My first time... Indoor swimming

[Lawrence]

Here are my first shots with my new to me gear and a little C&C would be great. Basically, this is my first time shooting with a DSLR and not a P&S camera, so although the gear is cool, the guy behind the lens has a steep learning curve to face.

The place where my daughter practices is a like a cave, the lighting is terrible. So, I set the camera to Av and f/2.8, set the ISO to 3200 to get a halfway decent shutter speed, and then crossed my fingers. So, here are some pics with my comments... Feel free to comment and critique to let me know what I am doing right (short list) or wrong (much longer list).

The first picture is typical of my first day, the AF focused on the lane lines and not my daughter. Is this because I am not aiming properly or do I need to set the camera to center AF instead?



2-3-4 are a little better, the colors are not too bad and the focus is better





5-6-7 have focus problems again (lane lines vs subject) and the colors are off, especially the cap gets washed out





I played with 8-9 a little in iPhoto (they were really bland), they are ok but you can see that her cap has nearly no color and the background is grainy (high ISO?)




10 is another one typical of my session, lack of focus. I have to figure how to have the AF track the subject.



11 is not bad for colors, but it seems that the water to her left is super sharp but she is out of focus



This is a random sample of what I ended up, some ok, some not so great, some really bad. Any critique and tips are welcome, especially for focusing on the subject rather than elements around. Also, should I bring the ISO down to get some of the grains out?

[daniel_buck]

Not bad for your first time with the equipment!

As far as focusing goes, you will probably have to just spend some time getting a feel for how it reacts, trying different focusing boxes and settings. Does your camera have any custom functions to change how the continuous focusing works? I know on some of the cameras there's different options to control the auto focusing, how sensitive it is to things (water drops) crossing infront of the area you are trying to focus on, how fast or slow it changes focus, or something similar to that. I don't know if all of the Canon cameras have this, or just the 1-series cameras.

I don't have access to look at the EXIF data on these shots. What were your shutter speeds and apertures for these shots? Generally, you want to keep the shutterspeed above your focal length. For instance, 200mm you don't want to go below 1/200th of a second. Since your camera has a crop sensor, I might add a bit to that guideline, and make it 1/300th at 200mm. If you have room to slow your shutterspeed down and/or open up the aperture more, then by all means raise the ISO. I usually keep the ISO as high as I can, while still achieving the shutterspeed and aperture that I want.

After you've shot more of these swim meets, you'll probably have a better idea of what timing you like on the photos, after you've seen a bunch of examples from the previous meets. Timing has alot to do with sports photography.

[Lawrence]

Not bad for your first time with the equipment!

As far as focusing goes, you will probably have to just spend some time getting a feel for how it reacts, trying different focusing boxes and settings. Does your camera have any custom functions to change how the continuous focusing works? I know on some of the cameras there's different options to control the auto focusing, how sensitive it is to things (water drops) crossing infront of the area you are trying to focus on, how fast or slow it changes focus, or something similar to that. I don't know if all of the Canon cameras have this, or just the 1-series cameras.

I think I figured a little. The camera was set on "One Shot" so I changed the setting to "AI Servo", and the focus itself was set to the center point and I changed it to the 9 AF points. I'll see what difference this makes tonight.

I don't have access to look at the EXIF data on these shots. What were your shutter speeds and apertures for these shots? Generally, you want to keep the shutterspeed above your focal length. For instance, 200mm you don't want to go below 1/200th of a second. Since your camera has a crop sensor, I might add a bit to that guideline, and make it 1/300th at 200mm. If you have room to slow your shutterspeed down and/or open up the aperture more, then by all means raise the ISO. I usually keep the ISO as high as I can, while still achieving the shutterspeed and aperture that I want.

Here is the link to the album, if you click on the text "Canon 50D" on the right hand side, it opens up the EXIF. I was at f2.8 and ISO3200 to get anything decent on speed, and it was still not rocket like.

After you've shot more of these swim meets, you'll probably have a better idea of what timing you like on the photos, after you've seen a bunch of examples from the previous meets. Timing has alot to do with sports photography.

Yes, timing and position are hard so you get something in the frame and not just a bunch of water, or an arm shielding the face, etc... More practice tonight.

[daniel_buck]

Looks like yoru shutter speeds are already probably about as slow as you want to make them. And since your aperture is wide open, you'll just have to leave the ISO where it is. You can reduce the noise in the RAW conversion (or on the JPGs, if you are shooting JPG), but I wouldn't reduce it to much, if you start hitting it hard with noise reduction you will quickly get a plastic looking image that just looks strange. Generally if I'm going to do any noise reduction, I will reduce a bit of the chroma noise, and leave most or all of the luminance noise where it is.

