Forgiving Tips for Action Shots

[rbbecker]

Hi All,

Looking for some help on action shots. I get lucky once in awhile on my shots but most the time it seems like I'm slightly off on my focus point. I switched to the center auto focus on my Rebel so I don't stray and focus on some outlier in the background. Any tips on what I can do to improve frequency of success on these types of shots? How does the lens play into it?

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS II

First Shot Settings (bad shot):
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter: 1/200
ISO: ISO-100
Focal Length: 55mm

Second Shot Settings (good shot):
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter: 1/320
ISO: ISO-100
Focal Length: 109 mm

 

[dennybeall]

I would not try to capture those shots with that slow a shutter speed. Fix shutter at 800 or 1000 and up the ISO and f-stop to work with that.

 

[Overread]

Few thoughts:
1) Common advice is to keep the ISO as low as possible. Ignore this advice. Ok so not really; but this advice tends to make people stick to ISO 100 or 200 and never push it higher; which is fine for landscapes. However for action photography you need a faster shutter speed and many times that means you've got to raise your ISO to get that shutter speed.
Take it to ISO 800 or 1600 or higher - noise you can deal with in editing - softness from motion blur you can't (ok some photoshop things are starting to deal with it, but only in a minor way and in practical terms motion blur is unfixable).

2) I've not shot motocross but experiment. Try 1/500sec - try 1/1000sec and see what you get in the shots. Ideally you want to see if you can find a speed that captures the rider and bike sharp but gives some blur to the wheels.

3) With the lens you have the apertures you've chosen are not bad; closed down to those apertures should give a sharper shot esp when you're at the long end. Higher end lenses owuld let you shoot at apertures like f4 or f2.8 for faster shutter speeds (without raising the ISO as high) and more background separation of the subject.


You're off to a good start but you need faster shutterspeeds than you're getting (you can shoot slower speeds if you learn and practice how to "pan" with the action and you can read up on panning and panning technique).
I would shoot this in aperture priority - fix the aperture and keep an eye on the shutterspeed and push the ISO higher when needed. You might find shutter priority works better after a time if you find an ideal shutter speed that blurs wheels whilst giving sharp bike and rider.

 

[Gary A.]

I echo all advice above. In daylight start at 1/1000 for shutter speed. For night, low light events, start your ISO at 1600 and try to keep your shutter speed around 1/500 if you must 1/250. As you become more experienced you'll acquire the skills to shoot at lower speeds. But in the beginning keep your shutter high.

Typically, for most sports/action images, the photog uses the largest aperture possible for subject isolation. (A large aperture, small f/number, creates a thin DOF, which minimizes distracting detail in the background.) But for the inexperienced photographer, this practice increases the difficulty and lowers your keeper rate, but the keepers you end up with are more successful than the keepers captured with smaller apertures. Remember to fill the frame with your subject. Both of your examples can benefit from shooting tighter, (you can crop in post ... but when possible, getting it right in the camera is the better course.)

With some sports, the participants will all take a similar track. Often, you can pre-focus on a spot and wait for the action to come to you. Back Button focus is useful to pre-focus and reframe. I shoot a lot of sports/action stuff and I use Single-Point, Center Spot, Back Button focus. I focus and quickly reframe, when possible, in order not to have the subject in the center of the frame.

I do not advise this for inexperience photogs, but lately I've been shooting my action stuff in Single Shot mode. Yes, it is a bit more difficult, timing is now critical as I must anticipate and wait for the peak of action until I release the shutter. I am using this methodology is order to lower the volume of files I need to review and cull.

Good Luck and Good Shooting

 

[robbins.photo]

I'll echo the others here, to start with higher shutter speeds and stop down the lens for greater DOF. As you get to the point where you start getting what you consider an acceptable amount of keepers, you can start opening the lens up a bit more, and dropping the shutter speed sparingly in certain conditions where the tradeoff in ISO is worth it.

