Focus issues

[am_snappy]

Every Saturday afternoon during the football season I look in wonder on news websites at the amazing action photos taken during the matches around the country, and of course during the current world cup.

Apart from having top-quality hardware, what camera settings would be used to achieve the really sharp focus where everything outside of the players and ball are out of focus, and at the same time, the action is frozen in time without a hint of blur?

[ianpinion]

Hello am snappy and welcome to the forum.

There are a number of techniques employed by the professionals to achieve the results you mention when taking action shots.

The most important setting is to have your camera set the S or TV setting, which is the shutter speed priority mode. This will give you control of the shutter speed so you can create the effects you describe. Also, set your auto focus mode to continual auto focus (C/AF).

Another consideration you will need to be aware of is what the light conditions are like. If you're shooting in bright sun you will need to use 400 ISO, but if conditions are quite dull and gloomy then you will need to set it between 800 - 1600 ISO. ISO is basically how sensitive to light the camera's sensor is. The higher the number the more sensitive it becomes and allows you to use faster shutter speeds. The only downside is the higher you go, the more grainy your pictures will become and the greater the risk of noise creeping into the shadows within your shot.

To freeze action completely in a game of football you will need to use a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. However, to blur the background and just keep the players and ball in sharp focus you would use a shutterspeed of 1/30th of a second and pan the camera as you take the shot. Panning technique is where you swing the camera round in a straight line, following the action you're trying to capture and keep the camera moving whilst the shutter is open. The key to sucess with this technique though is to keep the camera moving, as to start with you'll find you stop moving when you depress the shutter and everything will be blurred. Just keep practising and you should get the hang of it. It is keeping the camera following the play that gives the shot an impression of movement.

Lastly, do not use flash when taking action shots!

[cosmicma]

there's me thinking they just used f2.8 lenses to keep the depth of field shallow

[Paul Iddon]

Originally Posted by cosmicma

there's me thinking they just used f2.8 lenses to keep the depth of field shallow

LOL...

I know you know that I know what you know...

Paul.

[cosmicma]

Hi paul

[chris-p]

A lot of pro's will use trap focus.

You don't say what camera you have but most cameras from Nikon and Pentax will do trap focus. Most current Canons won't (althought apparently the 1D can but it has to be programmed via the EOS Link software).

Basically, you set the lens to a specific focal point (where you want the shot) and wait for something to move through it. As soon as something is in focus, that trips the shutter. That way the camera only fires when something is in focus and you don't have to wait for the AF motor to sort itself out...

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by chris-p

A lot of pro's will use trap focus.

You don't say what camera you have but most cameras from Nikon and Pentax will do trap focus. Most current Canons won't (althought apparently the 1D can but it has to be programmed via the EOS Link software).

Basically, you set the lens to a specific focal point (where you want the shot) and wait for something to move through it. As soon as something is in focus, that trips the shutter. That way the camera only fires when something is in focus and you don't have to wait for the AF motor to sort itself out...

I want a trap focus

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by Cutter

I want a trap focus

Well, you're the one who bought Canon!

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by Cutter

I want a trap focus

If it was worth it, our Canon's would have it

[cosmicma]

i'm sure you can still trap focus with a canon using focus lock ( read how to somewhere )

some thing like focus on the point you want press focus lock move out of focus andd press the shutter
once something comes into focus the shutter will release

something i was reading about some time ago to do with capturing birds landing in a particular spot but can't remember the details exactly


on another note the focus sysytems on todays cameras are fast enough to track so trap focusing isn't as big an issue as it once was
another simple way of trap focusing in the digital world ( no waste any more ) is to manually focus on the point you want and as the subject aproaches press the button rattle off a few shots and hopefully somewhere in the middle of the sequence should be a nice sharp image