Is this commonly done?

[Ady]

Having played with various settings taking runners I have decided upon this ploy for my next batch but just wondered if it was a frequently done method?

Having used shutter priority at 1/250-1/320 this still gave some blurring on some shots, sometimes in areas I wanted to be blurred (hands/feet) but sometimes also in faces which I did not want.

The next race I go to (I will be feet away from the runners) I am going to go for a higher shutter speed that should freeze the shot but then in PS I am going to use the lasso tool on feet & hands where applicable and use the motion blur tool to give the feel of movement/action. I don't want to use a super fast shutter speed/wide aperture/high ISO as I want some depth of field in the shot so am thinking 1/500. The pre-set sports mode seems to think I want to freeze flying golf balls. There is a pro guy that often takes shots at races and his pics are very crisp and un-blurred but very central with a very soft background and quite boring/un-action like which I want to avoid.

Any tips would be much appreciated.

 

[ANDS!]

I would practice panning instead of trying to create the effect in Photoshop.

 

[Ady]

I would practice panning instead of trying to create the effect in Photoshop.

Might try it on a few runners this weekend (there will be 300 or so) and see what effect I get - what shutter speed would you suggest for this?

 

[Shockey]

Freezing the runners is the way to go. Try 200-250 if you want just a slight movement.
Do not try to fake it.

 

[ANDS!]

I would practice panning instead of trying to create the effect in Photoshop.

Might try it on a few runners this weekend (there will be 300 or so) and see what effect I get - what shutter speed would you suggest for this?

For panning it's all going to be on how fast your runner is moving. You're probably going to be in 1/30th speeds to be honest. Otherwise you are going to end up freezing the action, instead of blurring everything but the runner.

 

[Ady]

Freezing the runners is the way to go. Try 200-250 if you want just a slight movement.
Do not try to fake it.

But with PS you get the motion blur that suits the shot with facial features sharp as a pin and it does not look false if you are picky with your shot and careful with the lasso tool/blur factor. I have found shooting at 250, even 320 can blur the face hence my 1/500+PS attempt. A shot of a runner frozen at 1/1000 gives nothing as far as action emotion goes for me.......

 

[Ady]

I would practice panning instead of trying to create the effect in Photoshop.

Might try it on a few runners this weekend (there will be 300 or so) and see what effect I get - what shutter speed would you suggest for this?

For panning it's all going to be on how fast your runner is moving. You're probably going to be in 1/30th speeds to be honest. Otherwise you are going to end up freezing the action, instead of blurring everything but the runner.

Thanks for that - I will try on several shots and see what I get.