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22/04/2009 11:09:35 p.m.

kathleen

Posts 221 		Hi.
Anyone out there that does action photography that may critique this image for me please.
When it comes to F/8 not being enough depth of field to have both subjects in focus, does it actually matter which one does end up in focus?
In this image the back car is slightly out of focus and I am thinking the back car really needs to be the one in focus and the front car the soft focus. Opinions please.
I don’t do a lot of action photography, I have read articles on the basic simple techniques, but it’s getting them right, any suggestions are welcome.

Camera Info:
Canon 50D
Aperture Priority – F/8
Shutter 1/640
ISO 400
Lens 70 -200mm F/4L USM at 200mm
Taken in Raw, high speed continuous shooting.
One Shot AF.

Thanks,
Kathleen.
Race.8263.jpg
24/04/2009 9:35:18 a.m.

Pixelated

Posts 107 		Kathleen, that's a great action shot!
What you are asking is really mostly the photographer's own choices and artistic interpretation. There is no right or wrong way.

For action shots using the 'AI Focus' or even the 'AI Servo' may be a better bet than the 'One Shot' AF. The reason is that you can then 'lock' on to your subject and the camera will endeavour to track it and keep it in focus when your shutter button is half way.

AI Servo puts it in this mode all the time, AI Focus gives you the option of both ways - it starts off for a static subject but if it detects movement it will switch to servo. AI stands for artificial intelligence, and I've found it isn't perfect, but it helps.

I have a personal saying for scenic landscape shots - f8 is great, f9 is fine. But, this isn't always the case with other types of photography, and there's nothing wrong with opening up the aperture more to increase the shutter speed for action shots. You pick your subject and have that in focus and the blur or 'bokeh' in the background and foreground can add to the artistic quality of the shot. I practice on passing cars (gets me weird looks!) and love the effect of an f4 aperture.

Shutter speed is another personal preference thing and if freezing the action is needed you need a high shutter speed, but do you really want to freeze it? A bit of motion blur can give life to an image and the 'sense' of movement.

On thing to be aware of is the noise factor of high ISO settings. The latest cameras are addressing this issue, but for most of us it's necessary to keep the number low.

Keep up the great work...

- Thysje

kathleen wrote:

Hi.
Anyone out there that does action photography that may critique this image for me please.
When it comes to F/8 not being enough depth of field to have both subjects in focus, does it actually matter which one does end up in focus?
In this image the back car is slightly out of focus and I am thinking the back car really needs to be the one in focus and the front car the soft focus. Opinions please.
I don’t do a lot of action photography, I have read articles on the basic simple techniques, but it’s getting them right, any suggestions are welcome.

Camera Info:
Canon 50D
Aperture Priority – F/8
Shutter 1/640
ISO 400
Lens 70 -200mm F/4L USM at 200mm
Taken in Raw, high speed continuous shooting.
One Shot AF.

Thanks,
Kathleen.
24/04/2009 10:31:02 a.m.

Kiwiangel

Posts 101 		Nice shot! Action photography is an area I'm not very experienced in, so I have no useful comments, but wanted to acknowledge your post.

I did some action-shot practice on a group of skateboarders yesterday.
24/04/2009 11:06:47 a.m.

sizzlingbadger

Posts 42 		Check out Hyperfocal distance. If you can understand how this works it can make a huge difference with action shots where you need to shoot with smaller F stops for faster shutter speeds.
24/04/2009 11:55:50 a.m.

kathleen

Posts 221 		Thanks Thysje, Belinda and Nik.
I did try the Al Servo Thysje, I ran into trouble with it locking onto focus on the wrong car in a big group of cars that I did not want it to, so switched to one shot.
With this direction, the cars are heading away from me, and when one came up from the bottom of the frame Al Servo picked up on it. It was alright when they straightened out from the corner and headed down the straight and the Al Servo kept locked onto them. I just found this corner photography to get all the skidding into the corner and mud flying really hard, especially the depth of field. Not wanting to slow my shutter speed anymore, AV gave me F/8.
When the cars were on the same plain panning, they remained in focus and I could have gone for a less depth of field for soft backgrounds and faster shutter. Mind you, I still need plenty of practice on that panning, not as easy as one thinks. It's still to keep moving with the car while taking the photo thats hard to get right. Lots of laughs and blurry photos.

