Canon EOS 40D AND Canon 70-200 f2.8 lens

[sambam]

I just got my new camara and went to go shoot my soccer team today (see my pictures "Going for the ball" and Run") with m40d and 70-200 f2.8 lens. I got some great shots but I also got some fuzzy ones. Now I have questions...


1. Can and how do I use auto-lock on my focus?
2. Can I shoot in black and white or other creative styles?
3. Is there any way to get a very sharp image with a moving subject and everything else blurred?
4. I have a photo shoot coming up for a ballet company and I want to get a few dancers, but I want them all in focus even though in the studio they will be at different distances?
5. I also want to get her turning and I want her really sharp but then I want her slightly smudged in another picture. Is there anyway to do this?
6. What would be the best shutter speed for doing this or would it change for sharp vs. smudged?
Thank you so much. I have the shoot Tuesday so I will be using this info soon.

[Manfred M]

Hi Sam - based on your questions, I would assume you are relatively new to this type of photography (action), your equipment and photography in general. In a number of cases, you are looking at some techniques that are either fairly advanced and take a fair bit of practice to perfect or can be handled in post-processing. There is no formula to give you to get out there and be successful in your shooting; experience and practice are required, and in for post-processing, the right tools. The fact that you don't know why some of your shots work, while others don't does not give me a lot of confidence that you can out these shots off by Tuesday.

1. I'm not sure what you mean by auto-lock your focus. Depressing your shutter release 1/2 way will get your camera to set the focus and exposure. If you are looking at pre-focusing at a particular spot, there are a number of ways of accomplishing this, either by focusing on the subject and then disabling your auto focus or manually focusing completely.

2. Your camera can be set to a number of different custom settings including B&W, but most photographers will do these effects during post-processing.

3. Yes, the way to do this is to select a slow shutter speed and then smoothly follow the subject precisely. Your subject will be sharp and everything else will show motion blur. It takes a lot of practice to get this technique nailed, and you won't have a 100% success rate. You can also accomplish this look in post processing by using the motion blur filter in Photoshop.

4. Yes, of course this can be done. You need to use the appropriate depth of field, and that will depend on the lens you are using, how far the subject(s) are away from the camera. This means shooting at the right (small) aperture; f/11, f/16, etc. If you are doing this indoors, you will need a lot of light and a suitable ISO. I believe your camera only gets up to ISO 1600, so this may be a bit problematic.

5. Sharp means high shutter speed (around 1/1000th or faster) and in-focus. Slightly smudged means slightly slower shutter speed; you'll have to play around to see what works for you. I would probably try the shot you suggest using a more advanced technique called "dragging the shutter". I believe that your 40D has a flash mode called 2nd curtain by Canon (rear curtain by Nikon). By using an external flash, rather than the small built-in flash and appropriate slow shutter speed using second curtain you can freeze the dancer and then use the ambient light to add a slight blur to the image. You won't be able to do this if you are using high-speed synch. If you use normal flash mode (1st curtain, the blur will be in front of the dancer, rather than behind the dance and will look weird. This technique would give you a sharp image of the dancer and a blur behind him or her.

Post-processing can also be used to achieve these types of effects using a sharp original image.

6. Best shutter speed will depend on a lot of factors and shooting technique; the amount of motion (freezing at the top of a jump) versus rapid motion would require totally different shutter speeds.

Good luck.

[Walj]

Hi Sam,

If I were you the following will be my setting:

For indoor :-

- WB set to Auto (make sure your picture is not too orangy - this is how to tell your WB either it's correct or otherwise).
- Maximum f-stop 2.8 (ideally your lens with IS).
- ISO 1600 or higher (you can remove noise later by software if you find the picture is too grainy or noisy).
- Aperture priority is A-mode.
- Adjust your Exposure (EV+-) more to + (+1/3, +2/3, etc) if the picture is underexposed.
- No flash.

For outdoor sport (based on my previous experience with EOS 50D + EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM telephoto zoom lens, will try to show you the pictures of my eldest son while playing his skateboard and the other with kids scooter - heard 40D is better in term of noise level) :-

- WB is Daylight.
- Aperture priority is M-mode (but watch out for lighting).
- Shutter speed is 1/2000.
- ISO 400.
- No flash.
- Try other option if this doesn't work with 40D

With regard to creative style I don't think you can, even for black and white as I did try this before was not possible unlike Leica camera has a special censor (@any members: please correct me if i'm wrong). You can see in b&w only from your camera display screen immediately after you shoot but back to color when you see from your monitor screen. Why not you just shoot in color then convert to b&w by software later.

My 2¢..

Thanks.

[sambam]

Thank you. I found out everything last night and I had just forgot about it.

[Shadowman]

Not familiar with the Canon system but that looks like a pretty good lens. Did you choose it or did someone else? if someone else did I would definitely check with them for some answers.

[Colin Southern]

For moving subjects you need to have the auto-focus in SERVO mode, not one-shot mode.

[GrahamS]

Thank you. I found out everything last night and I had just forgot about it.

Well, whaddya know?

[sambam]

?

[Walj]

For moving subjects you need to have the auto-focus in SERVO mode, not one-shot mode.

Yup! I agree.. I missed this out from my reply above.