Hostage Situation C&C Welcome (Pic heavy)

[KAikens318]

So today there was a hostage situation in my town. Guy with a machete, gf as a hostage, injured dog, big a** guns, snipers, and SWAT teams...it was crazy.

Yes I know many are a little OOF, but my Sigma 70-300mm sucks when it's at full range. (Wish I could afford a Nikkor!!)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 

[senyaW.Photos]

#3, 4, 5, and 6 is good

 

[KAikens318]

#3, 4, 5, and 6 is good

The guy in number 6 snuck up behind me and scared the CRAP out of me. Lol. So I used it as a photo op

 

[point-&-shoot]

the rifle in 3 and 4 looks almost just like mine.

 

[point-&-shoot]

as for the photo. all would be better if they were sharper but number 7 is my favorite.

 

[safeshot]

some cool shots but a little sharper would make them great, but overall I think you done great for the situation you were around

 

[altitude604]

pretty cool series!

like you said, a little OOF on a few but the action and guns ALMOST distract me from that. lol

 

[bluetibby1]

Yeah I didn't even notice the OOF because the shots are interesting and drew me away form the technical aspect. Unfortunate situation causes for great pictures. Did anybody get hurt?
Blue

 

[Tight Knot]

Very cool pictures. Have you thought of trying to sell any of them to your local newspapers?

 

[Boomn4x4]

Yes I know many are a little OOF, but my Sigma 70-300mm sucks when it's at full range. (Wish I could afford a Nikkor!!)

I will adamently challenge this statement.

Your problem isn't the lens. Its camera shake.

In order to avoid camera shake, your shutter speed needs to be AT LEAST equal to the reciprical of your focal length. If shooting at 50mm, your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/50. Also, the D80 has a crop factor of 1.5x... so you need to multiply your focal length by 1.5. What this means is that when you shoot at 300mm, your shutter speed needs to be AT LEAST 1/450.

Looking at the EXIF data.
#1 was shot at 300mm 1/320... well slower than you needed 1/450
#2 was shot at 300mm 1/250... even slower, even more "blur" than #1

You do have one pretty sharp shot, #6
EXIF data says:
240mm... which means you need a minimum shutter speed of 1/360 to avoid camera shake.... and, your shutter speed was 1/400. Coincidence? I submit it is not :thumbup:

You can improve your pictures considerably by investing in a tripod.... you would be quite disapointed had you spent the money on a Nikor lens as you would have had the same results.

 

[Tight Knot]

Yes I know many are a little OOF, but my Sigma 70-300mm sucks when it's at full range. (Wish I could afford a Nikkor!!)

I will adamently challenge this statement.

Your problem isn't the lens. Its camera shake.

In order to avoid camera shake, your shutter speed needs to be AT LEAST equal to the reciprical of your focal length. If shooting at 50mm, your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/50. Also, the D80 has a crop factor of 1.5x... so you need to multiply your focal length by 1.5. What this means is that when you shoot at 300mm, your shutter speed needs to be AT LEAST 1/450.

Looking at the EXIF data.
#1 was shot at 300mm 1/320... well slower than you needed 1/450
#2 was shot at 300mm 1/250... even slower, even more "blur" than #1

You do have one pretty sharp shot, #6
EXIF data says:
240mm... which means you need a minimum shutter speed of 1/360 to avoid camera shake.... and, your shutter speed was 1/400. Coincidence? I submit it is not :thumbup:

You can improve your pictures considerably by investing in a tripod.... you would be quite disapointed had you spent the money on a Nikor lens as you would have had the same results.

Thanks Boomn4x4, you just taught me something. I had no idea there was such a correlation between the 2.

 

[SabrinaO]

What's going in #'s 2,3&4? bottom left corner?

 

[gen]

Forgive the ignorance, but I assume the shutter speed can only be adjusted when shooting in manual modes? or am I missing something?

 

[bazooka]

Gen, technically no, but practically yes. You can switch to sports mode and it will favor a faster shutter speed over depth of field. But you will not have the control to set it to 1/500 for example, if that is what you want. Only Manual and Tv will do that.

You have a bit more control with Av (over sports mode, but less than Tv) but your speed will change depending on what you point the camera at. Point it at the sky and it will increase the shutter speed, point it at a swat officer in black uniform standing under an SUV door and it will get slower. This constant variation in shutter speed and/or aperture, and ultimately exposure, is why I prefer to use manual. I do not want the tone value of my subject to determine my exposure. I want the light available to determine exposure. And my light meter is not smart enough to do that.

 

[KAikens318]

Yeah I didn't even notice the OOF because the shots are interesting and drew me away form the technical aspect. Unfortunate situation causes for great pictures. Did anybody get hurt?
Blue

No people were hurt, but the guy slashed his dog with the machete.

Boom - thanks for the info. I do have a tripod but this was not a situation where I could set it up. I wanted to be able to take snap photos without worry about setting all of that up in case something crazy happened like shots being fired or something. Can't do that quickly with a tripod! I need to upgrade from the D80 because it is horrible in low light. The sun was going down towards the end and I was already up to 800 ISO, trying to maintain a good shutter speed.