I Am In Awe ….

[Krs_2007]

If it was me I would take all 3, but would lean more towards the 70-300 with the 18-105 behind it. Now if you want close ups then I use the 35. Just depends on how close you can or want to get. I would assume you will want shots from the tee, which any of the 3 will do.

Fast shutter speed, fast shutter speed, fast shutter speed if you want to freeze the swing. ISO will depend on your lighting, not sure about your weather conditions.

If you not shooting manual yet then go for the Shutter priority setting.

Good luck, never shot golf before, been a while since my daughter played and I suck so I dont ever go to the course.

 

[dramtastic]

Lots of good advise. I also usually go out to shoot a specific subject. I've taken shots of that subject that many times I already have the values set before I walk out the door. As you know I take a lot of bird shots. The only things I usually change on a walk are the EV and the min shutter speed. Stills of birds are usually between 1/125th and 1/500th depending how far away. Birds in flight usually 1/1000, 1/1250 or 1/4000th. ISO is set to auto and I'm in aperture priority. My lens performs best at F8 with the TC on and I usually have it at F5.6 for the TC off. One thing I've never mentioned here is my hand holding technique. I leave the tripod collar and tripod plate on the telephoto when I'm using that lens. I find I can grip this nicely while sitting in the palm of my hand. I shoot a lot of images as out of that there are about 10% that I like enough to post not including those that look exactly the same. In the case of your insect shots, if I see and insect I may take 20-30 shots of that insect if I can from all sorts of angles and distances. Out of that again I might have a few that I really like. In regards to subjects I'm not familiar with I will study on how to shoot that from different online resources before I go and try. When we were in Vanuatu last year I knew there was an area with waterfalls. I went online, read up, took some notes and went out and shot. I was happy with the results.

 

[Lawrence]

If it was me I would take all 3, but would lean more towards the 70-300 with the 18-105 behind it. Now if you want close ups then I use the 35. Just depends on how close you can or want to get. I would assume you will want shots from the tee, which any of the 3 will do.

Fast shutter speed, fast shutter speed, fast shutter speed if you want to freeze the swing. ISO will depend on your lighting, not sure about your weather conditions.

If you not shooting manual yet then go for the Shutter priority setting.

Good luck, never shot golf before, been a while since my daughter played and I suck so I dont ever go to the course.

Carrying all would be a hassle as my bag is a bit small. I also don't think I will be able to get too close without distracting the players so will leave the 35mm behind. While not as sharp I will have it covered in the 18 - 105 if i do happen to get that close.

On second thoughts I ail be able to get close to them practising on the putting or chipping green so will take it and leave in car if I have to.

(Note to self: fast shutter speed)

 

[Lawrence]

Lots of good advise. I also usually go out to shoot a specific subject. I've taken shots of that subject that many times I already have the values set before I walk out the door. As you know I take a lot of bird shots. The only things I usually change on a walk are the EV and the min shutter speed. Stills of birds are usually between 1/125th and 1/500th depending how far away. Birds in flight usually 1/1000, 1/1250 or 1/4000th. ISO is set to auto and I'm in aperture priority. My lens performs best at F8 with the TC on and I usually have it at F5.6 for the TC off. One thing I've never mentioned here is my hand holding technique. I leave the tripod collar and tripod plate on the telephoto when I'm using that lens. I find I can grip this nicely while sitting in the palm of my hand. I shoot a lot of images as out of that there are about 10% that I like enough to post not including those that look exactly the same. In the case of your insect shots, if I see and insect I may take 20-30 shots of that insect if I can from all sorts of angles and distances. Out of that again I might have a few that I really like. In regards to subjects I'm not familiar with I will study on how to shoot that from different online resources before I go and try. When we were in Vanuatu last year I knew there was an area with waterfalls. I went online, read up, took some notes and went out and shot. I was happy with the results.

