Wakeboard(sports photography)

zurb

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Its very difficult to get crispy shots. I use a nikon 80-200 mounted on a tripod but still its vry difficult since the subject is really moving very fast. What setting is appropriate for this? Thank you
 
You need a faster shutter speed - at least 1/500th of a second. Dont bother with the tripod - the subject is moving so having your camera still wont help.

If you cant get 1/500th or more with your lens aperture as wide open as possible, start increasing the ISO until you can get that speed.
 
Hi zurb,
Are you shooting from the back of a boat or from the shore? Either way you're still going to need a pretty fast shutter speed to freeze the action.

I would say use as fast a shutter speed as you can get with around 1,500 - 2,000 sec & upwards being something to aim for, this will freeze the boarders & also the spray droplets from the water. You can get away with a bit less than this but you will risk more shots blurred by the motion. Of course you may on some shots want to show the speed of the boarders with a bit of creative slow s/s panning but obviously with this method you will get a lot of shots that need binning, well worth the effort if you get a few good-uns though.

One thing I'm curious about is why you're using this lens (the 80-200) on a tripod though. Tripods are generally very restrictive for sports work, if you really need something to steady the camera it's better to use a mono pod although personally I hand hold all lenses up to a 300mm with a 1.4 converter, it just gives you so much more manouverability.

This is a TP link to some wakeboarding I shot at Milton Keynes last year, these were shot using a 400mm f2.8 some with a 1.4 converter giving a
560mm f4 all wide open & hand held (when I say hand held I was sat on the grass with my elbows resting on my knees for stability) they were shot at around 2,000 & 2,500 of a sec.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=317462

Luck,:)

Stew.
 
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