Need tips for photographing runners

gustafson · Mar 26, 2016

I'll be photographing some friends during a day / night running event and needed your advice on setting up the cameras to take the best shots handheld. My plans are below - be great if you can critique them.

- The D3300 will be used by a friend with no prior Nikon DSLR experience. My instinct is to set it up with the 55-200 VR II for full body portraits of runners approaching / running past the camera in broad daylight, dusk, and night. I'm assuming that turning AF and VR on are a given. Re: exposure modes on the camera, I'm torn between the green Auto and the P mode (with Auto ISO). Which is a better choice in this situation? And which Autofocus mode would you use? AF-C with 3D-tracking?

- I'd be using the D7100 mainly for the same purpose. I'm thinking that during the day I'd shoot with my 55-200 VR in A mode, at dusk perhaps switch to a fast telephoto (105 f2.5 AIS or 135 f2.8 Q) mounted on the modified TC-16A (for AF capability), and at night switch to the 35 f/1.8 DX. Same question here on the autofocus, what AF servo mode and how many AF points would be ideal?

- I've never taken photos of runners in action before, so consider me completely clueless about this, and any tips that come to mind of taking good photos (or common pitfalls to avoid) would be appreciated.

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Woodyg3 · Mar 27, 2016

I have been shooting at track meets, road races and cross country meets for many years. Many years ago sports photography helped me to earn a few extra bucks in college. Here are a few random thoughts...

I use AF-C, nine points is probably fine. I normally use shutter priority, stopping the action is normally the goal. If you want to do some panned motion blur shots, then you can still use shutter priority. Another option is to go manual and use auto ISO, which would be especially good when it starts getting darker. I shoot in continuous mode and fire away. Even at 6 shots a second you will be surprised how different each shot is, and even that there will be small differences in focus sharpness. Fire away and pick the best shots later.

I try to shoot at 1/1000, but 1/500 will stop the action pretty well. Head on to the subject, you can get away with 1/250.

BTW, VR really isn't needed. The subjects will be moving, so you will either have fast enough of a shutter speed to freeze them, or else you are going to have motion blur of one kind or another. When it's darker I would try to pan with the runner and use the fastest shutter speed you can get away with. Flash is an option, but it will probably be very annoying to the runners, so I would use flash sparingly, if at all.

Zooms are good so you can get several shots of a runner as they approach and still fill the frame.

The faster primes will help when it gets darker. Good idea.

Compositionally, I try to get the runner's full body and legs/feet in the shot, with more room in front of the runner than behind, or with the runner dead center. You can and will crop, so leave a little extra room. Try many different angles, and try to keep as much clutter as possible out of the shot. You also might want to try to include interesting things in the background such as people cheering, any landmarks, the start/finish line, people timing or officiating, etc. My most "famous" shot is one of a runner winning the national championships cross country meet with mountains in the background as she crossed the finish line. Scouting out your location ahead for good places to shoot from is obviously quite helpful. Including things in the picture that "tell the story" of the event are always a plus.

Getting down low is a good camera angle, so shooting from one knee is often optimal.

This sounds like a long event, so if I were you, I would try all kinds of shots in many locations. It's fun to get creative and come up unusual perspectives.

Sorry if I've rambled. I hope this helps a little. Have fun!

Moab Man · Mar 27, 2016

Good suggestions from Woody.

I'll venture into dusk night photography.

If there is a budget, or this is a great opportunity to pick up some extra gear, come night you can get some cool photos and avoid high iso noise working in the dark.

1. Radio triggers: Amazon.com : YONGNUO YN-622N 1 x TX + 2 x RX i-TTL LCD wireless flash controller wireless flash trigger transceiver DSLR for Nikon D70, D70S, D80, D90, D200, D300S, D600, D700, D800, D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D7000, D7100 : Cam

This will give you a dedicated trigger and two receiver transmitters.

