Shooting in low light - fast shutter

[Daf]

Hi all!

New to both this forum and photography!

I have been going out to the local motocross tracks and snapping some photos with my new D40. It's a great camera and is making me look like I know what I'm doing!

So ... I'm good to go if it's sunny/clear, and if I stay out of the trees (low light issue) - I'm posting a link to 2 different photos I need help with.

1- One of them is from a race on a very overcast day - as you can see the sky could not be more gray - and the shots suffer because of it. Is there something that can be done on days like these - or is it a wash?

2- Nice sunny day but the section of the track I'm shooting is under a canopy of trees - as you can see the light is not that great - and ... the foliage seems to be competing with the subjects for attention in the shot. Is there something that can be done for the [lack of] light? Should shots like this be avoided because of the background?

Thanks so much for the time - I hope to learn enough to both take great photos and to help others that come here to learn.

Daf

 

[iflynething]

What are you shooting with, body and lens?

~Michael~

 

[thenikonguy]

fill flash would help.. (on both shots)

 

[Daf]

What are you shooting with, body and lens?

~Michael~

Doh! Sorry about that ...

Nikon D40 - and one of 2 lenses -
18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens
55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor lens

I have it on shutter priority at 1600 (?)

During the low light shots I can clearly see that it says "Lo" so it's not like I'm not properly warned.

 

[Daf]

fill flash would help.. (on both shots)

Thanks - the problem there is that I'm literally taking half dozen shots in a second or 2 - that is the best way for me to capture the action. I'm using shutter priority mode.

Thanks a million for the reply!

 

[KmH]

Checkout the camera handeling technique called 'panning'. You follow the rider with the camera and use a lower shutter speed. That lets the background and the spokes in the wheels blur, adding to the sense of speed and making the riders pop much more. It takes a little practice but isn't very hard.

Your #2 shot would need flash. Not the pop-up one on your camera but off camera over on the right, out of the frame up on a light stand about 10 feet.

The only other thing you could do is meter the shadows and let the bright parts of the background blowout.

 

[Daf]

Thank you for the reply!

I will research the "panning" method you mention - thanks!

Sounds like, except for the shadow metering (which I will also do some research on), I just need to avoid shots like the 2nd one as they are not good photo enviroments without additional light.

Thanks again!
Daf

 

[KmH]

Pretty much yes. By the way your pictures are way over-saturated.

 

[Daf]

Really??? All of them?

Not even sure where to start correcting that as I thought most of the well lit shots were pretty good? What qualifies as over saturated - is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks
Daf

 

[bigtwinky]

I'm assuming you are shooting in JPG?

If you are not doing any post processing, check to see if you can set the amount of saturation your camera adds to the image. I know in my XSI, I can set the sharpness, contrast and saturation in camera. Not sure about your camera.

Or shoot in RAW and apply what you need after the fact

 

[Daf]

Hi Bigtwinky

I am shooting in jpg mode - I will switch to raw - thanks for that tip!

I am applying some "levels" and "curve" adjustments ... you think I'm over doing it?

Thanks
Daf

 

[AgentDrex]

I guess I'm going to throw in my two-cents...a lot of people don't like the "over-saturation"...but I think you did a great job with it...

 

[bigtwinky]

Hi Bigtwinky

I am shooting in jpg mode - I will switch to raw - thanks for that tip!

I am applying some "levels" and "curve" adjustments ... you think I'm over doing it?

Thanks
Daf

Maybe. I usually apply a little (or alot, depending hehe) of levels in my pictures. Depends on if you are changing the colours or not.

Try shooting something around the house that is full of colour in JPG and then shoot again in RAW. Upload to your PC and check to see if there is a difference.

 

[iflynething]

Also, for something like this, either shoot in full manual and you set what LOOKS good from a couple of "test shots" or aperture priority. I think your best best right now would be A on your D40.

I say this becuase you can set your shutter to 1/4,000 sec (which I think is as high as the D40 goes) but your aperture can only go so wide. You have more play room set to aperture priotity. Zoom all the way out and set it to 3.5 on the 18-55 and f/4 on the 55-200. Even if you zoom out, the camera will keep the widest (smallest number) aperture and the camera will set the rest.

If I remember, you hold down the button on the top right of the camera looking like a aperture ring and rotate the command dial.

If you find the images are over/underexposed, you're either going to hope you're shooting in RAW (which I"m pretty sure the D40 doesn't support) or shoot in full manual and get the hang of what setting to use. If you want to mess around with manual, I would set the aperture to the lowest number (largest aperture) and just adjust your shutter speed according to your meter. Just know, these cameras are going off reflected light. You have perfect examples to show how it would read: On the first shot, your camera would say you will be WAAAAYYY overexposed because of the sky (even though its still cloudy, it's still bright TO THE CAMERA METER). You would probably increase the shutter speed. The sky would be correctly exposed, but you would not be able to see the bike.

It's vice versa on the second shot. The camera would see that dark background of the shadowed trees, you would adjust to a 0 meter reading and unless you knew how to correctly pan, the shutter speeed would be too short and the image would be blurry.

Apoligies for the long post, but it's 12 am and I kinda got carried away.

I hope this helps you though, good luck with future shots.

By the way, you have some nice shots on your site and I like the oversaturation. Might be a TAD too much, but with all the colors MotoCross offers, makes the image look nice!

~Michael~

 

[Daf]

AgentDrex, Bigtwinky and iflynething - thank you so much for your replies!

iflynething - please don't apologize for the long post! I've been reading it over and over and will make the recommended adjustments to my shooting methods. There is a race coming up this weekend and it will be the perfect time to try some different things. You have all given me a lot to think about and work toward!

Thanks again!
Daf