Great info here and I need to determine what f stop my lenses perform best at. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[hark]

I have been reading a few posts around this forum and looking at a lot of photos and I am in total awe at the knowledge and skill of so many folks on this forum.

I have only had my DSLR for a few months and have had the odd lucky photo that has turned out satisfactorily but these are rare and definitely few and far between.

I honestly do not check half the things that are mentioned on the various forums. Even when I am looking through the viewfinder I don't pay attention to the information that is right there before my eyes. I am too focused on focusing and composing to even think about whether my White Balance is correctly set or not, never mind ADL, focus mode, focus area, focus point, over/under exposure compensation and a myriad of other things.

So while you are concentrating on focusing and composing, you should have a few questions running through your mind. First you need to decide what is your subject. Once you have decided, you need to think about the best way to compose the image....such as:

• using leading lines to draw the viewer's attention to the subject
• using a shallow depth of field to blur anything that might detract from the subject or will keeping everything in sharp focus be better
• using framing to help guide the viewer's eye to the subject

These are just a few examples of what might be going through the mind of a photographer. Your aperture and/or shutter speed will be dependent upon how you wish to set your DOF and/or if any motion blur is wanted or unwanted. So you need to determine the best way to bring attention to your subject--from there you decide what type of aperture and/or shutter speed (and ISO if necessary) will best bring out the desired results.

 

[BackdoorArts]

Carrying all would be a hassle as my bag is a bit small. I also don't think I will be able to get too close without distracting the players so will leave the 35mm behind. While not as sharp I will have it covered in the 18 - 105 if i do happen to get that close.

On second thoughts I ail be able to get close to them practising on the putting or chipping green so will take it and leave in car if I have to.

(Note to self: fast shutter speed)

Jumping in, as a golfer, etiquette dictates that you do not fire the shutter any time between when the player addresses the ball ("Hello, ball!!") and makes contact. So while you might think it neat to frame the player at the top of their swing, it's distracting and can throw off their game. If you know this, my apologies, if you didn't, then it'll serve you well and the players will appreciate it.

 

[Lawrence]

Jumping in, as a golfer, etiquette dictates that you do not fire the shutter any time between when the player addresses the ball ("Hello, ball!!") and makes contact. So while you might think it neat to frame the player at the top of their swing, it's distracting and can throw off their game. If you know this, my apologies, if you didn't, then it'll serve you well and the players will appreciate it.

I am a golfer so do know this which is why I won't get too close and will first ask the organisers if I can take photos. I think I will be using the 70-300 as a result.

Let's have a game sometime.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Thanks guys. All useful stuff here and I can sure use it all WUD. Don that minimum aperture speed for length lens is really useful.
Thank goodness I haven't used my "auto" settings at all and don't have to learn all over again. I made my mind up from the beginning that I wanted to learn how to use the camera for creative and unique shots so have mostly been on aperture, shutter second and manual third. I don't think I have used "P"

I have an opportunity to go and shoot some under 19 (New Zealand Boys and Girls Champs) golf today. What lens do I take (see signature for my selection)?
And anything else I should do in advance such as ISO (auto?), etc.?

I don't use Auto ever but the (P)rogram mode is pretty useful. Put it in P and while looking through the viewfinder look at the shutter speed / aperture and then turn the thumb wheel and watch what happens. It is a fast way to either stop action or change the depth of field without ever taking the camera away from your eye or changing anything else. I use that while I am just out walking with my camera just enjoying myself. I know I will get the proper exposure and get the type of photo I want.

 

[Lawrence]

I don't use Auto ever but the (P)rogram mode is pretty useful. Put it in P and while looking through the viewfinder look at the shutter speed / aperture and then turn the thumb wheel and watch what happens. It is a fast way to either stop action or change the depth of field without ever taking the camera away from your eye or changing anything else. I use that while I am just out walking with my camera just enjoying myself. I know I will get the proper exposure and get the type of photo I want.

hey Don - quoting you to grab your attention.

