Runner taken at 1/40s, f/16, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 70mm Focal Length.
I was looking for an event to do movement photography like panning and blurs. Found a high school Track and Field meet which would be prefect for such endeavors. Not only that but the weather was perfect and the track oriented for great afternoon sunlight. When everything comes together (weather, light and subjects) there is only one thing to do: shoot!
Local amateur events are great in that photographers can get close to the action. I was able to get right next to the track to photograph all the running events. Sprints, distance events, hurdles, and relay races. I used my favorite lens for sports, the Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8. My camera can only do 3 frames per second so I went old school and set it in single shot mode. As I do with all sporting events, I put my camera in Shutter Priority mode.
During the distance events I used a slow shutter speed and panned with the runners as they came by. Panning takes lots of practice and many photos to get a few keepers. As I mentioned in the assignment for this month on creative exposure, showing movement is one of the ways to add interest to your photographs.
Opposed to using a fast shutter speed to freeze the action and see everything sharply as I have done in the photo showing two runners jumping over the hurdles. Another important aspect of sports and action photography is timing. You want to catch the action at its peak. Not only was I able to do that here but I had a great race. These two went right to the wire with the blue racer edging it out for the win.
Runners jumping over the hurdles taken at 1/1000s, f/4.5, ISO 200, EV 0, 200mm focal length.
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Nice shots, Scott! I love panning and don’t get to do it too often as you need the right subject matter. Does take practice, for sure but the results are worth it! The bottom shot is also fantastic, getting both hurdlers in sync. The guy in the red is really goin’ for it!
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Thanks, Tracy! Been doing a lot of movement photography these days. Off to the dragstrip today for some more. Got me another perfect day!
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These are great motion shots, Scott. Sports and panning action I haven’t tried and in which, takes a lot, a lot of practice. I really, really like the hurdle shot! You can really see the effort in the lunges and action. The guy in blue appears as if he will make it over the hurdle but I’m not so sure of the guy in red if he clears. 🙂
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They both made it, Anna. The guy in red was just a tick behind so his back leg was lower at the time I took the photo. I hope someday all this will pay off when I get an opportunity to catch wildlife in motion.
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Great shots Scott. You pressed the button exactly in the right moment. I’ll have to do a lot of exercises to make panning photos as good as your runner.
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Thank you, Carsten!
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I like the hurdle shot a lot too. Thanks for giving more advice in creative exposure too! Still working on it here. Got ideas, but don’t know if I’ll have the capture!
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Oh, I’m sure you’ll find something, Karma. I really nailed that hurdle one being I have never shot the event before. Have seen it on TV so I had an idea of when to press the shutter. One is never sure until it pops up on the LCD screen.
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I love the panning, but not sure how to do it, I need to look more into this. Thanks for posting more ideas.
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Nye, panning is a fun technique to learn. I wrote up a “How To” article here: The Art of Panning.
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