Motocross Action Help! Took these yesterday and for some reason, still not happy with these shots. Taken with a Nikon 300 f2.8 on monopod. 2.8, spot focus, 1600 SS in manual at 125...

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Took these yesterday and for some reason, still not happy with these shots. Taken with a Nikon 300 f2.8 on monopod. 2.8, spot focus, 1600 SS in manual at 125 ISO.
Any help you can throw my way would be most appreciated. Riders were coming straight at me. Is that the problem? Oh, shot these with my D7000, not the D700.

Thanks in advance for any direction you all can give!

(Download)

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Do I need to post originals with out any crop to get download to work? Fist one is no crop, but the next two are.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

juicesqueezer wrote:

Do I need to post originals with out any crop to get download to work? Fist one is no crop, but the next two are.

Looks a little soft. Wow, spot focus with a moving bike in the air. You don't have to be off by much with a DOF of 2.8. At least with my canon spot and movement is not suggested. While shutter of 1/125 is ok for most things coming at you I would have gone faster especially with 300MM.

Would have SS 1/500, maybe center weigh focus(but not spot)/ Al Servo and ISO proportionally. Then again opinions are cheap. ;)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

For action shots, f/2.8 is probably too low, especially if the riders are coming straight at you ..... the focal point changes between the time the camera achieves focus and the shutter actually releases. If you change your aperture to f/8, the rider might look a bit sharper, only because you've allowed for a greater depth of field. If the shot appears too dark, you might have to up your ISO to compensate, but that should still result in an acceptable shot.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

pithydoug wrote:

Looks a little soft. Wow, spot focus with a moving bike in the air. You don't have to be off by much with a DOF of 2.8. At least with my canon spot and movement is not suggested. While shutter of 1/125 is ok for most things coming at you I would have gone faster especially with 300MM.

Would have SS 1/500, maybe center weigh focus(but not spot)/ Al Servo and ISO proportionally. Then again opinions are cheap. ;)

Thanks! I was shooting at 1/1600 and ISO at 125. Will try the center weighted next time out and also drop f stop to about 5 and play around with that.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Bob Yankle wrote:

For action shots, f/2.8 is probably too low, especially if the riders are coming straight at you ..... the focal point changes between the time the camera achieves focus and the shutter actually releases. If you change your aperture to f/8, the rider might look a bit sharper, only because you've allowed for a greater depth of field. If the shot appears too dark, you might have to up your ISO to compensate, but that should still result in an acceptable shot.

Appreciate the tips on f stops! Was trying to blur out the background. Tried taking some from the side and as close as I was, couldn't find the subject in the viewfinder fast enough. lol

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

juicesqueezer wrote:

Appreciate the tips on f stops! Was trying to blur out the background. Tried taking some from the side and as close as I was, couldn't find the subject in the viewfinder fast enough. lol

I know there tables that will tell the DOF at 300 at f2.8 and would agree with Bob 2.8 is to narrow. In this case what might be in focus woulds be the front of the bike vs the back of the bike and not the background. With an F/7 much better odds that the rider and bike will be spot on.

In addition especially with fast motion, you might want to try continuous shooting. Either pan and/or simply let some numbers of frames fire off especially with Al servo. Many times it's frames 2-4 that hit the mark.

Lots of variables to play with. :)

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

pithydoug wrote:

I know there tables that will tell the DOF at 300 ... (show quote)

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

pithydoug wrote:

I know there tables that will tell the DOF at 300 ... (show quote)

Thanks again. Actually, I was shooting 7 fps and picked out the better shots. I think getting off spot focus and setting my f stop a little deeper will certainly help.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

juicesqueezer wrote:

Thanks again. Actually, I was shooting 7 fps and picked out the better shots. I think getting off spot focus and setting my f stop a little deeper will certainly help.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

BrentHarder Loc: Southern California

juicesqueezer wrote:

Took these yesterday and for some reason, still not happy with these shots. Taken with a Nikon 300 f2.8 on monopod. 2.8, spot focus, 1600 SS in manual at 125 ISO.
Any help you can throw my way would be most appreciated. Riders were coming straight at me. Is that the problem? Oh, shot these with my D7000, not the D700.

Thanks in advance for any direction you all can give!

I'm not sure about your Nikon model, but on my Canon there is a setting called "al servo" which once you focus on your subject (and it is moving) the focus tracks the subject and keeps the focus on the subject. I also agree with what has been said about F8 for a greater focus area of the subject.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

BrentHarder wrote:

I'm not sure about your Nikon model, but on my Canon there is a setting called "al servo" which once you focus on your subject (and it is moving) the focus tracks the subject and keeps the focus on the subject. I also agree with what has been said about F8 for a greater focus area of the subject.

Thanks! It's called continuous focus, I believe. At least, that is what I have it set on, AF-C.

Don Craig Loc: Saranac, NY

It's actually that clear blue sky background that bothers me, it makes the images look like they've been pasted in. Too bad there weren't some cloud features. Of course you couldn't do anything about that.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

juicesqueezer wrote:

Took these yesterday and for some reason, still not happy with these shots. Taken with a Nikon 300 f2.8 on monopod. 2.8, spot focus, 1600 SS in manual at 125 ISO.
Any help you can throw my way would be most appreciated. Riders were coming straight at me. Is that the problem? Oh, shot these with my D7000, not the D700.

Thanks in advance for any direction you all can give!

I agree they appear a little soft. But I would also say that any kind of camera support will inhibit your ability to cover the action well.

At 1/1600 you should be able to shoot hand held, keep up with the action firing shots as you follow.

Your f/stop may be a little open... closing it down a bit will help with focus.

Good luck

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Don Craig wrote:

It's actually that clear blue sky background that bothers me, it makes the images look like they've been pasted in. Too bad there weren't some cloud features. Of course you couldn't do anything about that.

Yes, I noticed that as well when I previewed the photo's. There is never a cloud when you need one! lol