[Tom Lusk]

Back to the original subject: I just saw the video of the bike crash on CBS news. The shot above definitely appears to be a still from the video, although the video is crisp and clear. Bodies flying everywhere! The race took place in AussieLand. Nobody injured.

[HGMonaro]

yes, the guy flying thru the air was on the news requesting a copy on DVD

Must have been a few TV cameras there cause the one I watched had it from a different angle.

[HGMonaro]

back to the 'machine gun' approach... I agree with those that say it's not a simple remedy (high FPS). I've seen many sequences where a shot in between two would have been the 'shot'

Attached is a recent holiday pic where machine gunning would have worked due to the subjects slow movement, however I just took one ( rarely have the camera in continuous mode)

Cheers, Nige

[trumpyman]

Hi. I did alot of sports shoots last winter ,rugby union,rugby league. I never used continuos shooting once.I found that by far the best asset is to know the sport your shooting and bein focused on subjects when u anticipate a shot is comin up.I got alot of good shots mainly cause i played both games and had a good understanding of them. I like to focus on a subject before he gets hit then get facial expressions when the hit happens.I rarely missed.Even times id get the player scoring a try then be ready to shoot the joy on faces as they celebrate.Far as im concerned you can have all the FPS u want but nothin beats bein able to read the sport your shooting and know when the good shots are comin.Be focused n ready your good shots will come.

[stewart_photo]

Wait for that exact split second when you anticipate the action is going to provide the best capture out of, say 50 possible outcomes? (snip)

I don't necessarily agree, Tom. Of course, it very much depends on what one considers the "best capture." I've never photographed an incident like this with the notion of capturing a person in midair flight (doubt many sports photogs have either), so an image including that would rarely be the best capture. Instead, the usual goal in these situations is be to capture the incident itself in a interesting way. And that's fairly easy since there are many interesting moments during such incidents, any one of them providing a best capture for the intended goal.

For nature (and presumably sports) photographers, I don't believe there is such a thing as too high a frame rate, or too large a buffer, or too fast AF. Anticipating that split second when a bird, flying by at 30mph, turns its head and makes eye contact? Sorry, I couldn't do it if my life depended on it.

By the same token, I doubt many nature photogs are out for an afternoon trying to make eye contact with a bird in flight. Regardless, if that were the goal, video photography rather then still photography would seem to be the best option. Indeed, high-speed video may be the only option available to fulfill a belief in never "too high a frame rate." The goals and outcomes with still photography, on the other hand, are quite different.

stewart

[CharlieO]

I have to agree with most of the folks posting on this thread. Action photograph is somewhat and individual technique. We have a saying where I grew up. "There is more than one way to skin a cat". (apologies to cat lovers, I enjoy having them as pets myself). I attached the following pictures because they illustrate what several of the posters have said about action photograph. My timing was good. (Timing) I was just following the wrong two players. (Anticipating) And the last but not least "Luck" I was following the two in the foreground but the action was behind them. I know football inside out, I just got lost in the play. The pictures were shot in JPG with my K10D, DA50-200, F4.5, SS at 160, ISO 320, Single AF, Multi-segment metering and burst mode. The evening was overcast so the lighting was poor. This was the first game I shot after getting my K10D. Coincidently, the defensive player causing the receiver to "flip" did the same thing a couple of games later and I managed to capture it as well. Neither receiver was hurt on the plays.


Merry Christmas to everyone and have a great new year. Although I don't post much I am thankful to be in a community like this. You guys and gals are pretty fun to learn from.

[digitaldevo]

I didn't say it didn't make things easier, but that wasn't what your original question was. You asked how many fps is needed. Perfect timing with 1fps would still get the shot. Maybe not as easily, but still possible.

Couldn't agree more!

[BobS]

Here's an example of catching my cat in mid-leap, climbing up the fence.


If you know how fast cats normally jump - the chance that I'd catch the cat exactly with her feet both touching the cross-board on her leap would be slim. Also considering that this was shot with an Optio 555 - with it's delay - and it's purely amazing.

Just a case where I watched my cat and snapped ahead of time hoping that my timing would be good enough.

[little laker]

That's nice timing there Bob

[ChipB]

I was fortunate this past year to be able to go on an Alaska cruise - while photographing a glacier from the ship's deck, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye - turned, and was able to capture this photo of a gull.

I was really amazed that the AF worked as quickly as it did (I'd been focused quite a ways further away). Just an example of getting the shot with just "one click".

Taken with my *ist DS, jpeg, spot mode, 45mm, f11, 750th ISO 400, EV +.5.

[Duck Dodgers]

Aw, look at the cute little kitty on the fence!


I try not to post too many cat shots (I've four cats...so no lack of subject matter), but this one is at least somewhat on-topic. Unfortunately, it wasn't shot with my Pentax. Would have been easier; the shutter lag on my 7-year-old Nikon CP800 is atrocious!



I call it, "Spidercat, spidercat..."

[Peter Zack]

I was fortunate this past year to be able to go on an Alaska cruise - while photographing a glacier from the ship's deck, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye - turned, and was able to capture this photo of a gull.

Chip, leaving the above discussion aside, This is a great capture of a rather ordinary bird. Very well done and beautifully exposed. If I might make a suggestion, crop the ships upper deck out and IMO you have a winner here.

Like so:
Attachment 6934

[ChipB]

Chip, leaving the above discussion aside, This is a great capture of a rather ordinary bird. Very well done and beautifully exposed. If I might make a suggestion, crop the ships upper deck out and IMO you have a winner here.

Peter, thanks for the suggestion - I had left the upper deck in the photo on purpose because of posting it on a different forum - but I do like the way you cropped it - different than what I'd done!! Looks very nice!