Camera Labs

I don't have anything real fancy but I bought my first DSLR in March - EOS 550D with EF-S 18-135MM AND here is my question..........

I'm taking my 2 yr old daughter to a rodeo tomorrow near Manchester, MD and need some advice on this - properly using the correct setting for action shots.

From what I have read it says to select the slower shutter speed of "TV" mode and using a 1/60 or less shutter speed to get action shots that will have that blurry look in the background. What do you think about that? Is there something else I should know?

Learning this camera is a long process and thank for you any advice that can be extended my way.......I promise to share pics!

Feel free to email me at jriggin2009@aol.com - I will get those on my blackberry when away from the computer and net.

Hi Saltylady and welcome to the forum. I would suggest a minimum speed of 1/800 regardless of focal length to get sharp photos, let the camera work out the aperture and ISO. I assume taking your daughter it will be in the day time so the lighting should be ok. Take a few shots of your daughter running and look at the results.

Have fun with the new camera.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

thank you for the advice. It was a great sunny day - perfect weather! We had a blast. Did my best on the photos but it's a learning process so I can only get better! I started out with 1/40 and moved to 1/125 and should have experimented more but I will next time.

It was really hard for me due to chain link fence I had to work thru.

I think the slow shutter speed worked in this case especially in the 2nd shot. If the light was good I would have shot this around f8, aperture mode and would increase the ISO to get the speed I wanted.

Good first sport shooting. I would suggest shooting anything that moved and see what setting you prefer to use.


Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

4xxxx: I could be wrong, but I don't think the "motion blur background" shot is what she's looking for. My suspicion is that she wants sharp photos.

Saltylady: Continuing with this suspicion, I suggest an alternative method. I prefer (and most photographers do) to shoot in aperture priority mode (Av) on your camera. In this mode, you choose your aperture and ISO, and your camera chooses the shutter speed. What I would do is open the aperture all the way (in Av mode, set the f-stop value to the LOWEST setting - which means the biggest aperture). Press the shutter release half way and your camera will display the fastest shutter speed it can do with those settings. If it's too low, then start increasing your ISO until you get a fast enough shutter speed. Remember, with increased ISO, you will get more grainy photos - not to be confused with blurry photos. Hope this helps!

Thank you very much. I took about 300 photos and 50 came out decent after editing (well decent to me since i'm just an amateur). I'm thrilled really with my photos.

Actually I thought "motion blur background" was what I needed however when I actually got to the rodeo thats when I realized I would be directly across from where the bulls are released from the pens.

I will play around with the camera again this weekend and the settings that are suggested.

Looking forward to sharing what I learn in the future and becoming a better photographer.