Action photography.

[MiniChris]

Try these books...your photography teacher may already have them:
Darkroom Dynamics by Jim Stone ISBN 0-240-51767-9
A Short Course in Photography by Jim Stone and Barbara London ISBN 0-13-110201-X
See if you can find: The Step-by-Step Guide to Photography by Michael Langford
Darkroom Basics and Beyond Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz ISBN 1-84340-048-0
And immediately subscribe to Lens Work magazine Call them at 1-800-659-2130 - it is by far, the best monthly photographic publication

[UtopianStardust]

I am going to point to chemicals first...and that's all of them. After that, do you know if your school has a power conditioner on their in-line. This time of year, especially where I live, power fluctuates considerable throughout th eday...it doesn't take much to change the output either +/- which can affect your exposure by as much as a full stop. Grayishness is almost always a filter or chemistry issue. When I was in high school, I made my own chemistry (especially making sure I was using paper dev and not film dev (another cause of nasty-looking prints). I kept my chems off to the side and found a nice coner where I could set up and control my print outcomes...if there is room, you might want to give that a consideration.
My school darkroom has 23 enlargers, a two sink setup and I run about 40 kids a day through the darkroom with each producing two to three prints per day. I have a timer setup that rings every 20 minutes ato tell them to dum the developer. On each second dump, they dump all the chems and put in a new batch.

We'll be lucky if our teacher changes the developer every two to three days!

[MiniChris]

Then, you may as well not be taking the course. Get four trays a small safelight and take to your bathroom. Tape a black cloth over the closed door and build a platform over the bathtub...viola, a darkroom. If you'll pay the shipping, I'll send you an enlarger..I have tons of them - literally (20 big ones in storage and a nice Beseler Cadet still in the box. I suspect the shipping on that would be less than $20.00). If you can't afford that, spend a few bucks and buy a decent pinhole camera, then all you need is a good light and a piece of glass to make contact prints with...Where there is a want, there is always a way. Just remember to clean up so your family stays happy with you.

[Chimpancheesze]

I have a lot of respect for those who can hit moving targets. The ones of the speed boats and this NASCAR shot I took where the subjects are close to 180mph (maybe not the boat).

Nice shots in this thread.

Randy

[Chimpancheesze]

Here's another action shot with a very fast shutter speed. It all depends on what type of "action" you're looking for.

Randy

[Donald]

This one made the cover of the Toyota 4WD Club magazine for November.

Peter

Congratulations.

You can see why.

[Chimpancheesze]

PANNING...

Following a pan is a lot like skeet shooting with a shotgun. The rotation must be smooth and not jerky. I will often start behind my subject a bit and then rotate to catch up, try to maintain the same speed as the subject, and then start shooting in burst mode.

RPC,

That's a pretty interesting technique you have there. When I've shot skeet and duck I've always had to lead my target for the simple fact the shot pellets don't reach the target fast enough.

With motor sports (NASCAR specifically) I find I have to do the same thing. I pan with the focus area just ahead of the numbers on the side of the car. That way if my pan is off a bit I at least have a chance at the numbers moving right to the center. If I trailed the car, it was harder for me to catch. How would you recommend a trailing pan with something moving so fast?

And I agree 100% with you statement that burst mode is mandatory, whether you're using a slow shutter speed or max. Max, however, must be in complete daylight or you'll end up with darker photos. At least I do since I don't quite have the whole ISO/Light/Aperture relationship figured out.

[UtopianStardust]

Then, you may as well not be taking the course. Get four trays a small safelight and take to your bathroom. Tape a black cloth over the closed door and build a platform over the bathtub...viola, a darkroom. If you'll pay the shipping, I'll send you an enlarger..I have tons of them - literally (20 big ones in storage and a nice Beseler Cadet still in the box. I suspect the shipping on that would be less than $20.00). If you can't afford that, spend a few bucks and buy a decent pinhole camera, then all you need is a good light and a piece of glass to make contact prints with...Where there is a want, there is always a way. Just remember to clean up so your family stays happy with you.

That's a great idea! I'll see if my parents would agree to let me do that!

[Peter Ryan]

Peter

Congratulations.

You can see why.

Thanks Donald. I need you help. We have a Scottish lass out here on a working holiday and she is going back to Glasgow for 3 weeks for Christmas. I don't undersatnd why she is leaving the warm for all that cold. I will get her number and maybe you can talk her out of it.

