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Hi,

I went to Seaworld last weekend and was really unhappy with my dolphin shots of the show.

I was using the D70 70-200VR (with CPL), spot metering, AF-C, 200 ISO, Auto Mode & Aperture Mode, RAW + JPG basic.

The shots were pretty much much out of focus. This is when the dolphins jump out of the water. You can't really prefocus as they can appear anywhere in the pool.

I'm going back this morning to have another go. The only thing I'm really going to change is AF-C to AF-S. Is there anything that I'm missing or not considering?

The dolphins are launching out of the pool at around 60kph I was told. I'm looking more to try and get them coming out of the water not going back into it.

Any tips appreciated. I'll be off in around an hour.


Cheers

Tony

Hi Tony. Try increasing your DOF by using a smaller aperture which will give you more of a chance of getting them in focus... good luck!

increase your iso to 320 will also help stop the action, shooting on AF-S should also help as it sounds like the camera was focusing on the background or sky. You can check your sharpness on the camera back, just enlarge the image in the viewer. Also setting your AF Area to Dynamic should also help.......

Hi Owen,

I was shooting at F8, I thought that would be small enough. What is your opinion?


Tony

Thanks Big Pix,

will increasing the ISO increase the noise considering that the dolphins are dark grey / white / pink combinations?

I'll try dynamic also that's a good idea.


Tony

TonyH wrote:Thanks Big Pix,

will increasing the ISO increase the noise considering that the dolphins are dark grey / white / pink combinations?

I'll try dynamic also that's a good idea.


Tony

If your images are a correct exposure you should not see any noise at 320. yes there will be a bit of lattude, but you only have to worry if you are making 3 feet plus colour prints....... go and shot or just do a quick test in the back yard of a dark fence or tree ....... at 200iso and 320 iso this should only take a few minutes......

Thanks for the help guys, I'll post some (successful) shots this afternoon.


Cheers

Tony

much has been written about differences between af-c and af-s
you can regard af-c as shutter priority and af-s as focus priority.

your camera will shoot as soon as the shutter button is pressed all the way down in AF-C. WHETHER FOCUS IS ACHIEVED OR NOT.
an appropriate use would be to press half way down to acquire focus and then all the way to shoot, in this case that may not be possible because the dolphins may pop up anywhere. but prefocussing on the centre of the tank will minimise the time it takes to acquire focus.

Be advised that in AF-S the camera wont shoot if focus isnt achieved under the active sensor.

Also, the fact that you are going back again (hope you arent paying again. that place is expensive!!) remember that these animals are probably trained in a fairly set routine. This may help you predict where they are next

Spot metering may not be your best option either. I would change to centre weighed average.

Steve