how oh how does one setup for swing shots...

[jerseygirl]

...i'm talking about babies/toddlers in the bucket swings having a blast.

for the life of me i can't figure out what settings to use and how to focus for an action shot where the subject is moving towards and then away from you. the auto focus gets confused and isn't fast enough to capture the moment. i went to the park today with my little one where the swings were in the shade so a larger aperture was required absent use of the flash (which i tried as well and hated the outcome). i should have bumped up the ISO a bit, but what i need to know is how to setup these shots in the future? thanks!

 

[Buszaj]

Hey,

If your camera has a sports or action setting, put it on that. I would stand in whatever spot you want, and focus on where the swing will go. When the swing comes into view, take the picture. Works for me. If you can't do that, try to increase the shutter speed. Hope this helps.

 

[jerseygirl]

Hey,

If your camera has a sports or action setting, put it on that. I would stand in whatever spot you want, and focus on where the swing will go. When the swing comes into view, take the picture. Works for me. If you can't do that, try to increase the shutter speed. Hope this helps.

i tried both of those things but the action setting required the flash and the auto focus would go nuts and "follow" my daugter as she moved. there was nothing in line that i could stay focused on while she moved - i'm wondering now if there is a "focus lock" feature on my camera...

 

[Buszaj]

Hmmm, tricky problem. That's all that I could think of. About the "focus lock", some cameras may be able to turn off the auto focus. You would have to go into the menu of your camera. What camera are you using?

 

[Mike_E]

Go manual and focus on a spot, say when she gets closest to you in the swing. Time it by counting and take shots untill you get her in focus. It shouldn't take long especially if you are in the middle of the aperture range.

mike

 

[JIP]

Go manual and focus on a spot, say when she gets closest to you in the swing. Time it by counting and take shots untill you get her in focus. It shouldn't take long especially if you are in the middle of the aperture range.

mike

That's the way I would do it. Manual focus manual exposure so you can control everyting and fire away.

 

[newrmdmike]

i had lots of fun shooting my nephew in one of those,

superclamp a magic arm to the front of it, use a light camera (i used a d70 with 18-70)

remote fire it manual focus, with a long exposure and trigger an off camera flash, you get nice motion at sunset when the blues are nice and cool, and the kiddo is warmed up with a gel over the flash.



or just take the picture when the kid is at the apex and isn't moving anymore, that way there should be a little less motion. and stand a few feet from him at a lower focal lenght at f/5.6 manual focused on 4 feet.

 

[ksmattfish]

Zone focusing.

http://photography.about.com/library/howto/htcam_zone.htm

 

[deanimator]

Manual exposure
Manual focus for 1 or 2 metres
Stand at this distance in-front of the swing
Push the button when the swing reaches the high point (apex)

This avoids the confused auto-focus and also avoids the shutter release delay typical of digital cameras. An additional advantage is your kid will see you and laugh for you, especially if you can look past the camera with both eyes, guessing the framing a bit...but with a better view you will also push the button at the best moments...

 

[Southerngal]

These are a couple pics that I took of my daughter. I put my camera in sport/action mode and focused on her where I wanted to snap the shot and held the focus....when she came back into that range I quickly to the pic.
I was pleased w/the focus.