I'm just not getting it... need help with action shots - pleeeeaaase :)

[buettiful]

So i'm a complete beginner and shouldn't be. After 17 years of crummy motocross shots of my son, I finally decided to upgrade from my point and shoot camera to a Nikon D5100. I now am taking drill team shots on the football field but having a heck of a time.

I have read until my eyes have crossed... some say "set camera to S mode" and adjust there... some say go to "a" mode. On Friday, I just went to sports mode and clicked away. Still... pictures are blurry.

All games are at night... i'm using the xx-300 lens. I'm typically in the stands and try to "toggle" between getting the entire drill team and getting my daughter alone. Problem is, they are known for their "high kick" routine and I ALWAYS seem to miss it. I get either crisp photos of my daughter with a blurry kicking leg (inevitably about half way up) or blurry all around.

Any suggestions? Also, if you change settings in the camera... say on the S mode... do they only apply to that mode? They don't change the settings in other modes right? Usually on Friday night, we take so many different shots... on the field, in the stands, close up, night time, well lighted, ugh... i'm just a bit overwhelmed. Thank you SO much to anyone who can help me.

 

[digby]

I'm a real beginner, but you need to shoot very fast to stop the blur. If you're on 'A' mode then you should pump up the ISO high, open the aperture as high as you can (a low F number), you won't be close enough for the flash to work so turn that off. You need to make sure the focus is a single point on the subject too.

I'm sure others can give you better advice, but that's what I would do.

 

[SCraig]

My recommendation would be to go back and read the chapter on the Exposure Triangle because it didn't sink in.

You only have so much light to work with, especially at a night football game. How you use that light is up to you. You can use a small aperture to get some depth of field or you can use a higher shutter speed to help stop the motion or you can use high ISO to increase light sensitivity. Or you can do something in the middle. YOU CAN'T DO THEM ALL THOUGH. If you increase shutter speed to stop the motion then you are going to HAVE to use a wider aperture, which will decrease depth of field, and/or use a higher ISO which will increase noise. Those are physical laws of optics and you can't avoid them.

 

[shefjr]

To stop the action you need a fast shutter speed. So bump up your ISO and keep the glass wide open.

 

[buettiful]

you are correct scraig... it isn't "sinking in"... it's like learning a foreign language... thank you so much for your help.

 

[tirediron]

Whether you realize it or not, you're shooting in some fairly difficult conditions, and the lens you're using is not made for dealing with low light. It may also be the book(s) you're reading. Head down to your local library and see what they have. The "Dummies" series of books usually do a good job spelling things out, and if you're not a book-learner, try YouTube. There are tutorials for EVERY aspect of photography there.

 

[SCraig]

you are correct scraig... it isn't "sinking in"... it's like learning a foreign language... thank you so much for your help.

OK, let's try and put it in English.

For any given shot there is exactly one amount of light that will provide the proper exposure, however there are many ways to achieve that exposure. Specifically, the settings of the shutter speed, the aperture, and the ISO. Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are like the sides of a triangle with the proper exposure right in the center. You cannot change one of the three without changing one or both of the other two. For example, if you increase the shutter speed to stop motion then that is going to let less light reach the sensor (or film), thus underexposing the shot. To maintain a proper exposure you will then have to use a wider aperture and/or higher ISO to compensate.

There are advantages and disadvantages to changing any of the three though. Aperture controls the depth of field, or the distance of acceptable focus between the foreground and background. Wider apertures allow more light in but reduce the depth of field. Shutter speed controls motion. Faster shutter speeds prevent motion blur but at the same time allow less light into the camera. Higher ISO makes the sensor more sensitive to light, but at the cost of increasing digital noise.

This is why it's always a balancing act. You, as the photographer, have to decide what is most important to the specific scene. Do you need the depth of field? Do you need to stop motion? Can you deal with some noise in the shot? Once you answer that question you can decide what settings to use to achieve the result that you want while minimizing the results that you don't want. Very seldom can you have all three though. Like I said, it's always a balancing act.

 

[Graystar]

At this point, the camera knows more about photography than you do. If you need to get some good sports shots right now, use the Sports mode on the camera. It's on the mode dial. See page 30-31 of your D5100 manual. Practice the information below on shots that don't count...otherwise you just end up being upset at having missed shots.

