Gymnastics Meet C&C and also HELP!!!!!!

[Sw1tchFX]

no no no no no.


Get in control. Bring up your quick menu, go to AF area mode, hit single point, with the D-pad select the center point if you want to use that one, now you choose what point you want to use, not the camera.

read the manual, it's explains all that.

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

...and body rental. This kit will be far too limiting.

Well, If I was shooting for Sports Illustrated or something, I'd be screwed, but I think for now, what I have is fine. I've only had this thing for about 3 weeks or so...first SLR in 20 years. I need to learn how to use this one before I go spending $1500 + on a body and another $1500-infinity on quality lenses.

When I find myself severely limited by the D40, I'll move up to the D300 or Canon equivalent.

These pictures show that I haven't even learned how to use a basic function on the D40. I'm not good enough for a pro-sumer camera yet.

 

[Samanax]

If you've only had the D40 for 3 weeks I'd say you actually did pretty good with those meet shots. The white balance seems kinda whack, but the shots themselves are a good start.

If this is just a hobby for you then my suggestion is to keep what you have now and concentrate on your shooting skills. Eventually you'll outgrow the D40 but learn to use it to it's fullest first.

I've seen hobby shooters concentrate on gear rather than their skills and they end up with expensive rigs but only take snapshots because they don't work on their shooting skills. Photography should be about the image you've captured, not the gear you used to take it with.

 

[Big Mike]

It seems the problem was that the camera was using the right AF point...so it was focusing on the background rather than the subject. I sounds like some modes on your camera force it to use the centre point, which is when you got your good shots.

Someone explained how to change your focus point already.

When shooting, you need to be aware of what focus point or points are active and you need to make sure that is what you are focused on. It may be hard to grab focus on the moving girl, but the balance beam is pretty much the same distance away, so you could have focused on that and had the girl in focus.

In a scenario like this, you may want to lock the focus, so that it doesn't inadvertently start focusing on the background. There are different ways to lock the focus, maybe use one-shot mode or just flick the switch on the lens to manual. This might not be good if the athlete is moving closer or farther from you...but if they are in the same spot, it should work great.

On my cameras, I have the AF set to a different button than the shutter release. That way, I don't have to worry about the AF triggering when I'm shooting....I can choose to activate it or not. I'm not sure if your camera has that option or not.