I just set my minimum shutter speed to see the effect and note that even though set to say 1/100 sec the info screen still shows it at a slower number. When I look through the viewfinder and half press the shutter button it changes to 1/100 and the ISO goes up because it is in auto ISO.

Is this normal?

Thart all sound s bait stupid but I hope it makes sense.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

hey Don - quoting you to grab your attention.

I just set my minimum shutter speed to see the effect and note that even though set to say 1/100 sec the info screen still shows it at a slower number. When I look through the viewfinder and half press the shutter button it changes to 1/100 and the ISO goes up because it is in auto ISO.

Is this normal?

Thart all sound s bait stupid but I hope it makes sense.

That is what you want. I lost a lot of photos before I started doing this because there would not be enough light and the shutter speed would be to low and I got blurry photos. Play with it for a afternoon walk and see if it works for you.

 

[BackdoorArts]

I am a golfer so do know this which is why I won't get too close and will first ask the organisers if I can take photos. I think I will be using the 70-300 as a result.

Let's have a game sometime.

Fly me to NZ and I'll pay for the round ... and dinner.

 

[Mike D90]

I am amazed at how fast some people set this. I think in the back of my mind I still haven't come to terms with the fact that a stationery subject can be shot with a fast shutter speed.
This has been an interesting thread to me and I still have day 14/365 to do. I have taken photos today but none worth posting on this illustrious forum.

It amazed me as well but, now that I have more shutter button time under my belt, I almost never shoot under 1/1000th if I am outside in daylight using my long lens. I now let my ISO go high because I have learned how to remove the noise and grain with Light Room. Also, that noise and grain is reduced with a properly exposed image with good DOF and a sharp focused subject. The other grain and noise in the background can easily be lost or disguised in the bokeh. In other words, I am no longer afraid of high ISO. This has freed me to use high shutter speeds and smaller apertures for better, sharper images in the camera and less post processing sharpening later.

Fast shutter speeds virtually eliminate any camera shake and over comes the fuzziness induced by longer lenses at slower shutter speeds. So if you have good shutter speed and good DOF your image should be sharp as long as you are in focus. DOF is so important I have found. At distance you have so little DOF that a fast shutter speed wont help with. If you need all of the image nice and crisp you need a smaller aperture (higher f stop number) and birds particularly need to be all in sharp focus. Of course, to have both fast shutter and good DOF you will have to up the ISO. Even in good light.

Lots of good advise. I also usually go out to shoot a specific subject. I've taken shots of that subject that many times I already have the values set before I walk out the door. As you know I take a lot of bird shots. The only things I usually change on a walk are the EV and the min shutter speed. Stills of birds are usually between 1/125th and 1/500th depending how far away. Birds in flight usually 1/1000, 1/1250 or 1/4000th. ISO is set to auto and I'm in aperture priority. My lens performs best at F8 with the TC on and I usually have it at F5.6 for the TC off. One thing I've never mentioned here is my hand holding technique. I leave the tripod collar and tripod plate on the telephoto when I'm using that lens. I find I can grip this nicely while sitting in the palm of my hand. I shoot a lot of images as out of that there are about 10% that I like enough to post not including those that look exactly the same. In the case of your insect shots, if I see and insect I may take 20-30 shots of that insect if I can from all sorts of angles and distances. Out of that again I might have a few that I really like. In regards to subjects I'm not familiar with I will study on how to shoot that from different online resources before I go and try. When we were in Vanuatu last year I knew there was an area with waterfalls. I went online, read up, took some notes and went out and shot. I was happy with the results.

I will reiterate what Brian has said here. His methods are what I have taken in advice directly from him. I shoot mainly one type of subject when I go out. I believe that if I focus on one type of shooting, I can better my skills on that particular type of shooting. If I skip around and shoot many different things I have to make too many changes and I get lost in the numbers and settings. I like to concentrate on one type of shooting until I get it down pretty good to where I don't have to think so much about it next time. After a period of time it becomes a lot quicker and easier. Then I move to something else and learn more about it.

