Photographers- how do I take this type of picture?

Question

I am new to photography, learning through reading and trying. My overall goal is to take competition pictures at horse shows. I am using a Nikon D80. This is my first "real" camera, so I'm a simpleton when it comes to understanding everything. I'm thrilled with the pics I'm getting so far, and know how to use the semi manual settings well, and am learning the manual settings now too.

Anyway, I cannot seem to figure out how to produce this specific type of shot. I would like to be able to shoot my moving subject in freeze-action WHILE the background remains blurred in motion. How do I acheive this? I can make everything sharp & clear, or everything blur real well (hee heee), but I can't seem to get that specific type of shot.

Please use small words! I'm not totally up yet on all the photography jargon!!

Thanks

Answer 1

good question!  I am a new photographer myself and had this same question, my hubby informed me that you can take this type of picture (something in focus everything else blurry) by playing around with your shutter, I dont know all the details, but I know that it definitely has to do with your shutter, I am sorry I cant giveyou more help then that, but I am anxious to see who asnwers you. Happy snapping!

Answer 2

I know how to do it with just a simple point and shoot camera. If you move the camera with the moving subject they will appear still and the background moving.

I'm not sure if there is another way with a more professional camera or not.

Answer 3

Yes, you have to pan with the subject. That is easy to do, the problem is focus. Most people cannot get focus correct if they are moving the camera following the subject. There are ways around this.

I am not familier with the D80, but I will almost bet it has a SERVO focus mode on it. Look in your manual for this. What this will do is continously focus the camera automatically on the subject as it moves. You will put the focus in servo mode, initially push the shutter button half way down to intiate focus on the subject, and the camera will then maintain focus as the subject moves. You pan with the subject and take the photo when you want. Since a horse moves pretty fast, you should have good blurred background if you set a shutter speed of about 1/100 in Shutter Priority. Let the aperture set itself.

Now if you do not have the SERVO focus feature, you can put the focus on MANUAL and pre focus on a particular spot where the horse WILL BE. You then pan with the horse and shoot at the exact time when the horse gets to your prefocused spot. This DOES take practice, but it is about the only way you can be sure of getting an in-focus shot while panning. In this method, you usually use aperture priority with about an f16 to get good depth of field, depending on how close the horse will be to your pre focused point.

steve

Answer 4

What you are describing is called Panning. Something similar I tried here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmendoza/20...

or this one too

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasondoiy/6...

You have someone moving and you follow with the lens set to about 1/80 of a second and snap pictures.  Then try again at a different speed.  Keep in mind that it will require practice as you can see from my shot is not that easy to accomplish

May I suggest a book from Bryan Petersen called "Understanding Exposure"?  That is a book I use in workshops and is rather easy to understand for less than $20 bucks

Good luck

Answer 5

it's called panning, and it takes a bit of practice,

who am i kidding, it takes practice practice practice not just a bit of practice.

but you're up for it just practice following a moving object often (cars down your street, motorcycles, etc etc etc)

practice practice practice

Answer 6

This is indeed done by panning. The best way to do this is to set the camera in shutter priority. The actual shutter speed necessary will depend on the focal length of the lens, how far you are from the subject, and mostly on how fast the subject is moving. It also depends on how good you are at panning with your subject.

You will probably find that you can pan better in one direction. Personally, I am better right to left. Make sure you are holding the camera correctly. One hand on the body and the other supporting the lens barrel. Keep both eyes open and practice your panning movement several times before you actually take any shots. Think of it as warming up!.The key to doing this properly is keeping the subject in the same spot of the viewfinder through this whole process. If you pan faster or slower than your subject, it will blur on you. Lastly, make sure you follow through. Don't stop your pan when you click the shutter. Continue to follow your target. This will keep everything nice and smooth and not jerky.

If you are using a medium zoom of say 200mm at 60 or 80 feet, I would start with 1/80th or 1/125. Once you get good at this you may find that you can drop down to 1/60th or so. It all depends on how solid your technique is.

Don't get frustrated if you don't get any keepers the first time out. It takes a lot of practice!  Good Luck!