Tag Archives: ISO

How to Photograph an OCD Dog Swimming in Your Pool

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I recently made a visit to my hometown. I traveled to Vegas for a convention and got to spend the weekend with my family. My brother and his wife have been remodeling a house out on Sunrise Mountain – right now it’s a work in progress, but there is one part that is ready to go. Right off the patio there is an oasis in the desert – a practically perfect pool.

Growing up we were never “pool people”. On our block there were two families that had pools – one was at a white house with white carpet – they were a fancy-schmancy family with wrought iron and sparkly stucco. I was always too grubby to even pass through their door, let alone be invited to play in their pool. The other was a doughboy pool that the kids a couple of years older hung out at  – it was like swimming in a balloon, not my cup of tea.

The only pool I have ever owned was one of those kiddie pools you buy at Stuff-mart, I bought it for my dog. He loved it and I have always gotten a kick out of seeing a dog enjoy the water. I kayak with my terrier and my goldendoodle loves to play in the lake, so when I heard that we were taking my brother’s dog over to the new house to play in the pool, I was super excited to get a chance to capture her in action in the water.

A word about the dog – Cammie Lou (Cambria Louise) is an english pointer. She is an avid hunter and borders on being OCD when it comes to birds, or toys, or sitting in the passenger seat in the jeep. She cannot rest when these things are in play, she obsesses and pushes and works herself into a frenzy. It makes for a spectacular hunter. Apparently she also obsesses about swimming.

We let Cammie out into the backyard and she leapt into the pool and immediately began swimming laps non stop. She also made an excited crying sound. After about a dozen laps we would have to stand on the steps at the end and urge her to get out for a rest. She was so excited that she would jump right back in and start swimming again. This dog adores the water. Her joy is palpable. She was amazing to shoot.

To capture Cammie I started with a fairly high ISO – 2000. In the bright sunlight you could push it a lot higher if you needed to. I started with a shutter speed of 1/640 second and pushed up to 1/1000 after about 20 shots. In 10 minutes I shot about 150 frames and with these shutter speeds I only had about 4 that were out of focus or where I lost her in the frame. I focused on her eyes. Click through to get a sense of the motion of Cammie swimming.

Surfacing
Splish
Splash
Smile
Freestyle
Bliss
Drool
Form
Joy
Shout
Bubbles
Stroke
Snort
Second wind
Follow through
Speed
Laugh
Grin
Grimmace
Do I have to get out of the pool?

Shutter Speed – A Month of Hummers

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Over the course of the last month I have been experimenting with shooting in Shutter Mode – a departure from my beloved and comfortable Aperture Mode style of shooting. You can read about my progress here, here, here, and here.

If you don’t want to bother with clicking all those blue words – here’s my journey in a nutshell:

1. I like to shoot birds and wish I could capture more action shots.

2. Shooting in Aperture Mode focuses on light and not speed, so while I can easily control the depth of field, I miss a lot of that action.

3. Most wildlife photogs shoot in Shutter Mode, because controlling the speed gives you a better chance at stopping motion – this prompted me to get out of my comfort zone and give it a try.

What I have learned in the last month is that great light increases your camera’s ability to get you great results, and that you need to know the limits of your camera’s ability to handle lower light with higher ISO settings. ISO is crucial in allowing more light in when you increase shutter speeds even in sunlight.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my camera can push these settings pretty far and still yield good results. I would encourage you to find a review that assesses your camera’s capabilities to see where the experts draw the line on ISO performance. For my camera, the line seems to be at 6400 with the experts in a controlled lighting situation – in the field I find I prefer the results at 3200 and lower. That’s twice the limit I have ever been comfortable trying, and reading up on my camera convinced me that my thinking on ISO and grain was stuck somewhere in past with my first Canon Elph (circa 2002).

When starting down this road my goal was to try to get shots of hummingbirds with definition in their wings. I have hundreds of shots from the last year with eyes in focus and wings that are barely discernible – now I love some of these shots, but getting wings with actual feathers defined was a rarity. Now I am not at the point where I am completely stopping motion on a hummingbird – honestly, I think that to do that dependably would require the use of a flash, and that is way outside my comfort zone. What follows are my favorite shots from a month of shooting in Shutter Mode.

Click on any image to start the slide show!

