shooting in sunlight/over exposure

[RJD]

jimi at 500mm the 1000D will have an equivelant focal length of 800mm

Tho he's using a monopod technique with a monopod for a real stable platform is tricky and worth working on, just having one is no garontee of a stable camera, heres a good guide:

http://www.nikonians.org/monopods/what_monopod_3.html

His max apperture at 500mm is likely f6.3, no consumer zoom has f2.8 at 500mm ( actualy only 1 zoom I know of has, the sigma 200-500f2.8, and thats bazooka HUGE!!).

f10 though is too stopped down.

[Jimi]

Thanks RJD for clearing up the specifics - I'm not familiar with anything over 300mm, nor did I bother to look up the specifics of the enlarging factor of smaller format sensors.

The focal length being effectively 800mm makes it even more crucial to use a very fast shutter speed.

The monopod is less stable than a tripod- therefore use a very fast shutter speed.

The minimum f-stop of around f6.3 means that maybe a faster ISO should be used - but that is neither here nor there - the minimum f-stop should be used to allow the fastest shutter speed to compensate for the long focal length and instability of the shooting platform.

As I said before - use the smallest f-stop you can, and make sure your shutter speed is above 1/1000th of a second - If you do so, then you should eliminate any blur from camera movement, that may appear as though the photo is out of focus.

[phillwilson]

might sound silly........but any chance of you moving closer?? thast would sure give your lens a chance to opperate within its comfort zone, most consumer lenses fall off in quality at the extremes of their zoom range and apatures.

if you could take a shot at 400 at f8 stick the iso as high as you dare, use raw so you can boost the exposire a little later and be prepared to crop in a little in post production (a 10mp sensor is plenty you could loose half that infomation and still get a good 7x5 ) i think you would find you will see a better shot success rate for the extra effort.

[O_Danny_Boy]

cool thanks lads, looks like some excellent surf coming in this weekend so ill take a few more with those recommendations and post a few. thanks again

[O_Danny_Boy]

any advice on shooting in low light?

was shooting the other day in low light/greyish cloudy day. tried shooting in Av but the shooter speed was too slow for the crispish shots i wanted. when i shot in Tv with the EV at +2 at ISO 400 they still came out a tad on the under exposed side. i adjusted these later on but there was noise in the picture i think due to the iso and due to bringing up the light and highlights in photoshop (i think),

any tips lads?

[myate]

Not a lot you can do in this country I'm afraid! Only thing is to up iso, and that leads to more noise. Cameras like the 5D are great at high iso levels. I find shooting surf in cloudy/grey days is the hardest for the exact reasons you've stated...you end up with colourless, bland pics.

[O_Danny_Boy]

yeah i put most of em in black and white but now they all look the same

[RJD]

any advice on shooting in low light?

was shooting the other day in low light/greyish cloudy day. tried shooting in Av but the shooter speed was too slow for the crispish shots i wanted. when i shot in Tv with the EV at +2 at ISO 400 they still came out a tad on the under exposed side. i adjusted these later on but there was noise in the picture i think due to the iso and due to bringing up the light and highlights in photoshop (i think),

any tips lads?

Tv or Av mode used proerly wont get you any faster shutter speeds.

If in Av mode if you set the lens to wide open then thats gona equate to the fastest shutter speed you can get , for the ISO/Aperture of the kit.


Solution is higher ISO (and/or better sensor/camera body) and faster lens. $$$$

Or float some remote flashes out there...

[Jimi]

There's one trick you can do, but it's more of a trick than a technique... Take the photos in RAW format (look it up in your instructions) and simply set the camera to shoot in manual mode at whatever speed you need... The photos will all look really dark, but provided it's only about 2 or 3 stops too dark, you can fix it in the photo editing on your computer. RAW files will work MUCH better than jpg files for this, as there's much less compression artifacts being introduced.