[Donald]

Thanks Donald. I need you help. We have a Scottish lass out here on a working holiday and she is going back to Glasgow for 3 weeks for Christmas. I don't undersatnd why she is leaving the warm for all that cold. I will get her number and maybe you can talk her out of it.

Aahh, she's from Glasgow, That explains it! Tell her to pack her thermal underwear - the freeze coming down from the Arctic Circle has started again this morning.

[Kalimah]

Hello wilgk and anyone else who can help.

I am attempting to learn to do what you've done in these two photos. What's the secret? I'm shooting with a Nikon D60, 18-200mm. I always end up with a clear background but fuzzy subject. Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Kalimah]

Great shot Chimpancheesze! This is the technique I'm trying to learn. Any pointers?

[Joiemagic]

Here are some Surfing Action Shots from the recent Quiksilver Pro NY Surfing compitition.

[Dave Humphries]

Hello wilgk and anyone else who can help.

I am attempting to learn to do what you've done in these two photos. What's the secret? I'm shooting with a Nikon D60, 18-200mm. I always end up with a clear background but fuzzy subject. Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

Hi Kalimah,

I'm not absolutely sure which photographs you are referring to, it helps if you use the "Reply with Quote" option from the post you are discussing so we know.

I am guessing you mean this one;

The 'secret' is to pan with the moving subject and also use a suitable shutter speed, what that is depends on a lot of things.
Panning keeps the subject sharp, the suitable shutter speed blurs the background.

Show us an example of what you mean and we can be more specific.

Cheers,

[rpcrowe]

I am not sure what camera you use but, I suggest practicing on vehicles traveling down a road or freeway (be careful that you are shoting from a safe spot).

There are so many vehicles that you won't need to wait between shots...

I use AI Servo on my Canon DSLR cameras. The 40D is nice but, the 7D blows me out of the water with its predictive focus ability...

[jeeperman]

All good tips here, can't really add anything. Just practice, practice, practice. A good full day at the track and you can get it down pretty quick. These were taken towards the middle of my first panning practice a little over a year ago.

When I first got to the track I used 1/500th sec. That was a bit fast but allowed me to make sure I was getting sharp shots. Once I got my proper panning speed down for a given subject I lowered my shutter speed to allow the wheels to show some spin.

Iso 200 F8 1/160th sec @ 250mm

[GeraintAJ]

All good tips here, can't really add anything. Just practice, practice, practice. A good full day at the track and you can get it down pretty quick. These were taken towards the middle of my first panning practice a little over a year ago.

When I first got to the track I used 1/500th sec. That was a bit fast but allowed me to make sure I was getting sharp shots. Once I got my proper panning speed down for a given subject I lowered my shutter speed to allow the wheels to show some spin.

Iso 200 F8 1/160th sec @ 250mm

Certainly agree with jeeperman and the need to practice but if I would add one thing it is to critically review in terms of process as well as composition. Two photographs from the same rugby match will high light what I mean:






In the first I allowed my point focus to drift off the Navy player (in blue) and so the camera focussed on one of the Army players. In the second I managed to get it right. In both of these images I was using a single point focus and panning to keep the player I wanted in the centre of the shot. My failings means that the first image loses its impact with the ball carrier. When I first started with action photography I didn't use point focus and had these issues far more frequently. I am now proficient with my camera that I can easily adjust the point of focus with the body at my eye so that I can adjust composition whilst panning. That was, as jeeperman says, practice, practice, practice.

With sport involving people I also feel that more often than not the power of an image comes when you can see the face generally and in particular the eyes.



but like every rule or guideline sometimes breaking them gives a decent result although the arm to the right is annoying.

[Jonnypar]

l

[Ron Russell]

Not fully able to use this forum thingy yet, have uploaded a few images into a folder entitled, The Games, please have a wee look and give me some feedback, ta in advance.

[dje]

Not fully able to use this forum thingy yet, have uploaded a few images into a folder entitled, The Games, please have a wee look and give me some feedback, ta in advance.

Hi Ron and welcome to the forum. I had a wee look at your album and liked what I saw. You have some good action shots there. Scots are so genteel aren't they

I would encourage you to perservere with posting directly into a thread ( see this link) as you will probably get more people looking at your pics.

Dave