I just realized how good you guys really are

[GaryE]

I actually find shooting fish way more difficult than shooting 100+ mile per hour motorcycles flying past me within inches...

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I shot over 5000 one day in Springfield, Il and got maybe 20 really good ones.

I almost spit my drink across the room reading this... this is exactly what I have been doing. I have saved a dozen pics on my card.... I cannot even begin to guess at how many pics I’ve taken and deleted. (So maybe my sanity is still in tact?)

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Not especially fast. It was a quarter mile short track. Straightaway speeds we're about 65-70.. coming out of the corner like that, maybe 45 mph or so....

I'll have to dig out the shot I got at the Springfield mile that I tried at least 500 frames before I got the one I wanted... 135mph and caught his front wheel on the finish line.

Yeah okay so... my fish don’t swim that fast and they are almost all blurry lol

 

[GaryE]

Ok, I didn't find the one I was looking for, but this is an example of what I was trying to show. With one minor exception...

I only had one chance to get this right. This was in Indy in 2015.

The other was during practice and I could take shot after shot until I timed it right. This one had to be on point.

Target for focus was the front number plate, watched the bike approach the line with my left eye, kept my right eye on the target in the viewer and clicked one frame at the right moment.

The day I was in Springfield practicing getting them at the line, the media guy for the series was standing behind me. He saw the shot where I finally nailed it. Was duly impressed and asked if I was shooting high speed shutter (spray and pray), I told him nope, that'd be harder to get than shooting one shot mode as the shutter slamming shut real fast causes excess blur.

The thing that made shooting motorcycles easier than fish? Well, typically the races happened on nice bright sunny days outside. They are also a whole lot bigger and a bit more predictable as to where they are going to be at any given time.

Although we think we are really lighting up our fish tanks, the camera will tell you otherwise. Fish also tend to be very fast and move unpredictably. Plus, the focus length on my best lens for the job right now is 4.5 feet... So I have to sit across the room to get anything in focus. I really need to update my gear!

 

[GaryE]

Ahh, I found the photo.. Just touching the paint....

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Here is 1 of the “best” I’ve been able to pull off so far. A hitchhiker on my live rock. (Long story, he has become my project : ) He is about the size of a pea : )

Post yours : )

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Ahh, I found the photo.. Just touching the paint....

I can almost coint the spokes!

 

[GaryE]

Cell phone shot....

 

[GaryE]

I can almost coint the spokes!

I love the motion blur...

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Cell phone shot....

That’s a good pic!

 

[GaryE]

Thanks, I have found that if I try to shoot thru the water at an angle to the glass, it's way more blurry no matter what I do.

If I'm 100% straight on with the glass, I get a much better shot.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Gigs and gigs of unusable pictures. Every photo session. Take a thousand photos and get maybe 25-30 that really hit that professional look.

Now imagine not knowing what you had until you hand developed the film and then printed images, that’s how I learned SLR cameras. Rolls and rolls of totally unusable photos and hundreds of hours wasted to maybe get 1 good shot. We’ve got it super easy now in the digital age!

 

[GaryE]

Now imagine not knowing what you had until you hand developed the film and then printed images, that’s how I learned SLR cameras. Rolls and rolls of totally unusable photos and hundreds of hours wasted to maybe get 1 good shot. We’ve got it super easy now in the digital age!

I started in 1985, I can relate. Best advice I got from a pro back then was to sit with a trashcan and toss anything that didn't make the cut. Don't keep the trash for any reason.

I still do that, just digitally..

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Thanks, I have found that if I try to shoot thru the water at an angle to the glass, it's way more blurry no matter what I do.

If I'm 100% straight on with the glass, I get a much better shot.

I picked that up on YouTube... and yet I still try to shoot at a downward angle lol

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Now imagine not knowing what you had until you hand developed the film and then printed images, that’s how I learned SLR cameras. Rolls and rolls of totally unusable photos and hundreds of hours wasted to maybe get 1 good shot. We’ve got it super easy now in the digital age!

Wow, I hadn’t thought about the power of the instant pic and the delete button until just now

 

[Glauber]

I m good on pics but some people here are doctors in photography lol

 

[Rick.45cal]

I started in 1985, I can relate. Best advice I got from a pro back then was to sit with a trashcan and toss anything that didn't make the cut. Don't keep the trash for any reason.

I still do that, just digitally..

That’s about when I started myself, I’m Intimately familiar with both the real trash can and the digital one LOL.

Wow, I hadn’t thought about the power of the instant pic and the delete button until just now

The learning curve has become much easier with dSLR’s because of it. It was painful not knowing whether you even got the shot or whether your settings were even remotely close. I don’t know how they managed to sell SLR cameras to the general public, I think that’s why most ended up sitting on people’s shelves in their closets.

The real power with dSLR’s is that if you were good with with film versions, all the rules of exposure and depth of field etc. all still apply and work exactly the same. That understanding gives the folks who started with film SLR’s some distinct advantages over people who never had to endure that. Composition through the viewfinder becomes a higher priority.

Don’t get discouraged keep shooting and you’ll start figuring things out. “Exposure”, “Exposure compensation” and “Depth of field” are great topics to research and explore, they will give you an understanding of how and why pictures end up certain ways and how to exploit those in your favor. With a reasonable understanding of those three things you’ll be well on your way to taking photos you never thought possible.

Photoshop is definitely worth every penny to explore and learn just fyi, it’s possibly the greatest innovation in digital photography In my opinion. Good Luck and Be Well!

 

[Rick.45cal]

When you’re looking at a picture on the screen that you’ve just taken, always zoom in to see if your focus is good, the small screen will lie to you and make you think things are in focus when they aren’t. .

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

When you’re looking at a picture on the screen that you’ve just taken, always zoom in to see if your focus is good, the small screen will lie to you and make you think things are in focus when they aren’t. .

I have picked up on that trick. I linked my iPad directly to my camera. I can even operate the camera using the iPad. Using the bigger screen to set up and take pics has been helpful.

 

[GaryE]

One other tip learned the hard way. It doesn't matter what gear you buy, if your glass sucks, your photos will suck.

I could stick my 70-200 f2.8 on my battered EOS 20D with the scratched sensor and get good shots.. Put the crap kit lens on my 7D a and shoot garbage...

Good glass is expensive because it's worth it.