Photography Techniques - Sports

1. Sports:
   For sports photography, a fast and long lens (Prime or Zoom) is extremely beneficial. Lens with around 200mm (or more) focal length is required for long distance shots. Fast lens which can take photos using a wide aperture and very fast shutter speeds are very useful to capture the fast moving sportsmen or cars. Camera/Lens equipped with Image Stabilization and/or tripods are very helpful to reduce shakes in long zoom photos.
   • In bright lights (outdoor sports), use a smaller aperture (like f/8) and fast shutter speed (like 1/500s) to freeze the subject. ISO can be kept at minimum since there is plenty of light. For this a long range zoom lens is required since the distances are greater.
   • In low light condition (indoor sports), fast lens can be very useful to increase the amount of light entering the lens by using wide aperture (like f/2.8). Due to this, the shutter speed can be made faster and ISO need not be increased to very high (which introduces lots of noise at high levels). Also, using a wide aperture means a low depth of field giving a nice blurred background effect to isolate the subject.
   • Use Shutter Priority or Manual mode to set the required fast shutter speed.
   • Use High Speed Burst mode (continuous drive) to capture more photos at a high frame rate. Use JPG instead of RAW for longer bursts, since size of JPG is much smaller than RAW. In this way, there are less chances of missing a crucial shot.
   • Use AI Servo AF (Canon) / AF-C (Nikon) auto focus to focus a fast moving subject (where focusing distance keeps changing) continuously as long as one of the AF point is on the subject.
   • Panning:
     Panning is a technique used to emphasize the speed of the subject, where the subject is shown as stationery behind the streaks of a fast moving background going in the opposite direction of the subject.
     Panning is achieved by keeping the fast moving subject in one position in the frame and moving the camera horizontally (panning) in such a way that the subject remains in the same position in the frame during the time the shutter is open.
     If the shutter speed is kept slow, the background appears blurred in one direction due to the camera motion. The shutter speed needed for panning depends on the speed of the subject and varies widely from one type of sports to another. e.g. for an F1 car to be captured using Panning, the shutter speed can be kept faster than the shutter speed used to capture a football player.
     For a smooth effect, pan the camera in a smooth motion preferably using a tripod.

   Example of Panning (Slower Shutter Speed & ISO)

   | Shutter Speed: 1/200s | f-stop: f/5 | ISO: 400 | Focal Length: 70mm | Flash: Not Fired |

   
   
   • Pre-Focus (Catch-in-focus/trap focus):
     Pre-Focus is a technique used to capture a fast moving subject at a pre-focussed location after the subject enters the frame. The user sets the focus at a pre-determined location where the subject may appear in due time and when the subject enters the frame, the user captures the photo using a high shutter speed to freeze the subject. This ensures that the subject is captured, properly focussed and sharp.
     Trap focus or Catch-in-focus is a technique available in some cameras in which the photo is automatically captured when the subject enters the frame and is in focus. This is achieved by setting a Auto Focus mode called Focus Priority (only available in few DSLRs).

   Example of Pre-Focus (Faster Shutter Speed & ISO)

   | Shutter Speed: 1/500s | f-stop: f/7.1 | ISO: 1600 | Focal Length: 35mm | Flash: Not Fired |

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Photography Techniques - Light Painting

1. Light Painting:
   Light Painting is a photographic technique in which the light from a moving light source (like candles, torch or fireworks) is captured. The objective is to capture the trail of light as it is moving in a pattern, design or spelled as a word. This can be achieved by either moving the light source or moving the camera while the shutter is open.
   • To capture the the light trails, the settings are similar to Fireworks photography.
   • Use of a tripod is absolutely necessary since the shutter speed is very slow. Also, use of remote release or self timer is very useful to remove the shakes caused by pressing the shutter button on the camera.
   • Use Shutter Priority mode to set a slow shutter speed (e.g. 3s to 10s) or use the Bulb mode to start capturing the exact moment when the light source starts and stop when required.
   • Use a higher f/number (more than f/8) to ensure that the light streaks are very fine lines of colors and not thick bright lines.
   • Set a low ISO (e.g. ISO 100) for minimum noise.
   • Use Manual focus if the Auto-focus doesn't work properly in low light conditions.
   • Enable Long Exposure Noise Reduction setting if available in your camera to reduce the noise in the photo.
   • If you are also capturing a person (subject) along with the light source, use flash to illuminate the subject. The subject needs to hold very still while painting with the light source or they will come out blurry in the photo.
   • If you want only the light source painting and don't want the person to appear in the photo, use a small source of light which points the light in the opposite direction of the person (like a torch). The background should be dark (like a darkened room) and no other light sources should illuminate the subject. Disable the flash and ensure that the person wears dark clothes and moves continuously, so that they are not captured for a period of time while the shutter is open.
   • An alternative to using a person to shine a light by moving is to paint or write a message on a wall using a laser or torch while the shutter is open.
   • Another, technique of light painting is to capture a smoky/soft photo of some objects or a person. This can be achieved by moving the light source or an external flash in a circular motion (or in linear motion) to illuminate the subject. In this way, the harsh shadow of the flash is eliminated giving the subject a soft appearance in the photo.
   • Light Painting can also be used to create some illusions like multiple clones of a person in a single photo or a hanging face of a person in the photo. This can be done by using an external flash to illuminate each position of the subject to create multiple exposures of that subject in different areas of the photo or just illuminating the face of the subject keeping the rest of the body in darkness.

| Shutter Speed: 1s | f-stop: f/6.3 | ISO: 400 | Focal Length: 28mm | Flash: Fired |

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Photography Techniques - Night Traffic

1. Night Traffic:
   • If you want to shoot light trails caused by the headlights/taillights of cars on a road, the same settings used in Night Landscape can be used for capturing night traffic photos.
   • Use Shutter Priority mode to set the time between 10-20 seconds and let the camera adjust the rest of the settings.
   • Use of a tripod is absolutely necessary since the shutter speed is very slow. Also, use of remote release or self timer is very useful to remove the shakes caused by pressing the shutter button on the camera.
   • Set the Shutter speed slower for more streaks of light (e.g. 20s) and faster for less streaks of light (e.g. 5s).
   • Alternatively, Bulb mode can be used where you want control over how much time the shutter needs to be open. In this mode, the shutter will be open from the moment you press the shutter button until you release it (use a remote shutter to reduce shaking while holding the shutter button) giving flexibility over timing the shot as a car enters the frame and then leaves the frame creating a long streak of light.
   • Use a higher f/number between f/8 and f/16 if the photo is over exposed and requires lesser light in the photo. This will also ensure that the light streaks are very fine lines of red or yellow and not thick bright lines.
   • Set a low ISO (e.g. ISO 100) for minimum noise.
   • If in low light, the camera has trouble finding the correct focus, use Manual focus.
   • Enable Long Exposure Noise Reduction setting if available in your camera to reduce the noise in the photo.
   • This method can also be used to capture light trails of a light-decorated Merry-go-Round/Amusement rides in carnivals/funfairs in the night.

Example of Night Traffic Long Exposure

| Shutter Speed: 20s | f-stop: f/9 | ISO: 100 | Focal Length: 18mm | Flash: Not Fired |

Example of Amusement Ride Long Exposure

| Shutter Speed: 1/3s | f-stop: f/6.3 | ISO: 320 | Focal Length: 40mm | Flash: Not Fired |

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