 

[Lawrence]

It amazed me as well but, now that I have more shutter button time under my belt, I almost never shoot under 1/1000th if I am outside in daylight using my long lens. I now let my ISO go high because I have learned how to remove the noise and grain with Light Room. Also, that noise and grain is reduced with a properly exposed image with good DOF and a sharp focused subject. The other grain and noise in the background can easily be lost or disguised in the bokeh. In other words, I am no longer afraid of high ISO. This has freed me to use high shutter speeds and smaller apertures for better, sharper images in the camera and less post processing sharpening later.

Fast shutter speeds virtually eliminate any camera shake and over comes the fuzziness induced by longer lenses at slower shutter speeds. So if you have good shutter speed and good DOF your image should be sharp as long as you are in focus. DOF is so important I have found. At distance you have so little DOF that a fast shutter speed wont help with. If you need all of the image nice and crisp you need a smaller aperture (higher f stop number) and birds particularly need to be all in sharp focus. Of course, to have both fast shutter and good DOF you will have to up the ISO. Even in good light.



I will reiterate what Brian has said here. His methods are what I have taken in advice directly from him. I shoot mainly one type of subject when I go out. I believe that if I focus on one type of shooting, I can better my skills on that particular type of shooting. If I skip around and shoot many different things I have to make too many changes and I get lost in the numbers and settings. I like to concentrate on one type of shooting until I get it down pretty good to where I don't have to think so much about it next time. After a period of time it becomes a lot quicker and easier. Then I move to something else and learn more about it.

Thanks Mike. I have learned so much from this thread today from all of you and this fear of high ISO is fast disappearing - quite happy about that too.

I have just spent a couple of hours down at the golf course taking photos with all three lenses and it was good fun. Fast shutter speeds!!!
I did overcook some of them but I also think I got some good ones - I will know shortly as I look at them.

Oh and I shot only golf, resisting the swallows and other birds frolicking around.

Will post a few here and on my 365

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Thanks Mike. I have learned so much from this thread today from all of you and this fear of high ISO is fast disappearing - quite happy about that too.

I have just spent a couple of hours down at the golf course taking photos with all three lenses and it was good fun. Fast shutter speeds!!!
I did overcook some of them but I also think I got some good ones - I will know shortly as I look at them.

Oh and I shot only golf, resisting the swallows and other birds frolicking around.

Will post a few here and on my 365

Here is a test I did a while back on ISO with the D5100

http://nikonites.com/d5100/12376-iso-test-d5100.html#axzz2qQXWfayK

 

[Lawrence]

Here is my first processed shot from the golf.
ISO 800 Shutter 1/4000
I basically just cropped it.

My aim here was to test the fast shutter and see if I could freeze the ball - difficult to get the timing right for that.
But I am quite pleased with the result.

 

[Lawrence]

Here is a test I did a while back on ISO with the D5100

http://nikonites.com/d5100/12376-iso-test-d5100.html#axzz2qQXWfayK

Thanks Don I will check this out right this minute.

 

[Krs_2007]

Vey nice golf shot, good job and I bet it was hard to resist the birds and such.

 

[Lawrence]

Man processing them took a while and I only did a few.

Here is one that I like because of the flex in the shaft and I got the ball in frame! Double bonus.

This kid had quite a nice swing.

So as not to duplicate I will put the others on my 365 thread

 

[Ruidoso Bill]

Wow didn't realize the shafts flex that much, I am a non golfer by the way. Neat shot!

 

[BackdoorArts]

Wow didn't realize the shafts flex that much, I am a non golfer by the way. Neat shot!

Could be a young kid who has outgrown his youth set. Women and kids sets usually have whippier shafts, and that's fairly typical at impact once the swing gets strong enough. Better get him a proper shaft soon or he'll start adjusting his swing to the shaft (said the kid who did just that with his first aluminum shafted driver that acted like a buggy whip).