My second week of photography class was even more helpful than the first, as I was able to bring in some pictures and ask what I was doing wrong with them! One of my biggest challenges is staying focused on the kids when they’re constantly moving. This is my transcription of my hastily jotted notes (on the back of a library receipt)–anyone who really knows about cameras can correct me if I used a term incorrectly…
Recipe for Moving Subjects
- Set to AI Focus (“artificial intelligence,” which will adjust as the subject moves).
- Use continuous shooting (instead of one at a time) so that you can just hold the button down and take several shots.
- Change focus to AF point selection instead of automatic selection (use the dot center weighted right in the center and use that point to focus on the eyes, the most important feature to be “in focus”).
- If still blurry in AV mode, try going to a higher ISO even if you don’t need it in the light–this will give you a faster shutter speed. (Obviously you’ll risk adding noise with higher ISOs, but I found that steps 1-3 are helping enough for me that I haven’t had to do this step yet.)
This one of the girls worked halfway–I was focusing on Elizabeth but had my f stop too low to get Susanna in focus, as well.
This one is actually the seventh in a series, and Lizzie’s eyes are impressively still in focus! I was so excited to see this work out!
The girls were pretty wiggly with this series, but they’re way less fuzzy than in my attempts from last week.
Tommy actually stays pretty still for me.
This one is actually just to show Q’s messy hair. I cannot get her to keep it in a pony tail!
I didn’t know any of those tricks! Thanks for sharing!