New to photography :)

laurenculbert

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1 Oct 2011 - 3:44 PM

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Hi. I am new to photography so need some tips from you guys.
I have just brought a canon 350d and want to try and take some pics of my dog running.
What will be the best lens to use for this and have you any tips on how to get the best detail eg: best shutter speed, aperture etc.
Hope this makes sense!
Thanks,
Lauren.

cameracat (e2 Member)

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1 Oct 2011 - 5:50 PM

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Are you familiar with the term " Panning " ?

Fast shutter speed, It helps if you have a fast lens, But you can use a higher ISO setting to achieve this, The 350D should be able to go to ISO 800 without the images getting to noisy.

Aperture wise, Depends if the dog is running from left to right Or visa versa, Or coming at you head on.....?

Why, You need to use a DOF thats depth of field that will be wide enough to capture your dawg nice and sharp, If doggie is running from right to left etc, The DOF required will be reasonably stable, Lets say 3 feet deep at lens aperture f/5.6 with dawg about half to a third filling the viewfinder.....

Thats all a rule of thumb because the variable are many but depend on the lens your using and the distances to subject involved.

Back to panning, You can get away with a slower shutter speed as mentioned by Miptog around 1/125s if you pan your shot....!

By panning you follow the subject aka Rover in the viewfinder, At a point of your choosing you fire the camera, But keep panning in the same direction for a few seconds afterwards, This method gives a great look by blurring the background whilst keeping the subject nice and sharp, But it does take practice to get it all working smoothly.

If Rover is coming at you head on, And he is a greyhound or a fast mutt, Your gonna need more speed, You aslo need a camera with a fairly fast AF system that can lock and fire on a subject whos distance is changing by the millionth of a second, This is much harder than shooting L to R etc, It helps if you have a bit of luck now and then too....

Thats as much as I can think of for the mo, Perhaps others can add to anything we have forgotten so far.....

EDIT: Just as a very rough guide, I shoot fast moving moggies and doggies with a 70-300mm lens, Quite often my ISO will be at least ISO 800 with Apertures between f/5.6 and f/8 depending on ambient light, My shutter speeds can vary due to light, But can be anywhere from 1/500s to 1/1200s, The faster shutter speeds do help, Especially with the head on shots, Cats a harder because they are a smaller target and tend to jink from side to side, Don't Ya just love em..... Dawgs are fairly easy to train though.....Unlike cats.....

scotdiver

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10 Oct 2011 - 2:14 PM

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There is this EPZ Tutorial - Dog Photography Advice that would be worth looking at.