The key to sharp images of humans in action is shutter speed. First, you need to know what shutter speeds you should use. For slow action, 1/250s is considered an absolute minimum. 1/500s is much better. For fast action such as kicks and arm swings, at least 1/800s may be necessary.

Here's how you should set the camera, and the manual pages explaining the setup...
S Mode - page 63
AutoISO - page 155
AF-C - page 39
Dynamic-area AF - page 42
Center focus point - page 43

S mode is used to set the shutter speed. Rotate the rear dial until the shutter speed reads 1/500s and try some shots. If there's no blur and the action is slow, you can try 1/320 to see if that works for the action. Eventually, you'll develop a sense of the speed required to freeze the frame for various activities.

AutoISO is used to vary the ISO automatically. Because of the fast shutter speed, you can't get enough light for correct exposure at a low ISO setting. AutoISO will automatically adjust the ISO and keep it as low as possible for the current conditions. Set AutoISO to ON. The Minimum Shutter Speed setting is used with A mode, so that doesn't matter at the moment.

AF-C provide continuous focus and instant release of the shutter. Half-press the shutter and keep it half-pressed. The camera will continuously adjust focus. When you fully press the shutter button, the shutter will fire instantly even if you don't have a focus lock.

If AF-C tell the camera HOW to focus, then Dynamic-area AF tells the camera WHERE to focus. You use the center focus point to focus on your subject. Keep the shutter button half-pressed (camera continuously focuses.) As your subject moves, and you try to follow, the subject may move away from the center. With Dynamic-area, the camera will recognize that the subject moved off-center, and will use the surrounding focus points to maintain focus until you can get subject back in the center of the frame.

The center focus point will serve you best in sports shooting. But sometimes people will bump the 4-way controller and move the focus point. Use the "OK" button in the center of the 4-way controller to center the focus point. When you first practice, move the focus point around so that you know what the viewfinder looks like when the focus point is at the center or off-center. Develop a habit of checking the selected focus point.

If you've been messing around with the camera for a while, you might have unknowingly changed some settings that will affect your images. There is a process called the Two-Button Reset that will reset a bunch of settings to their default values. Hold "MENU" and "i" for two seconds. Read more about it on page 58 of the D5100 manual. Once you perform the two-button reset, apply the settings above.

 

[KmH]

As suggested, the key is understanding fundamentally how the camera and lens work.

Also mentioned is that shooting action sports, particularly at night, is very demanding of camera/lens performance, and photographer knowledge/skill.

 

[MLeeK]

get out of the sports mode-it doesn't work unless you make it work-and then not well.
For ACTION you need to stop motion. Your shutter speed is the most important setting in that case. Go to Shutter Priority mode. Set a shutter speed of 1/500 for sports. I try to use a minimum of f/3.5 on an f/2.8 lens if possible.
If you are under the lights you are going to just about max out your ISO IF you have an f/2.8 lens. If you are working with a 3.5-5.6 lens you are definitely going to max out your ISO and your exposure may well still be too dark.
If the settings are flashing at you in the viewfinder it's telling you that it can't get exposure-raise your ISO more until you can get a good exposure.

On last night's football field I was at f/3.2, ISO 12800 and a shutter of 1/500. On Friday's field I was at f/4; ISO 6400 and a shutter of 1/500. THe worse the lights, obviously the higher your ISO will be.
If it's during good daylight your ISO will be maybe as low as 100.

 

[TCampbell]

To be specific, to "freeze" action (and avoid motion blur) you generally need a shutter speed of around 1/500th. Faster shutter speeds are usually only needed for particularly fast action. Sometimes slower shutter speeds work as well... down to about 1/250th.

Set your camera to shutter priority. Dial the shutter speed to 1/500th. Meter the shot. The camera will automatically set the aperture for you. The "problem" comes in if the shooting is occurring at night or in otherwise poor lighting at which point you'll have to increase the ISO sensitivity so that it can maintain the required shutter speed. A "faster" lens (a lens capable of a lower focal ratio such as an f/2.8 zoom lens) can help you reduce the ISO. Higher ISO settings will cause more "noise" in the image. Your priorities are: (1) a fast enough shutter speed to freeze action and (2) the lowest ISO you can get without having to compromise #1.

