how to get the best action shots w/ my P&S?

[acarbo99]

Howdy,

I'm a little nervous posting here, but I figure I gotta start somewhere.

I'm pretty new at this game. I have a Pentax Optio 550 digital P&S for now, but hope to be upgrading to a dSLR fairly soon.

In the mean time, every member of my family plays soccer and I want to do what I can to get some good pictures this spring. All games are daytime, all around mid-day (give or take a few hours on either side) so at least I don't have to worry about stadium lighting. Also, I'll be right on the sidelines for all games not off in some bleachers, etc.

How best can I maximize the shots I get off of my little camera? Any/all tips would be most appreciated.

Last fall, it seems most of my shots were out of focus and blurry. Is there anything I can do with my P&S or do I just need to face the fact that good pictures will have to wait until I have a camera that can take it?

TIA,
GiGi

[TXhummer2]

Your camera has both Shutter Priority and Manual modes. Also you can increase the ISO. Read more at DPreview.com


Consider learning more at MorgueFile

[kenw]

Since it has Shutter Priority mode (called T or Tv usually), I would suggest that as a place to start. Usually when people get blurry shots, the shutter speed wasn't fast enough, and if you used it on "Auto", the camera doesn't know it needs to freeze the action and will set the shutter too low.

Set it to Shutter priority and then dial in a shutter speed of 1/500 (it may show as "500"). That should freeze the action. The camera will set the other parameters that you need.

If the pics still seem a bit blurry or you need to freeze the action a bit more, adjust the shutter upward from 500 to 750 or so. Realize that the higher you adjust this, the more light you need to get a good pic (for reasons we'll not go into here). So just running the shutter up to 2000 or more might seem like a good idea to make sure everything is frozen, but it might hurt other things. The best is to start it at 500 and go up from there.

If 500 gives you images that are too dark, adjust the ISO to a higher value until you get acceptable results at that shutter speed.

1) set the shutter to whatever you need to freeze the action, THEN
2) set the ISO to brighten up the image while keeping the same shutter speed

Goodness knows it can get a lot more complicated than this, but I think this is a pretty simple way to start.

Good luck and post some pics when you get some, we're here to help.

[acarbo99]

Thank you SO MUCH for your suggestions! I took all the tips from here and from a few other folks and tried my best at my son's soccer game on Saturday. I used a tripod and I shot on shutter priority mode with the ss set at either 1/500 or 1/640. All else was auto. This next week, I'm going to try playing with the ISO a bit as the shots were a little darker in reality than they showed on my LCD screen. I may also bump up the SS another notch to see what happens. The mid-day shadows made it a touch more difficult to get a good shot of anyone's face (especially since most of the kids look down at the ball while they play). Oh well ....

While I'm not totally happy with these, they are a WORLD better than the ones I shot this last fall. AND I feel like I have some more things I can try to sharpen things up a bit more, so I'm feeling good about the rest of this season. For that alone, I truly appreciate the suggestions that were offered.

C&C *most appreciated* - I *need* to improve!!!

here we go ...









Thanks again,
GiGi

[brad]

The other thing to watch out for with a P&S camera like yours is shutter lag... there will sometimes be a little bit of time from the point you pressed the shutter button and the image is captured... for action shots, you may have to anticipate a little to avoid that.

[acarbo99]

thanks for that tip Brad. There is a *considerable* shutter lag on my poor ole P&S. I shot a bunch of pics in 'burst mode' and that seemed to help *some* (but not a lot). Until I can upgrade to a dSLR later this year, I'll just have to deal with it. :(

Best,
GiGi

[brad]

You did pretty good for "considerable" shutter lag.. but I know that can be a frustrating thing. :)

[kenw]

to avoid shutter lag (which is really AF/auto-focus lag), prefocus (half-press the button, and hold it) on the spot you anticipate the kids to be at when you wish to catch the pic. By prefocusing, you let the camera take its own sweet time to AF, then the 2nd half of the push of the button catches the action precisely.

You can move the camera around to frame the shot while you hold that shutter button half-way to hold the focus.

[Outlaw]

You might also try setting your flash to always-fire to try to fill in the shadows a bit, at least to see if it gives you better quality photos. Your shots look pretty darn good as far as technical merit goes, now try applying some good techniques in choosing your shot: look for clean backgrounds, try to capture faces and expressions, look for "peak action," remember 99% of the time that "tight is right" (fill as much of the frame as possible with your players and ball), and don't miss off-action shots such as sideline and between-play shots. The "jube shot" after a goal or win is always a winner.

Try shooting from around the net toward the incoming action, and get as low as you can to give your players a bigger, more dramatic appearance.

Great start and keep posting! Lord knows the fine folks on this forum have taught me worlds of good knowledge.

[acarbo99]

Thanks everyone for your comments! I am trying my best to apply them at every game. Hopefully I will come away from this season with some pictures worth keeping. :)

Best,
GiGi