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Hiya,

You must have seem my Moomba 2008 shots in the other threads, but I dont seem to get good action shots. This is the best photo I have taken of the waterski jumps.

I look forward to advice on how to make these types of images sharper and pop.

My self critique;
1) should have used a faster shutter speed
2) look for a more even backgroud or use a smaller aperture to bokeh out the background.



Cheers
Mak

Mark, my personal feeling is that you need to pan more so in actual fact you probably need a slower shutter speed, not faster.

Are the boat and jumper moving at different speeds? Because the boat is good, maybe the jumper is moving faster / slower than the boat thus the blue

I don't know about how to improve your picture, but bloody hell that is a high jump. What were the settings for the pictures? If you are not panning, then you will need a faster shutter speed. It looks like late after noon so perhaps bumping up the iso would help too. You would need a larger aperture to blur the background more.

The Exif info is as follows.
f3.5
ISO 100
73mm
1/160"

Taken around 6PM in Melbourne.

Slower shutter speed I have seen some great drag racing images on this forum and always thought they were taken with a faster shutter speed... hmmm are there any notes on panning I can read up?

Cheers
Mak

Well, if you think about it, a fast shutter speed will freeze the action so it negates the panning.
To get the background blur, the shutter needs to be open long enough to capture some of your panning movement.

I think the pic is okay when you consider that the boat would be travelling at a pre determined speed and the jumper has to put himself into a serious whip to gather enough speed to travel as far in the air as is possible, so yes, the skier is travelling faster than the boat making it difficult to get both subjects in focus.

In sayin that I'm just an old bluegrass picker, can't ski for the life of me

i tried water sking a long time ago and I kept crashing/being wiped out most of the time hahaha...

Yes I did notice the whip that the skier go into to increase their speed. That could explain the slight motion blur.

Thanks everyone for your inputs

Cheers
Mak

i find practising using cars at busy intersections/roads a great way to work on panning. try not to let the car move faster or slower than you are panning the camera
might help to find some stable ground too and position your body to allow for a smooth fluid movement whilst pivoted on the ground.

im sure other's can provide better advice than a tired & unskilled me

-j

Hi Mak,

I think the drag racing pans you mentioned are those from James (Pehpsi) and yes, they
are truly sensational. Whatever he is doing, try that!!! Maybe a PM might be in order.

Not sure if the exif on his shots is available, but of so, I would look at them too.

In your shot, the boat is crisp, the skier only slightly less so, and I think that is partly the
background making it look that way.

Aside from seeking advice from James, I think you need to find something passing regularly
(maybe on the freeway) and try panning with a variety of shutter speed/aperture combinations.

I can see the logic of a slower speed to get more blur in the backgrund, but you would have
to be spot on with your panning to keep the subject sharp.

Anyway, good luck.