On a nice bright sunny day, that wont be a problem with any lens... the equivalent "sunny 16" exposure would at 1/500th would have the f-stop at either f/7.1 or f/8. If you've got light overcast you'll have to come down to f/5.6. With medium overcast you'll have to come down to f/4... if your zoom lens can't go to f/4 you'll need to bump up your ISO to 200 so that it can come down to f/4 (that's all part of the Sunny 16 rule... light overcast or light shade the thin clouds are aren't dense enough to eliminate your shadow means that you lose 1 stop of light. In "medium" overcast (no noticeable shadow) you lose another stop. In dense overcast (dark and stormy looking day) you lose another stop.

When you lose a stop of light, you can compensate by dialing up the ISO sensitivity to compensate. If this weren't "action" photography then you could dial down the shutter speed to compensate as another option (but don't do that here because you are trying to keep the shutter speed high to freeze action.)

Artificially lit athletic fields can be variable with respect to how much light they provide... there's no set rule. Fortunately green grass meters at a nice "middle gray" which means if you point the camera at the grass of the field and take a meter reading, you can generally rely on that reading on any area of the field with comparable lighting. I have seen numerous examples in which the lighting is poor enough that even with an f/2.8 lens, the ISO was cranked pretty high (e.g. 3200, 4000, etc.) You'll need to evaluate the exposure on YOUR field to determine how much light you have.

Here's a video: Freeze Action - YouTube

Notice that in this video that his subject is not in the sun... she is in shade, probably medium shade which is about 2 stops down from full sun (about 1/4 as much light.)

 

[scorpion_tyr]

I'd be willing to bet you're using a 70 or 75-300mm lens that has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or f/6.3, and taking action shots at night of motocross you're with that lens you're going to need very high ISO and a very fast shutter speed. Next time set your camera to Aperture priority (A), turn it to f/4.5, take your ISO to the max (6400 I believe on your model), now try taking pictures. If the aperture changes as you zoom in, don't worry, it's normal, probably will max out at f/5.6 at 300mm. Your shots will probably be pretty noisy, but if you get good action shots you can try lowering the ISO a bit. If they're still blurry it's because there's just not enough light. So your options are to buy or rent faster glass (you'll want a telephoto lens with a max aperture of f/2.8) or you can intentionally underexpose by shooting in Manual or setting the exposure bias in A or S modes, and then trying to fix it later via editing software.

 

[Solarflare]

Sooo you're a complete beginner and instantly test the camera on the hardest conditions you can put any camera. Which is what action in low light is.

But you dont actually need to "freeze action". In the conditions you are working, I would use the alternative for action, specifically action like motorsports (i.e. relatively linear movement) - panning.

Panning is a technique that will allow you to lower your shutter speeds as much as possible (and getting as much light as possible) while still keeping the subject sharp. The background however will be blurred.

It simply means putting your camera into continous shooting mode and following the subject while its passing by, keeping the shutter pressed. Again, you should use AF-C and 3D-tracking (AF Area Mode) for action. You can then play around to find out when you are actually able to still get sharp pictures of your subject (not the background, which will be blurred if you're doing it right).

Of course you still need quite high shutter speeds or getting the subject sharp is kind of impossible. But the demands on your camera are now lowered as much as possible.

You also might want to enable Auto-ISO all the way up to HI.2 if you havent done it yet. HI.2 looks really ugly on the D5100.

You also really want to use RAW for these kind of pictures. Even in the software that comes with your camera, theres already plenty of sliders to fight the noise. Theres also the option to convert the pictures to black and white, instantly getting rid of a lot of the noise and getting rid of the ugly colors the camera will provide at high ISOs.

 

[3bayjunkie]

Try ISO 6400 / f5.6 / on aperture priority mode. (A) also set exposure compensation to under expose by one or two stops. If its at night this will help you get a faster shutter speed.

 

[MLeeK]

If you are going to use aperture priority you have to watch the shutter speed like a hawk because that allows the camera to choose it. The camera can choose any shutter speed it wants to. You are much better off in shutter priority for action shots. Depending on the sport you will need a shutter of anywhere from about 1/400 if you are lucky and don't have fast moving action to 1/1000 or more.