[Lawrence]

Here are a few from tonight's practice. Same settings as yesterday, just used the AI Servo and the 9pt AF.




Need to watch my horizon, I have a tendency to shoot "crooked".

[NAILER341]

Those are looking pretty good Lawrence. I'd set it on one focal box and AI Servo or AI focus. I actually prefer AI focus and find more consistency with that option.
When you are using the 9 point, or more than one point of focus, you are letting the camera decide what to focus on. You should really use one point and make the camera follow the subject.
Set the metering to spot and have the subject be what the light meter is based on. Everything else will be what it will be, but your daughter is more important than the blown out water. That can be edited in Lightroom very easily.
In all 3 of the latest photos the water is the focal point. The subject is close to being in focus, but not quite... Work on that.

Set the camera to take high speed photos as well until you get your timing dialed in. Hold down the button and let it rip a few photos.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit_files/80.pdf Page 89

Find where you need to be to get the best light as she swims down the lane and where you need to be to get the best light at the finish. They may not both be the same position.

In the 3 latest photos, the first two have nice lighting but the third is a bit dark. You need to remember your position for the first 2 pics and duplicate it next time and be ready to move to a different position to get light on the final photo. Learn the buttons for changing the settings without looking at them. ISO, speed and aperture should all be changed without removing your eye from the eyepiece.

Practice practice, practice....

you are off to a good start.

You'll be trading that 50D for a 1D or 5D MKII in no time. You have been bitten by the bug. :-)

[Mitch]

Lawrence,

Looks like you are having fun with your new toy. Nice work, and lots of good advice.

[Lawrence]

You can reduce the noise in the RAW conversion (or on the JPGs, if you are shooting JPG), but I wouldn't reduce it to much, if you start hitting it hard with noise reduction you will quickly get a plastic looking image that just looks strange.

Thanks Daniel. Just playing in iPhoto with the standard noise reduction stuff, I could see how too much made the picture look funny.

Those are looking pretty good Lawrence. I'd set it on one focal box and AI Servo or AI focus. I actually prefer AI focus and find more consistency with that option.
When you are using the 9 point, or more than one point of focus, you are letting the camera decide what to focus on. You should really use one point and make the camera follow the subject.

Yes, I'll set it back to the center box and learn how to aim better so that I focus on her rather than the surroundings. I'll try AI Focus this weekend and see how that works out.

Set the metering to spot and have the subject be what the light meter is based on. Everything else will be what it will be, but your daughter is more important than the blown out water.

The meterawhat? Had to look that up in the manual and found it. It was set to "Evaluative" and I set it to "Spot" per your recommendation.

In all 3 of the latest photos the water is the focal point. The subject is close to being in focus, but not quite... Work on that.

I know, I know. It seems that I focus on everything else but my daughter.

Set the camera to take high speed photos as well until you get your timing dialed in. Hold down the button and let it rip a few photos.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit_files/80.pdf Page 89

I had that setup but I was trying to be selective in my shots to learn about timing. I'll let it rip next time and stop thinking I'm a super genius.

Find where you need to be to get the best light as she swims down the lane and where you need to be to get the best light at the finish. They may not both be the same position.

In the 3 latest photos, the first two have nice lighting but the third is a bit dark. You need to remember your position for the first 2 pics and duplicate it next time and be ready to move to a different position to get light on the final photo. Learn the buttons for changing the settings without looking at them. ISO, speed and aperture should all be changed without removing your eye from the eyepiece.

I hear what you're saying but it's not an easy thing to do. At swim meets, parents are not allowed on deck, so I'll be shooting from the stands which will dictate my position. I'm also thinking the 200mm will be a bit short for certain venues, but when I get better with everything else, I can always rent a bigger lens for those occasions.

The pictures were taken at the practice facility which I was told is one of the 2 worst shooting pools in the metro area, the lighting plain sucks. But it allows me to be playing with different positions to see what things do and also to get my timing right.

Baby steps, I have to learn what the darn buttons do before I can remember where they are.

you are off to a good start.
You'll be trading that 50D for a 1D or 5D MKII in no time. You have been bitten by the bug. :-)

It sure can be fun and frustrating at the same time. In some of the shots I can see the potential of that lens and it just blows my socks off, that glass just rocks. Now, only if they came out with a body that makes you look like a genius, I'd upgrade right away.

Lawrence,
Looks like you are having fun with your new toy. Nice work, and lots of good advice.

Thanks Mitch, it is quite addicting.

That can be edited in Lightroom very easily.

