Need help please!

[Simons]

Hi,

I went to an interview today for the role of second shooter at an indoor karting place.

However my photos which i took during the interview weren't really up to scratch i didnt think!

Luckily though from the 8 people who were interviewed he has invited me and one other to have a trial run tomorrow and Sunday.

I am looking for some suggestions for techniques to try and how to improve my images.

Here are some of the shots from today.

1. Shocking

2. Terrible

3. Getting better

4. Alright

Different location
5. Not too bad

6. Again not great

The light inside the warehouse is shocking, and so i used my fastest lens i had. Which was a 50mm f/1.8

These images were all shot between f1.8 - 2.2 and with a shutter speed of around 100-160th, iso set at 1250

I used AI FOCUS, but was told afterwards AI SERVO would have been better, would that have made a big difference? What is the difference?

I do have a 70-200mm f/4 and also a 17-85mm f/4-5.6 which i could use.

Please help! My trial run is tomorrow and i would love this job so all help will be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Nic

 

[Robin Usagani]

AI Servo will keep adjusting the focus while you are bursting your shots. Can you use flash on this event? Personally I would burst a lot of shots with shutter speed of 1/20 sec and pan it. You will get a lot of light and the background will be blurred. I would just shoot it with JPG and take thousands of photos. You will get a lot of good panning shots!

 

[Simons]

AI Servo will keep adjusting the focus while you are bursting your shots. Can you use flash on this event? Personally I would burst a lot of shots with shutter speed of 1/20 sec and pan it. You will get a lot of light and the background will be blurred. I would just shoot it with JPG and take thousands of photos. You will get a lot of good panning shots!

No flash allowed unfortunately.

I could just take 1000's but that would also mean flicking through 1000's to find the god shots. And the turnaround needs to be fairly quick so i don't know if i could do that.

Thanks for the reply

 

[Robin Usagani]

Well.. Thats what you have to do when you do panning shots. Burst like 5-6 shots evertime they pass you. If you just want to freeze the shot, just shoot it under exposed a little and PP it.

http://usagani.com/Proofs/080710%20Super%20Cruise/

I took 1200 shots and only came up with that many good ones. It is not that hard to pick good ones. Only took me maybe one hour max. I just put stars (rating) on the ones that came sharp.

 

[clanthar]

Ouch! You're in the classic "school gym sports event" trap. I know it's not a school gym but this seems to be the same lighting condition.

You have both motion blur from too slow a shutter speed as well as misplaced focus with shallow DOF.

Powerful flash is one answer. Bottom line here is that you need more light and I'm guessing the flash is unwanted or forbidden.

You can switch to manual focus. I've had some success with pre-setting a focus position and waiting for the subject to reach it (You do have a subject with a predictable line of motion). That however is the old-school slow method. You have a 7d capable of 8 fps in high speed continuous mode. Your camera can burst save at least a dozen RAW frames at that speed -- virtually unlimited JPEGs.

The AF mode focuses and locks, the AI servo mode tries to focus and follow; combine that with the high speed continuous burst just mentioned.

Raise the ISO even higher -- 7d is pretty good for that. 32000 if you have to do it.

Motion is relative to distance; the same speed is relatively faster if you're closer. So that an object at a given speed that will blur through 1/500 sec shutter speed at a camera/subject distance of 30 feet, won't blur at 60 feet. Of course the object is smaller in the second photo (crop). You get a double benefit from this in that the DOF will increase as the magnification drops. You can only go so far with this because of the loss in quality from cropping and you're already pushing the ISO.

Practice this evening on traffic.

Good luck,
Joe

 

[Simons]

Well.. Thats what you have to do when you do panning shots. Burst like 5-6 shots evertime they pass you. If you just want to freeze the shot, just shoot it under exposed a little and PP it.

2010_08_07 Super Cruise by Robinson Usagani

I took 1200 shots and only came up with that many good ones. It is not that hard to pick good ones. Only took me maybe one hour max. I just put stars (rating) on the ones that came sharp.

Yeah i will definitely give this a go anyway.

Ive done this type of thing before, just not in such poor light.

Few examples on my flickr: Flickr: NicSimons' Photostream

Ouch! You're in the classic "school gym sports event" trap. I know it's not a school gym but this seems to be the same lighting condition.

You have both motion blur from too slow a shutter speed as well as misplaced focus with shallow DOF.

Powerful flash is one answer. Bottom line here is that you need more light and I'm guessing the flash is unwanted or forbidden.

