Capturing Agility Photos With A DSLR

[k9kreationz]

All I can say is that I tried to get some jump shots at the Sheltie trial, oh man, they were all bad. Made me respect the photographers even more. I tried a lot of different things. My final conclusion, I'd need to shoot in manual because the AF didn't focus fast enough to get the dog, or focused on the pole or something else. However, 99% of my trials are outdoors, so I luck out there, no problem with "low light".

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

The only problem of course is that the body alone costs around 1500 dollars!

If I were going to spend that kind of money, I would have a full-frame camera, not a crop camera. My boss has a Canon 5D Mark II that he let me shoot with at an event. Attached to it was one of the magical "L" zoom lenses that Canon sells. Yummm...

 

[ortegah]

This is why we pay the big bucks to the photographers at the shows

For action shots(when I had my DSLR) I turn the ISO up as much as I can and adjust the shutter speed to as fast before it's too dark or too grainy. It's all trial and error. Of course my DSLR wasn't a super duper expensive one so I made do the best I could.

 

[DogIsMyMantra]

If I were going to spend that kind of money, I would have a full-frame camera, not a crop camera. My boss has a Canon 5D Mark II that he let me shoot with at an event. Attached to it was one of the magical "L" zoom lenses that Canon sells. Yummm...

Perhaps, but the 5D is $800 more! If I was looking to move up to that range I would also consider the D700 as it is basically the full frame equivalent to the D300 and about the same price as the 5D.

This is all very, very hypothetical of course though. I can't even begin to justify the $2,500 for 5D or $2,700 for the D700 when there are so many agility trials and seminars to enter!

 

[BarbV]

Of course, Kim's dogs are another thing that I drool over, but that's a topic I won't get into here.

Having had two Laureate Sheltie pups, my forever baby Timber and now Bacca, I know what you mean!!! She has a fantastic breeding program.

I got both of mine on non-breeding contracts however. Timber because he was going undersized, and Bacca because he was cyrptoid. But a better temperment you cannot get! Lovely dogs!

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

Perhaps, but the 5D is $800 more! If I was looking to move up to that range I would also consider the D700 as it is basically the full frame equivalent to the D300 and about the same price as the 5D.

This is all very, very hypothetical of course though. I can't even begin to justify the $2,500 for 5D or $2,700 for the D700 when there are so many agility trials and seminars to enter!

No kidding. He bought big money camera equipment for a trip to Africa, and it's been sitting ever since. I am trying to get him out to some of these safaris I am taking, just so that equipment doesn't collect dust. What a waste! He did sell the magic L lens when he got back, he never intended to keep it.

 

[Hurtseverywhere]

Shooting indoors in low light is always a challange reguardless of Camera, DSLR or video, probably one of the toughest going. Be it still or video the trick is to know your camera & its capabilaties inside and out and knowing what you need to do to make it work in less then optimal conditions, This is where a complete working Knowledge of your camera comes into play(read the manual inside & out, I know Boreing). I have nothing against using auto modes, if fact I think many are great especially sports modes, I use the auto mode on my Canon A1 video camera quit a bit during many commercial shoots & weddings ,a: because it does a great job in most cases, and B; because it eases my work load when I am busy concetrating on the overall product and composition of the shoot. That being said I also Know the situations when Auto is not going to work and I need to switch over to manual mode, open the apeture , boost gain, manually focus, check peaking, change the white balance, ect ,ect, ect, That's what being a professional
videographer, photographer is all about, I guess What I am trying to say is learn your equipment & how to use it so that you can get the most out of it, in most cases you don't need a $3000 dollar top of the line camera to get the high quality shot you are looking for if you know what you need to do to get the shot you want and your camara has the ability to adjust to do it. That is the great thing about digital, you can experiment till the cows come home to find out what works & what doesn't and it really doesn't cost you anything but time. But Hey even with all the best equipment , lighting and gagets that you can possibly think of there are still times when you just are not gonna get the shot you are looking for, this is just the way it is.


So to answer your Question: Here's what to try, Open up the apeture setting to get in more light, go to your fastest or to a faster shutter speed, focus your camera on the obstical you are trying to capture the jump over, use the cross bar or the jump wings as a focus point, use a tripod for stability- This is a big one especilly if you are shooting from a distance, try to snap the shot a bit early to try and account for camera( shutter) lag,and try some more shots, good luck

 

[Silaria]

Just to throw this out there for anyone interested, a group of us are going to work on learning more about our cameras in 2011. Cheryl has set up a group on Flikr for all of us to share or pictures, camera settings, etc. Information about it begins on post #28 of this thread, http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=8351&page=3.

Anyone who wants to spend more time learning about their equipment, whether its a point and shoot or DSLR, is welcome to join in the fun.

Basically we just want to practice with our cameras and learn to create better pictures with what we have. Since the pictures can be ANYTHING, we are taking it off forum.

 

[Hurtseverywhere]

Just to throw this out there for anyone interested, a group of us are going to work on learning more about our cameras in 2011. Cheryl has set up a group on Flikr for all of us to share or pictures, camera settings, etc. Information about it begins on post #28 of this thread, http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=8351&page=3.

Anyone who wants to spend more time learning about their equipment, whether its a point and shoot or DSLR, is welcome to join in the fun.

Basically we just want to practice with our cameras and learn to create better pictures with what we have. Since the pictures can be ANYTHING, we are taking it off forum.

And that's a great Idea, because really there is no better teacher then practice , practice , practice. My wife is probably one of the best still photographers I know of and she has never had any formal training, but what she does do is try everything under the sun to get what she wants, she certainly isn't afraid to experiment thats for sure, and shoots & shoots & shoots till she does get it, the trick is remembering what you did to get that shot the next time around.