In one of his responses, Erik mentioned Lightroom which brings me to the other part of taking pictures. As far as editing software, I was thinking of either Aperture or Elements. I don't have much time to sit for hours in front of the computer and I was told that either of those do not have a steep learning curve like LR or PS have.

Any preference from the crew on Aperture or Elements? One guy I spoke to last night suggested Elements and Noiseware Professional plugin. I just want something user friendly to do basic stuff.

This brings me to my second question. I know most of you (if not all) shoot in RAW, but some folks say that unless I am looking to have print magazine quality or billboard size photos, JPEG is fine to shoot with. However, others say that the image degradation is greater by shooting JPG and editing, rather than editing a RAW image and then saving as JPG.

[NAILER341]

Try a free trial of Lightroom. It is a great very easy editing software to use. I hate editing photos and try really hard to take a good shot in the camera to eliminate the need for post editing.
In most cases my edits are cropping, bumping up the blacks or knocking down the highlights. Each of those have a slider that is very easy to manipulate. Look into it.

For what you are shooting, in bad light, I would shoot in RAW. It is a clean uncompressed file type that allows editing each facet of the photo without degrading another.
The downfall to RAW for you is the speed the card. If you are shooting high speed, the card may not keep up. Try it and see how it goes.
If you are using a UDMA card, you'll be fine.
https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/i...shop_lightroom

[daniel_buck]

Thanks Daniel. Just playing in iPhoto with the standard noise reduction stuff, I could see how too much made the picture look funny.

Some software has better noise reduction that others. I would imagine iPhoto's noise reduction isn't the greatest. But even the good ones you can't push TOO far :-) There are various plugins for photoshop (and elements) that work quite well. Lightroom's noise reduction seems to be pretty good, and so does Capture One. Infact, without doing alot of tests, I'd say that overall quality wise, I'd probably pick Capture One. But I just prefer the workflow of Photoshop and the Photoshop Bridge.

Any preference from the crew on Aperture or Elements? One guy I spoke to last night suggested Elements and Noiseware Professional plugin. I just want something user friendly to do basic stuff.

I've never used Aperture. Personally, I use Photoshop with it's ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) converter. I've also used Lightroom (it came with one of my cameras) but I'm just used to Photoshop, so I use that instead.

This brings me to my second question. I know most of you (if not all) shoot in RAW, but some folks say that unless I am looking to have print magazine quality or billboard size photos, JPEG is fine to shoot with. However, others say that the image degradation is greater by shooting JPG and editing, rather than editing a RAW image and then saving as JPG.

There's alot of opinions on this, and alot of it has to do with what your final output will be, how much adjustments you'll be doing, and so on.

In my opinion, if you aren't ever going to print the photographs out larger than 4x6", and you don't usually have shots that are vastly under or over exposed, then JPG would be just fine for you. And especially if you only share photos on the web, pretty much no need for RAW shooting unless you find yourself with shots that are vastly under or over exposed.

If you will be printing out photos alot, I would say shoot RAW hands down.

Personally, I always shoot RAW, even if it's just quick snaps to put something up for sale on craigslist, I'm just used to the RAW shooting and processing. I print alot, and I also adjust my white balance in post, rarely will I ever manually set the white balance while I'm shooting. I find it quicker and easier to adjust the white balance as I convert the RAW files. Either per shot, or a whole bunch of shots at one. And at that time, I can also tweak the exposure or highlights if I have some highlights that are clipping. Any highlights that clip in a JPG, are gone forever, the files contain no pixel data other than what you see. RAW files contain data higher than 255 (pure white). I don't always adjust the exposure, but when I do I'm always glad I have that extra data.

I know alot of people who shoot RAW, and I know alot of people who shoot JPG. Try it both ways, see what works for you. If you want, you can probably set your camera to export both RAW and JPG at the same time, that would give you a good comparison on what works best for you and your shots.

[NAILER341]

Good information there...
I tend to shoot red Carpet stuff in JPEG because I have control of the exposure with the flash and they weren't moving around a lot.
I shoot concert and low light stuff in RAW so I can tweak the photos and not lose too much data.
Play with it and see what you like.
Check out a video on YouTube for the software you are interested in.

[Lawrence]

Thanks guys, this is great info. No worries on speed for shooting RAW, I picked up a Sandisk UDMA card on sale last week.

[daniel_buck]

You would have to be really laying on the shutter to get the memory buffer full, but this can happen with sports when the action happens so fast.

I've always liked sandisk cards. I have several Ultras and extremes, they have never let me down. Even had one go through the wash/dryer years back (a little 256mb card) It still works fine