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[djg05478]

Working on my catching my dog in motion. Not as sharp as it could be I guess. C & C welcome.

[Dave Humphries]

Good exposure and action capture Debbie,

I think it could be improved by applying LCE to just Gunther.

A bit like this;



Duplicate layer
LCE with USM 20%, 250px 0th.
Sharpen with USM 105% 0.3px 1th.
Erase/mask so background (unprocessed) show through all around Gunther.

Difference is subtle (flick between them in Lytebox), but it didn't need much.

Cheers,

[djg05478]

Thanks! Your edits give it just a little more POP!

[rpcrowe]

Hi Debbie... I like the shot. I love the ears flying up and the intense focus of your dog's eyes!

I was wondering about your equipment and settings for the shot. Some gear will do a better job on moving subjects than will other gear. Of course the settings on your camera including F/stop, shutter speed, auto focus etc. also make a great difference in quality of imagery you capture.

Most of us set up our shooting parameters differently for moving subjects than we do for stationary subjects.

I will most often use a relatively high ISO (around 320 or 400 **see below) so that I can keep my shuter speed fast. I will use SERVO AI (Canon's terminology) for my auto focus. F/stop (I will often shoot in aperture priority) depends on whether I want a shallow or deep depth of field which again depends on the type of subject I am shooting and what the background looks like. For most shooting, the default AF setting of my Canon 7D works pretty well but, there are times when I might want to tweak the autofocus to slightly different from the dfault setting... I will most often use center spot focus (with AF point expansion mode) but, may change this. I will most often shoot in burst mode. Whether I select the slow burst (3-FPS) or the fast burst (8 FPS) depends on how long I want to shoot the burst. Whether I have the IS on my 70-200mm f/4L IS on or off and whether I have it in mode-I or mode-2 depends greatly on what I am shooting. I will usually have the lens focus limiter set to 3 meters to infinity. This results in slightly faster focus becuse the lens doesn't have to shift from the minimum focus distance to infinity but, just from 3 meters to infinity a considerably shorter shift...

The Canon 40D, 50D, 60D and 7D cameras have a system of User Selected Modes in which the user can select the sets of parameters at which to shoot, register these parameters on a User Selected Mode (40D = 3 modes, 50D = 2 modes, 60D = 1 mode and the 7D - 3 modes) and then select all the parameters with one quick turn of the mode dial. I have one mode on my 7D set up for moving subjects. So when I want to switch from shoting stationary subjects to shooting moving subjects, I just have to twist the mode dial and I am completely and quickly ready for action.

Finally, it is easier for me to view a moving subject through the 7D eye level viewfinder than to use liveview.

** Calling ISO 320 or 400 "high" results from years in film photography when that was a high ISO...

[djg05478]

Thanks Richard! Well it looks like I'm well on my way to taking pictures as good as yours. I'm pretty much doing all the things you mentioned.

I'm a Nikon girl with a D90. I shoot manual. This one the settings were: f/8 1/1250 ISO 400 at 135mm on a 55-200mm lens. The camera was in its servo mode...although I goofed and had it in the slower of the two servo modes.

I took 30-40 shots and had 2-3 that I was pleased with. It really is something you have to practice. This is not a slow dog. You have to pan a bit as he's coming at you. Definitely needed to bump the ISO to get the shutter speed, which I don't like going much over 800 -1000. For my camera anything over that is too noisy. I don't know if thats a D90 thing or a me thing.

I will have to sit down with my manual and learn how to set myself some user defined settings. I know the camera can do it, I just haven't taken the time...yet.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.