the shutter speed it goes to motion blurred ...

 

[Ysarex]

You don't get around this. You have to satisfy the requirement for correct exposure. For example, at ISO 200 with a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec. in full bright sun correct exposure is f/8. Take away the full sun and you have less light -- something has to give. You either drop the shutter speed or raise the ISO or open the aperture. You can do a little of all three but correct exposure is non-negotiable.

Joe

 

[snowbear]

^this.

The fourth option is to add more light from strobes or such.

 

[Derrel]

Sounds like you would be a prime candidate for using AUTO ISO in Manual exposure model, if for one reason or another you want to shoot in manual exposure mode. As Ysarex says, the exposure NEEDS to be made correct. and if the light level drops, or the lens is closed down to a smaller-sized aperture, then the ISO will need to be elevated if you must maintain the 1/1000 second shutter speed. I will take a crisp, frozen-motion, well-focused shot that has a tiny bit of digital noise over a perfectly-exposed, but motion-blurred shot made at ISO 200, in which the noise is low, but the subject is a smeary, blurred mess. Every. Single. Time. Noise is not a big deal if the photos are sharp, and well-focused, and the subject rendered with good visibility and good focus. Motion blur and missed focus absolutely suck. A combination of motion blur and missed focus is absolutely horrible.

 

[Ysarex]

Sounds like you would be a prime candidate for using AUTO ISO in Manual exposure model, if for one reason or another you want to shoot in manual exposure mode. As Ysarex says, the exposure NEEDS to be made correct. and if the light level drops, or the lens is closed down to a smaller-sized aperture, then the ISO will need to be elevated if you must maintain the 1/1000 second shutter speed. I will take a crisp, frozen-motion, well-focused shot that has a tiny bit of digital noise over a perfectly-exposed, but motion-blurred show made at ISO 200, in which the noise is low, but the subject is a smeary, blurred mess. Every. Single. Time. Noise is not a big deal if the photos are sharp, and well-focused, and the subject rendered with good visibility and good focus. Motion blur and missed focus absolutely suck. A combination of motion blur and missed focus is absolutely horrible.

Agreed. Getting the photo is key. If you can't compromise the shutter speed and you want to prioritize getting a specific f/stop as well then the ISO has to change.

Joe

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Is flash out of the question?

It also sounds like you need some practice panning. Go to the nearest road with a high speed limit. Park (safely) and waste some time and frames following cars at speed trying to get the effect sought with the horses. Don't forget to try and nail exposure as well.

 

[astroNikon]

Is flash out of the question?

It also sounds like you need some practice panning. Go to the nearest road with a high speed limit. Park (safely) and waste some time and frames following cars at speed trying to get the effect sought with the horses. Don't forget to try and nail exposure as well.

Emulating your situation is best to try and improve.


I still recommend upgrading to a d7000 as it may be in your budget versus the d7100/600/610/700.

There's plenty of ppl now going from the d5x00 to the d7x00 that have seen the difference .. the latest one --> http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/nature-wildlife/368731-first-zoo-trip-d7100.html#post3312717

 

[Designer]

We get that you do not want to push the ISO beyond the capability of your camera, but seriously; how high can it go and still give acceptable results? Have you done any real testing of it?

Furthermore; if there is some noise in a few shots, they make noise-reducing software for just that purpose.

 

[SCraig]

Are the horses doing around 150mph? This Guy Was and all I needed was 1/320 second with a camera older than the D5100.

As was mentioned by others: Learn to pan with the subject. Use single-point autofocus and keep the focus point ON THE HORSE. That's all you have to do.

 

[greybeard]

I would set my exposure to Manual, set my shutter speed as fast as necessary, set the aperture to f/8.0 - f/11 and set the ISO to AUTO. Noise can be dealt with in PP, (to a point) but, there isn't much you can do to improve too shallow DoF or motion blur.

 

[PaulWog]

I would set my exposure to Manual, set my shutter speed as fast as necessary, set the aperture to f/8.0 - f/11 and set the ISO to AUTO. Noise can be dealt with in PP, (to a point) but, there isn't much you can do to improve too shallow DoF or motion blur.

If you're shooting horses at 1/1000 or faster, and you set your aperture to f8-f11, you'll have a damned high ISO a lot of the time.

I think part of the problem is the focusing capabilities of the D5100, and part of the problem *could* be some focus problems with the lens. The best 'solution' is a camera upgrade. The best no-cost solution is probably to keep the aperture as constant as possible (maybe f7.1, but getting much higher and we're talking high ISO, and limited crop options due to high ISO).

If you can't get the focus to hit with a 70-300 at a slow aperture like f7.1, I really don't think increasing your depth of field will help much. Indirectly it will, but whatever is the root of your problem will still be occurring, and your focus will be off despite a larger plane of focus. There's likely an issue with the way you're focusing, or one of your tools (the lens or the camera) isn't getting focus on.

 

[dennybeall]

Have to agree with Greybeard, If it was me I'd start by setting manual focus and speed to 500 or 1000 with priority and let the f stop and ISO do their thing. If you're outside shooting showjumping there should be plenty of light. Originally reading your post I initially thought the camera was in the middle of focusing on the movement that just flew into the frame as the shutter was tripped and that caused the blur. Without samples it's really hard to tell.