Ugly Hedgehog Newsletter

Hi,

I am an avid sports mom who takes LOTS of football action shots of her sons. I have a Canon xti with a zoom lens. I have trouble getting shots without them being blurry. I use the sports setting during the daylight and my manual as it gets darker soI have control of the settings. What am I doing wrong? I use a monopod because they don't like the tri's by the field

Thanks. Shad.

Anthony Charles Loc: Santa Maria

hAVE YOU TRIED TO SHOOT IN BURST OR MULTIPLE EXPOSURE MODE,NOT FAMILIAR WITH cANON,SO NO INFO ON HOW TO DO IT

mnm

Using your sports setting and your monopod, try moving the camera with the action to decrease the blur...."panning" the subject while keeping the camera in place with the monopod. Your subject should be in focus now, and the background is what will be blurry.

delija

,
Very good advice if you are not following the action as described by "mmm".

to go a bit further......since the most likely reason for blurred pictures is motion of the subjects (your sons) - you will want to use as fast a shutter speed as possible.

I use Canon equipment, but I haven't ever used any of the "pre-sets' (like "sports") - although I do mostly sports photography- (my cameras don't have any settings other than M, P, Av and Tv).

Try using the "Tv" mode instead of the "sports" setting - that way you can control the shutter speed - ideally you would want a shutter speed of AT LEAST 1/500th of a second, which should be easy in good light.

Once set to 'Tv' (shutter priority), then use your meter to try and center it by changing your aperture (f-stop) to get a proper exposure.

If you find that you can't get a wide enough aperture, (most zoom lenses are "slower" at the long end) - you can try to raise your ISO setting - don't be afraid to set it higher than what you may think is "normal'...I'm not sure what the ISO range is on your XTi, but I'd guess you can at least go as fast as ISO 1600 - which should not be necessary in good daylight, but might be needed late in the day or if the skies are very overcast.

High ISO settings might make you photos look "noisy", but if you make sure you have the newest version of Canon's Digital Photo Professional (comes with your camera) - there is a noise reduction setting that works well....open your "DPP" program and click on the "help" button and you'll see what version you have - then check on canonusa.com to see what the latest version is for your camera and if need be (which is very likely), just click on "upgrade"...the newer versions of DPP are MUCH better than what ihey were when the XTi was new. (upgrades are free).

Also if you shoot in RAW mode, you will have a LOT more of the data to work with, so if an exposure looks dark, you should be able to brighten it up a good amount using "DPP" with RAW files. When you set your camera to take Jpeg images, you can lose as much as 90% of the original data - with RAW, you have all of it to work with.

If you have trouble using or even just upgrading "DPP"..(or using RAW)...you should call Canon's customer support telephone number and someone will walk you through any problems you have. They are very friendly and extremely helpful....

(Tel # is 1-800-828-4040....the help support is free to Canon owners and has no time limit).

Good luck

wrei

All great advice. Depending on the lens, make sure that the autofocus setting is on single and not continues. Change your position so that the "moving target" is coming towards you rather then running accross your picture. This slows the motion down and can be partially compensated by the change of the "target" within the depth of field range. Also, try not to press the trigger half way down when focusing, this would lock the focus into position prior your shooting the pic.
Keep trying, you will get there.

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

All good advice and well stated. However if your not familiar with editing RAW I would stay away from that. Jpeg Fine is plenty for what you need and working in RAW will do little to correct blur. I guess what I'm saying is take one challenge at a time. Get to know your camera first before tackling (forgive the pun) advanced editing.

dmg

There are two possible causes for a blurred subject: 1) the subject is out of focus, and 2) the subject and/or the camera is moving and the shutter speed is too slow to "stop" the motion.
For moving subjects, both 1) and 2) come into play.

You might think that modern autofocus lenses solve problem 1), but this isn't completely true, especially in poor lighting conditions. Not only does the autofocus system have trouble in low light, but your camera will typically try to shoot with the lens wide open, which minimizes your depth-of-field and thereby increases the chance that your subject will be out of focus. For better depth-of-field, stop down your lens (to a higher F-stop).

A moving subject or camera can be corrected by a faster shutter speed, but keep in mind that the longer your lens (or the higher your zoom) the faster your shutter needs to be. The best way to deal with the moving camera issue is to use a tripod. If this isn't practical, you might want to try an image-stabilized lens.

In sports photography, everything is working against you. Stopping down your lens and increasing your shutter speed both reduce the amount of light hitting your sensor. To correct for this, you need to increase your ISO, which makes your picture grainier. Moral: the best sports photographs are usually taken in bright sunlight.

Ugly Jake Loc: Sub-Rural Vermont

I have to agree - sunlight makes a long look easier - this one was on a bright morning, with the subject in shade - I was able to freeze a javelin on release from 90-100 yards away - resting on a fencepost, but a monopod would do as well. f5.8 1/400 sec ISO - 500

delija

I agree that Jpeg Fine should be OK in most situations - I mentioned RAW only because it is the best way to shoot at high ISO settings which accomplishes two things - First, if there is inadequate lighting, you can increase the brightness significantly after the photos are processed and secondly, it makes it easy to get rid of the noise that I am guessing would be a problem at high ISO settings with an older camera.

As far a the "challenge' of shooting and then needing to process in RAW, I agree that to people who have not tried it before it may seem a bit daunting - but in truth...especially when it's only for a limited number of shots, it really is not difficult. And as I said already, the DPP software that is current is light years more advanced than the version that was current when the XT was sold - and again..upgrades are free. As far as I'm concerned, the best resource for anyone using Canon cameras is the free (and lifetime) live telephone support. If something seems confusing, they walk you through it at your own pace so that things fall into place. When you buy a Canon camera, this support is part of the price - to not take advantage of it is to not get your money's worth.

Nothing will do more than good light -

jdtx Loc: SA, Tx.

I have to agree with delija.."nothing will do more than good light"..good luck

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Hey Shad,
I take mostly soccer action shots but I had a Canon XTI to start with. I had some same issues with blurry focus too. I would make sure to have a High Speed Card in the camera. Also, shooting in the sports mode is fine on bright sunny days but I would shoot mostly in the M mode so you have control over the shutter speed. I have had more luck with M mode then either Tv or Av modes. I like shutter speeds of 1/1000 and up. I like to stop the action in its tracks. Also, set your AF points to just the center one that way you are not getting the Auto AF points firing on the bleachers instead of the player or the player behind them. Make sure you are set on Al Servo as well. The XTI is a good camera and I had lots of luck with it just not when dusk started. Sometimes with that camera you have to put up with the noise with the higher ISO's.

wrei

You have the right camera for shooting perfect sports pictures. Set the ISO on your camera to 400. Select automatic exposure if you are not familiar with the camera. Otherwise select shutter speed at 1/250, if possible 1/500 and let the camera choose the apreture. Important, make sure that the "autofocus" mode is on single and not on continuous. Otherwise, the focus is adjusting continously and during the time you press the trigger slightly and you press for the final shot, the focus might be changing in line with movements in the picture during that time phase.