What am I doing wrong?

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Permalink Reply by DeEtta Houts on May 27, 2008 at 1:01pm

Thanks Gabriel, I'll look for some tele lenses with a wider aperture.

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Permalink Reply by Carrie Johnson on May 27, 2008 at 1:01pm

Pretty much what Gabriel said... not enough light. Do you have a flash unit? That might both give you enough light & freeze the action.

I just shot a bunch this weekend under very trying conditions, but at a festival, so I had to shoot & make the best of high ISO value to catch anything at all... I feel your pain ;-)

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Permalink Reply by DeEtta Houts on May 27, 2008 at 1:10pm

Yes I do, mine is a Canon 480 Speedlight. I'll try that next time. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by DeEtta Houts on May 27, 2008 at 1:48pm

Thanks Francois, that is exactly what I was looking for. I'll have to add a 500mm lens, remots shutter and a better tripod to my wishlist now!

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Permalink Reply by DeEtta Houts on May 27, 2008 at 11:34pm

Thanks Francois, I do need a bigger tele anyways. I have a 70-300, which I love but biger is always more fun!

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Permalink Reply by James McHenry on June 2, 2008 at 1:50pm

I agree with 'G' - shouldn't use an ISO higher than 800 otherwise you get lots of 'speckles' in your pics - a result of 'noise'.... anything between 400 and 800 should be okay though...

By looking at your pics you didn't have enough light...

Try using a tripod, flash and have your ISO between 400 and 800...

Might just work...

Good Luck,

James

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cossack on June 2, 2008 at 6:22pm

I'm not sure how practical using flash is going to be. If you don't have a high-speed sync flash then you're only going to be able to sync at somewhere between 1/125 or 1/250 if you're lucky. Besides, I'm not sure the little birdie is going to appreciate that.

I'm going to say that you need a good quality camera for the best results. While there's nothing wrong with your camera, it will produce a lot of noise at the higher ISO settings. I have seen some AMAZINGLY clear pictures from a Nikon D3 shot at ISO 1600. Of course you probably have to take out a second mortgage for that camera. But you can still get a great picture with your camera. You just have to wait for a bright sunny day.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Wilson on June 2, 2008 at 10:09pm

Well considering you can change these things... f-stop (either through adjustment or getting a better lens), shutter speed, amount of light (if you used flash),iso,focal length; I would try adding more light (flash or wait for a sunny day[I don't like to wait so the latter is bull]) and/or try getting a little closer so the aperture can be open wider and ISO as a result will be lower.

The one thing that will make a big difference would be a faster lens. That's my take on it.

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