Approaching – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Shiny Sipper – 1/800 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Hovercraft – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
In-flight Beverage – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Stationary Sipper – 1/800 second f6.7 ISO 2000
Coming in for a Landing – 1/800 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Swan Song – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Poised – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Reaching – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Touch Down – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Coming in Low – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Going for Style Points – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 1600
Vertical Assault – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Degree of Difficulty? – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
All a Flutter – 1/800 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Defenses Up! – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Dine and Dash – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 1600
Table for Two? – 1/1000 second f6.7 ISO 3200
Tired Warrior – 1/320 second f6.7 ISO 2000

Now I know that last shot is not really an action shot. That girl worked her heart out for me – she’s out there on the front lines everyday defending that red bottle feeder, and her exhaustion is starting to show. She’s the acrobat diving into frame in so many of these shots. Well done, my little friend, well done.

Shutter Speed Part 1 – It Gives You Wings!

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In photography there are always trade-offs. Modern DSLRs try to balance the trade-offs to give you the perfectly exposed photo.

When it comes to shooting mode, I’m an Aperture kinda girl. I love the control I have over the DOF (Depth of Field). WIthout thinking I can spin that adjustment dial until the image is bright enough and the subject is isolated to my satisfaction. I developed my love of the Aperture Mode over the course of years of shooting things that don’t move a lot, like flowers and rusty things. When I started shooting birds, I started in Auto to see what the camera would choose for the situation. I noted the shutter speeds seemed to be between 200-350. Moving to Aperture mode, I kept that number in mind. Since I hate noise (grainy-ness) and love bokeh (the cool blurry swirly backgrounds in photos that make the subjects pop), I kept the ISO low and the Aperture pretty close to wide open. That is my comfort zone. Unless I am shooting in a studio under a light kit I keep to that formula.

That brings us to the trade-offs. What I give up for my love of a shallow DOF and lots of creamy bokeh is the ability to stop action unless there is a ton of light. Sometimes I have gotten pretty lucky, but not nearly as often as I would like. I see in focus action shots of wildlife all the time, I see them taken with mirrorless cameras too – there has to be a way. Trying a new mode would prove to be part of the answer. It’s time to leave my comfort zone and tread out into the wilderness that is Shutter Mode! After reading some articles I have decided that since this whole bird obsession thing is an exercise aimed at becoming a better photographer, I owe it to myself to try this long neglected mode on my camera.

This weekend I was pretty much house bound with a nasty bug courtesy of a tick bite acquired on a recent hike, so I read a few articles about shooting birds. Something I had never considered was increasing the ISO – for me the low ISO has been like a treasured idol in my toolbox of predictable outcomes, even though my camera has one of the highest ratings for performing at higher ISO settings. Another thing I had to give up was the image review feature – the more I shoot the more I have seen how that third-of-a-second image in my viewfinder has robbed me of shots, losing my subject as the image flashed onscreen. By Sunday I resolved that I was ready to take off the training wheels and try this out.

I decided to start a quest to understand the structure of a hummingbird’s wings. I have shot lots of hummers in the last year and have always focused on their eyes whenever possible. I still did that, but I did a few things to increase my odds of getting a good shot. First, I made my focus point as small as possible so that I did not have to pre-focus on the feeder first and hope to get a focus on the bird. Next, I chose certain feeders to focus on – ones that were in bright sunlight. Finally, I deleted all shots of birds not in motion – I have hundreds of clean focused shots of birds sitting still – I want to see motion. I also deleted shots where the wings were not definable. I took some test shots at different shutter speeds – 500, 640, 800, and 1000 – each of these settings required a change in ISO to produce an image bright enough to use. I used to work with ISOs from 200-800 – now I would work as high as 2500. Beyond that I was just not happy with the grainy nature of the test shots in the available light on that day. This required me to change settings as the light changed – it was a partly cloudy day so I got lots of practice.

The shots that follow are not great, but I am seeing that it is possible for me to get closer to capturing or potentially stopping movement. Stopping a hummingbird’s wing is an unrealistic challenge – but I do think that I understand the structure better now.

I started with some of my better shots in my old mode taken in the last week – usually in pretty good light to begin with.

f6.7 1/250 sec ISO 100o This is one of my better efforts in Aperture Mode

f6.7 1/250 sec ISO 1000
This is one of my better efforts in Aperture Mode

f6.7 1/250 second ISO 1600 This is a shot where I just increased the ISO - the light was almost perfect so even in Aperture mode I got a sense of the feathers.

f6.7 1/250 sec ISO 1600
This is a shot where I just increased the ISO – the light was almost perfect so even in Aperture Mode I got a sense of the feathers.