I do know the hyperfocal Nik; I had not thought of working with it on the corner. This means I would have to pre-focus on a certain hyperfocal point and always take the photo when they got to that point. Would moving (on a plain) sideways into the corner and out to the outer edge with telephoto on a pre-focus still give me a sharp image from hyperfocal point front to infinity? I have tried movement set on hyperfocal with my wide angle lens which works, but not a telephoto.

Thanks for more food for thought on using camera techniques to acheive results on this action photography.
Thanks Belinda for your interest, I love to try new things and great when you can get it right.

Kathleen.
24/04/2009 12:12:29 p.m.

sizzlingbadger

Posts 42 		As long as what your trying capture remains beyond the HF point it should remain in focus.
24/04/2009 1:28:03 p.m.

Pixelated

Posts 107 		It's certainly a lot of fun trying all this. I find AI Focus better to use than AI Servo, it is a kind of half way mode. As for the panning, I know what you mean, that's why I'm still practicing on passing cars, lol.

Hyperfocal distance is something I hadn't thought of in the context of action photography. I might give that a try, but I somehow get the feeling that I'll have enough to think of without trying that as well. It happens very fast. I do prefer the action shots with lots of bokeh though.

Thysje
24/04/2009 1:48:56 p.m.

kathleen

Posts 221 		I must try it Nik, thanks.
24/04/2009 2:57:17 p.m.

kathleen

Posts 221 		Hi Thysje.
I have not done much with the Al Focus, I must check it out a bit more. Yea, everything is happening so fast to try and move through all the modes instantly. Just have to hope there is heaps of laps around the track to try as they come around again.
My panning at the moment still has those double lines where either I have panned to slow or to fast, it would be great to get the technique sorted to get it right all the time instead of getting a fluke sharp image every now and again.
I used to have one of those zoom lenses on my old film camera that pull in and out and I used to love setting a slow shutter and doing the zoom blasts, but have not quite got the speed knack yet on the twist zoom lens. You could come out with some crazy looking images with the zoom blast, alot of fun. Spent so much money on film though that ended up in the bin.
I see people doing it in photoshop filters now on their images, but the drawing from the image does not quite look as real as a natural zoom blast done in camera. I would imagine it would come from how much the selected edge was feathered.

Cheers,
Kathleen.
24/04/2009 3:40:08 p.m.

kathleen

Posts 221 		MCB information please. Releases needed for action images like this image below.
I will put this on the forum as there might be others out there interested knowing the same for these types of action shots.
If we got property/model releases for the cars, how do we get on then for the sponsor advertising all over the cars? I know we are supposed to remove brands, but it does not seem right to de-face a car of its sponsor’s advertising as this is also what racing is all about.
As for the crowds and on-lookers, I know we can use shallow depth of field so they become soft focus, but if we do get sharp images of crowds and on-lookers like here which I have cropped straight through the ones standing, but what about the ones sitting, are they far enough away or still too recognisable?

Sincerely,
Kathleen.
Sprint Cars.8422.jpg
28/04/2009 10:54:55 a.m.

Canon_S.I.

Posts 283 		Hi Kathleen

Excellent action shots and i'm jealous of the equipment your using :-),i don't see how people can expect photographers to get model releases for people in a crowd or remove signwriting off such sports vehicles,seems pathetic to even consider it.Mind you MCB may have an answer as i'm curious about your question also,you only asked about it four {4} days ago,these things take time obviouslly,no wonder people aren't using the forums regularly,cheers.
28/04/2009 2:41:55 p.m.

Rosie

Posts 157
kathleen wrote:

MCB information please. Releases needed for action images like this image below.
I will put this on the forum as there might be others out there interested knowing the same for these types of action shots.
If we got property/model releases for the cars, how do we get on then for the sponsor advertising all over the cars? I know we are supposed to remove brands, but it does not seem right to de-face a car of its sponsor’s advertising as this is also what racing is all about.
As for the crowds and on-lookers, I know we can use shallow depth of field so they become soft focus, but if we do get sharp images of crowds and on-lookers like here which I have cropped straight through the ones standing, but what about the ones sitting, are they far enough away or still too recognisable?

Sincerely,
Kathleen.


Hi Kathleen,

Great shot and good to see some constructive feedback from other members too!

This particular image is suitable for editorial use only due to the recognisable cars and sponsorship branding (not suitable for advertising usage).

As far as model/property releases are concerned, the people in the crowd are fine, you wouldn't need a model release for these. With crowd shots, if there are people that are the focus of the image or closer than this and easily identifiable then a release is required. Each image submitted to mychillybin is reviewed case by case.

Keep up the great work.

Cheers for now,
The mychillybin team.
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