 

[zombiesniper]

Agree with everything above.
The only other thing I have to add is where you focused. In shot one you focused on the sky which caused the missed focus. In shot 2 you are focused on the rider resulting in nailing focus. So along with the settings also practice panning with the action.

Good start. Hope to see more.

 

[SCraig]

Practice. Lots and lots and lots of practice. There is no substitute for learning how YOU need to hold the camera, view the scene, know when to trip the shutter, etc.

As to camera settings, combine that with the above statement. Try different settings and see what works FOR YOU and for different scenes. The appropriate shutter speed for a horse jumping and for a jet fighter at an airshow are vastly different. They also vary depending on your ability to track a subject and get it smooth. Some people can pan with a subject at a slow shutter speed much better than others. It costs nothing to experiment so go out and see what works best for you.

 

[ronlane]

Let's see here... Higher shutter speed, check. back button focus, check. AI Servio not mentioned but if you aren't using it, this will help track the bikes. I'm not up to date on the T1i focusing and menus but look through them to see if there are some options (I doubt that there are because that is a key issue why I got rid of my T3i).

Everyone above gave you really good advice on improving your shots. Here is one that I picked up from a track photog a couple of weeks ago. Put your camera in Shutter priority at 1/1000 of a second, AI Servio, and ISO on Auto. I choose partial metering for mine and used burst mode. This worked well for me. One more thing is to pick a spot where the sun is at your back, that way you get good lighting of your subject.

Just my opinion but you are probably going to continue to be frustrated shooting sports with that lens and body combination. Something like a 7D or a 7D mk II with at least a 70-200mm f/4 would be much better for this type of shooting.

 

[jcwphoto]

Shutter #1 I never shoot below 1000 if possible. 1600 even better. (eventually you will learn shutter speed limits for different sports) #2 rebel is not the fastest focusing camera. Use center point focus(NOT an expanded focus)
#3 make sure you are on ai servo focus mode(this is real important) #4 use a continuous high shutter. #5 a 55mm is not really a great focal length for shooting sports. #6 invest in a lens with an internal high speed motor. I have been using rear focus since it came out and you should always use that.

I have video I made for my students on basic camera settings.

 

[gckless]

Shutter speed is a give and take. Some shots look better with action totally frozen. A lot of the time though, you want to show movement in action shots. A 1/500th-1/640th second shutter speed should allow you to get the subject sharp while getting some movement in the wheels. Granted, dirt being thrown in dirtbike shots does show some action, and I think movement in that flying dirt, and totally freezing it both look cool. Remember to follow your subject with your camera as if you were panning even for the fast shots.

A lot of good stuff has been pointed out so I'm not going to reiterate, but you are going to have to practice a lot.

 

[table1349]

Some good advice here, how ever some of it useless with you particular camera. Here is what I tell people to use when shooting sports with lower end DSLR's. Instead of shutter priority set the camera to aperture priority. This may sound backwards however your camera does not have Auto ISO. By setting the camera to aperture priority and shooting wide open with your glass you then handle the ISO. Raise the ISO until you reach 1/750th to 1/1000th for motor sports. With motocross you are usually good 1/250th to 1/500th on up. Obviously with Formula 1 or NASCAR you need faster shutter speeds. You will constantly be monitoring the shutter speed in the viewfinder and if it dips you raise the ISO. Also by using aperture priority you separate the action from the rest. This is what you want for a good action photo instead of just taking action snapshots. With your current lens you may have more DOF than desired even wide open.

Single center focus point. If memory serves me correctly on your camera that is the only cross focal point. Focus mode to AI servo. Set the camera to use a back focus button.


Track the action constantly with the back focus button depressed and anticipate the action.

Because of the limitations of the T1i focus speed you need to be more selective of the action you try to shoot. Try to shoot crossing action instead of action coming directly at you. The auto focus can track cross action, it does not do as well with action coming toward you or away from you. Try to stay between 45 degrees and 90 degrees to the action.

Finally anticipate and practice. If you know the sport then it is easier to anticipate where the action is going to occur.

 

[rbbecker]

Great feedback, thanks all!