F6.7 1/250 sec ISO 1000 Switching to Shutter Mode and bumping up the ISO first

F5.9 1/250 sec ISO 1000
Still in Aperture Mode and bumping up the ISO first – still wonderful light

f6.7 1.250 sec ISO 250 Starting to loose the light - but because the feeder was close it still worked - I can see the ribs of the feathers

f6.7 1.250 sec ISO 250
Starting to lose the light – but because the feeder was close it still worked – I can almost make out some of the structure of the feathers – last shot in Aperture Mode.

Now onto Shutter Mode – these shots were all taken yesterday.

f6.1 1/250 sec ISO 1600 After a short rain shower I switched to Shutter Mode - kept the speed low and pushed the ISO a bit. I focused on the closer bird and can begin to see definition in the feathers.

f6.1 1/250 sec ISO 1600
After a short rain shower I start a new day in Shutter Mode – kept the speed low and pushed the ISO a bit. I focused on the closer bird and can begin to see definition in her feathers.

f6.1 1/250 sec 1250 ISO The same bird moves to the other side of the feeder - you can clearly see the layers of feathers that I have previously been unable to capture. The ISO is making a difference.

f6.1 1/250 sec 1250 ISO
The same bird moves to the other side of the feeder – you can clearly see the layers of feathers that I have previously been unable to capture. The ISO is making a difference. I only got this shot because I disabled the preview feature. With no image to review I can keep shooting.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2000 The bird is scratching in flight - in Aperture Mode this shot is a goner, it would have been a blurry mess. In Shutter Mode it is fairly clear and you can see the underside of his wing.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2000
The bird is scratching in flight – in Aperture Mode this shot is a goner, it would have been a blurry mess. In Shutter Mode it is fairly clear and you can see the underside of his wing, plus it stopped the action of his foot.

f6.7 1/800 sec ISO 2000 A bit too much sunlight, but this shot captures the recoil motion of a wing flap. Personally I like the inverted image of my pergola in the feeder too.

f8 1/800 sec ISO 2000
A bit too much sunlight, but this shot captures the recoil motion of a wing flap. The smaller Aperture setting has slightly reduced DOF – just a bit deeper focus on the bird and feeder. Personally I like the inverted image of my pergola in the feeder too.

f6.7 1/800 sec ISO 2000 This is more detail than I have ever seen on a wing - the sunlight was pretty intense, blowing out a couple of areas, but the grain is OK so far.

f6.7 1/800 sec ISO 2000
This is more detail than I have ever seen on a wing – the sunlight was pretty intense, blowing out a couple of areas, but the grain is OK so far.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2000 It's clouding up and I'm losing light. More grain than I like but I am still seeing feather structure - managing ISO is the crucial.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2000
It’s clouding up and I’m losing light. More grain than I like but I am still seeing feather structure – managing ISO is the crucial.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2500 Same bird - another shot I would have missed if I hadn't turned off the preview feature and an angle I rarely capture because the movement is the closest thing making focusing a crap shoot. I' still seeing feather structures even in this lower light.

f6.7 1/640 sec ISO 2500
Same bird – another shot I would have missed if I hadn’t turned off the preview feature and an angle I rarely capture because the movement is the closest thing making focusing a crap shoot. I I’m still seeing feather structures even in this lower light.

f6.7 1/500 sec ISO 2500 The sun peaks back out and I get a shot with a bit lower speed - you can see how much feather detail is lost by moving below 1/640 second.

f6.7 1/500 sec ISO 2500
The sun peaks back out and I get a shot with a bit lower speed – you can see how much feather detail is lost by moving below 1/640 second.

So to sum up – speed + ISO + good lighting = better ability to stopping action, but the trade-off can be grain in your image unless the light is really great. My camera has a huge ISO range and I just need to push it to see how far it can go on a good sunny day. This probably seems like old hat to most wildlife photogs, I was probably doing things the hard way and I clearly was not making use of my camera’s capabilities. I have been resistant to trying to shoot fast-moving things like sports events because I have limited myself by staying in that comfort zone – it’s time for me to break things loose.