You can switch to manual focus. I've had some success with pre-setting a focus position and waiting for the subject to reach it (You do have a subject with a predictable line of motion). That however is the old-school slow method. You have a 7d capable of 8 fps in high speed continuous mode. Your camera can burst save at least a dozen RAW frames at that speed -- virtually unlimited JPEGs.

The AF mode focuses and locks, the AI servo mode tries to focus and follow; combine that with the high speed continuous burst just mentioned.

Raise the ISO even higher -- 7d is pretty good for that. 32000 if you have to do it.

Motion is relative to distance; the same speed is relatively faster if you're closer. So that an object at a given speed that will blur through 1/500 sec shutter speed at a camera/subject distance of 30 feet, won't blur at 60 feet. Of course the object is smaller in the second photo (crop). You get a double benefit from this in that the DOF will increase as the magnification drops. You can only go so far with this because of the loss in quality from cropping and you're already pushing the ISO.

Practice this evening on traffic.

Good luck,
Joe

Thanks for your help Joe, and i will definitely practice some shots tonight on cars, good idea thanks!

 

[Robin Usagani]

You are good to go then . You have to realize you will be opening the shutter 3 - 6X longer. Than means you get a lot more light compared to your first shots. Too bad you dont have f2.8 for zoom lens. It might be hard to do this with only a prime 50mm f/1.8 lens (you might be too close).

 

[Simons]

You are good to go then . You have to realize you will be opening the shutter 3 - 6X longer. Than means you get a lot more light compared to your first shots. Too bad you dont have f2.8 for zoom lens. It might be hard to do this with only a prime 50mm f/1.8 lens (you might be too close).

Yeah, if i manage to pull it off tomorow and get the job i would probably consider investing in the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. Which would be ideal.

 

[Dao]

I think high ISO is the key. More noise is better than blur.

Pay attention to the DoF, you do not want to make it so that only the driver helmet is in focus.

Agree with the other poster that practice with evening traffic. (at different angles)

 

[gsgary]

Sorry these are a long way from being good enough and with the lenses you have you don't have much chance of getting many good shots, if you are shooting to sell at the track 9 out of 10 needs to be good. Going on these shots i would not have asked you back to shoot on my events, just being truthful because i don't beat about the bush
I shot in dark venues and this is what i expect if anyone wants to shoot for me
Iso3200, F3.2,300mm,1/640

 

[Robin Usagani]

gary.. i think this is a lot closer than you think. 300mm wont do you any good.

I bet you ISO 3200, f/3.2 at 1/640 all you see is black.

To the OP, dont forget to invest some $$ on ear plugs LOL.

 

[gsgary]

gary.. i think this is a lot closer than you think. 300mm wont do you any good.

I bet you ISO 3200, f/3.2 at 1/640 all you see is black.

To the OP, dont forget to invest some $$ on ear plugs LOL.

Bloody hell i'm not saying use these settings, just showing what is needed, most go cart tracks in the UK are in old warehouses with no light, so even with a D3 and the fastest lenses it would be hard plus there is no money to be made at these venues

 

[Robin Usagani]

My apology. My computer at work blocked your photo. LOL. I misunderstood you.

 

[gsgary]

My apology. My computer at work blocked your photo. LOL. I misunderstood you.

No need to apologise

 

[Simons]

Sorry these are a long way from being good enough and with the lenses you have you don't have much chance of getting many good shots, if you are shooting to sell at the track 9 out of 10 needs to be good. Going on these shots i would not have asked you back to shoot on my events, just being truthful because i don't beat about the bush
I shot in dark venues and this is what i expect if anyone wants to shoot for me
Iso3200, F3.2,300mm,1/640

Ok well thanks for your opinion, although i was asking for guidance of ways to improve my images not simply telling me what i already know.

I realise that my current set up is not right for the job, but not everyone has the gear to shoot this type of thing, my gear is for outdoor sporting events. I would be happy to upgrade if i were to get the job.

I don't see the need for the sample image, the lighting at that venue is much better than the lighting at the venue i was shooting at.

Bloody hell i'm not saying use these settings, just showing what is needed, most go cart tracks in the UK are in old warehouses with no light, so even with a D3 and the fastest lenses it would be hard plus there is no money to be made at these venues.

Again whether there is money to be made or not if not for you to say in a situation like this. Have you tried it? If so, obviously your images were not up to scratch.