Some action shots

[Boo_Radley]

I registered with the local community college (NoVA) to take a couple of photography classes this semester. If it goes well, I'll take more. So far so good. Anyway, this is the second week, and the assignment was "shutter speed and motion". We had to get some examples of action shots. Thought I'd post a few for fun. Mostly D.C. skater kids, since that's about the most interesting action you'll find in DC (not including protest rallies, but there have been too few of those lately).





















Also tried my hand at panning shots for the first time.



We were specifically told not to do traffic, since that's lame, but this was my first attempt at panning, and I needed stable, steady motion to try it. I'm going to work more on this until I develop a skill fo rit.

And got a few motion blur pictures

[alkaline9]

1. Very nice!

I sure would like to actually be taught how to take photos... most of the time I feel like I'm working backward and only get good shots when I'm lucky. What kind of camera/settings were these photos taken with? Did you use a tripod?

I like #4, #5, and #6 the best and the motion blur shot is cool too... I like the technique!

[Boo_Radley]

2. Thanks.

I meant to put the settings on the photos before I posted them, but forgot. They all have them marked here, but it's really slow. (In fact, I think I'm going to call Comcast today and order better bandwidth).

I've been doing the self-learning thing, but wasn't really happy with how fast I've been coming along. Last month I started to sit down and draw out a plan of attack to organize better; what I need to learn, how to learn it, etc. Then I realized I was basically writing a syllibus. It occoured to me that I was registered with the local communit college, I did that as soon as I moved up here in case I ever wanted to take a class in something, so I checked their sight to see what they had to offer. Turns otu, they have a whole photography program. I had registered non-credit seeking, but I changed that online, just in case I decide to try to pick up a certificate or something, and I picked two classes. One is on campus about an hour away, but it's only once a week (thank God), and this class I took these for is on line. You upload the pictures, take the quizzes on line, and there's a messageboard for discussions. Through the message board, myself and two of the other guys in class all met up in DC yesterday and went shooting. (They're both also just amatures who wanted some help organizing their study, one is a full time student at GMU, but they don't have a photography program, and the other is a programmer).

Anyway, so far so good. It's at least a new assignement to shoot each week, and one geared towards skill building, not toward getting a good picture, which I need. It also had assigned readings, which is also good.

At $225 per class per semester, it's a pretty good deal.

[alkaline9]

5. I just checked my local community college website...

...and it looks like I'm a little late for Spring semester registration. Oh well... the more I think about it, maybe I'm better off learning by myself. I cringe at the thought of going back in the classroom... 6 years of college was plenty for me! Now if I could go live int the dorms again.... :D

Out of curiosity, how many photos did you take to get these gems? I know when I'm trying to photo something/someone it usually takes me about 15-30 photos to get one good one.

In looking at some of the photos from the site you listed above I think your camera can do some stuff mine cant (not sure if that would keep me from taking photos like this or not)... like the aperture setting on your Nikon seems to have a good range.

[Boo_Radley]

6. Bunches

All in all, I took almost 150 shots. I spent quite a few exposures trying to get panning down, though. I stood out by Constitution for about 15 minutes just taking pictures of passing traffic. There are more that I took that I liked, but didn't add them because it would get boring. I think I'll add them later. I'm planning to call Comcast today and see if I can up my bandwidth some.

The Nikon is a good camera. I got hurt a little on ISO, though, because mine only goes down to ISO 200. The other two guys had Canons that went down to ISO 50. Since we were doing long shutter times on a sunny day, they were better off. (Not to dis Nikon, each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. That's just one of the weaknesses on the D70).

When I checked in late December to see what the options were, I call on the last day of normal registration. There was still late registration, but I just managed to hit it in time. I had already registered as a non-credit seeking student (it only took about 5 minutes that way), then switched it online when I realized I may attempt some kind of certificate.

And it is really weird to be back on campus. I told a friend last week, "Well, I have to go. I have homework to do," and then immediately started laughing. It was kind of hilarious to say that. I hadn't said that in over a decade. It's not that bad, though. Especially since I'm taking the classes at night or on line. So far, everyone I've talked to is a lot like me. The "normal" college kids all take day classes.

[GOPFighter]

3. Ah, skateboarders in DC!

(I live in Silver Spring during the week)

Too bad most of the skateboarders wore clothing that tended to blend with the background. You got some great stop-action stuff, and you had a nice low camara angle which was really effective. How far away were you from the skateboarders? They seemed unaffected by your presence (I have trouble taking pictures of strangers). Did you talk to them before you took the pictures?

[Boo_Radley]

4. 10 to thirty feet, mostly.

I was using a 70-300 mm lense, for most of them, but some of them I had to drop down to an 18-70mm lense. Either way, I was pretty close. I went with two other guys from class, and one of them did go up and talk to at least one of the skater kids. I've done this a couple of times, and just sort of waved my camera and made a "doyamind" kind of look, and each time they made a sort of "I couldn't care any less if you live or die, or what you do in between" kind of a look ;)

Anyway, while we were out yesterday, once we showed up and started taking pictures, they ignored us for a very short time, then started showing off a little. When I went and got that low angle, no one was actually doing any tricks there, but once I was shooting, they all flocked to it. I think they enjoyed the audience and thinking we might be from some rad skater mag or something.

I know what you mean about snapping pictures of strangers. But the skater kids don't seem to mind, and tend to become more aggressive in their tricks once they all notice you shooting. Plus, in a public area like that, you're within your rights to photograph people. If you try to *seem* like you're supposed to be doing it, people ignore it. It's like when a little kid falls down, and, for just a second, they look up to see how people are reacting, and whether they should laugh or cry. If you act like you're supposed to be taking pictures, and they're not supposed to mind, most people just sort of go with the flow.