2. Flashes: If you can't borrow or steal them, here is a flash at an amazing price: Amazon.com : Yongnuo Professional Flash Speedlight Flashlight Yongnuo YN 560 III for Canon Nikon Pentax Olympus Camera / Such as: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark, EOS1D Mark, EOS 5D Mark, EOS 7D, EOS 60D, EOS 600D, EOS 550D, EOS 500D, EOS 1100D (Discontinued by M

You can pick up two of these flashes for dirt cheap and when it comes to flashes you really want to have at least two.

3. Putting it all together: You set up where you want to catch people coming through. Camera is tripod mounted. One flash at an angle behind the runner positioned low with a shield on the bottom of the flash (tape a piece of cardboard to the bottom of the flash if you need) to prevent a hot spot on the ground. Second flash roughly on the opposite side.

4. Now you can run a lower iso with a slow shutter to absorb some of the ambient light, keep iso noise to a min, and the flash will freeze the action so that they are not a blur as they run through. Adjust the power of the flash up or down to adjust how bright they are so you're not blowing them out.

This is an example of doing it on a tripod where I could drag the shutter to allow the ambient light of the sunset to come in while the flash froze the action. This is a single shot - I mention it because a number of people thought it was a composite photoshopped.

This is done handheld using high speed sync to freeze the action because I didn't know exactly where he would be. Of the two, the slow shutter allowing the flash to freeze the action is easiest. It takes a lot of flash power to at 1/500.

gustafson · Mar 28, 2016

Woodyg3 said:
I have been shooting at track meets, road races and cross country meets for many years. Many years ago sports photography helped me to earn a few extra bucks in college. Here are a few random thoughts...

I use AF-C, nine points is probably fine. I normally use shutter priority, stopping the action is normally the goal. If you want to do some panned motion blur shots, then you can still use shutter priority. Another option is to go manual and use auto ISO, which would be especially good when it starts getting darker. I shoot in continuous mode and fire away. Even at 6 shots a second you will be surprised how different each shot is, and even that there will be small differences in focus sharpness. Fire away and pick the best shots later.

I try to shoot at 1/1000, but 1/500 will stop the action pretty well. Head on to the subject, you can get away with 1/250.

BTW, VR really isn't needed. The subjects will be moving, so you will either have fast enough of a shutter speed to freeze them, or else you are going to have motion blur of one kind or another. When it's darker I would try to pan with the runner and use the fastest shutter speed you can get away with. Flash is an option, but it will probably be very annoying to the runners, so I would use flash sparingly, if at all.

Zooms are good so you can get several shots of a runner as they approach and still fill the frame.

The faster primes will help when it gets darker. Good idea.

Compositionally, I try to get the runner's full body and legs/feet in the shot, with more room in front of the runner than behind, or with the runner dead center. You can and will crop, so leave a little extra room. Try many different angles, and try to keep as much clutter as possible out of the shot. You also might want to try to include interesting things in the background such as people cheering, any landmarks, the start/finish line, people timing or officiating, etc. My most "famous" shot is one of a runner winning the national championships cross country meet with mountains in the background as she crossed the finish line. Scouting out your location ahead for good places to shoot from is obviously quite helpful. Including things in the picture that "tell the story" of the event are always a plus.

Getting down low is a good camera angle, so shooting from one knee is often optimal.

This sounds like a long event, so if I were you, I would try all kinds of shots in many locations. It's fun to get creative and come up unusual perspectives.

Sorry if I've rambled. I hope this helps a little. Have fun!

@Woodyg3: Thanks for the detailed advice! I did a little research after posting (prior to seeing your response) and your summary is perfect! Good points on VR being unnecessary, 9-point AF, and getting down on one knee to get a good angle. When you say continuous mode, I presume you mean burst mode. Pl. confirm. I have never done continuous shots before, so I'll have to play around with that a bit. Do you essentially press the shutter and hold it down and it fires off 6 shots (or how ever may you have set it to)?

This is an overnight relay, and I am going to be running it and doubling as team photographer, so it's going to be interesting. Looks like its going to be sunny, so I'm looking forward to some nice shots.

Woodyg3 · Mar 28, 2016

Continuous burst. CH on the D7100 control ring.

gustafson · Mar 28, 2016

Moab Man said:
Good suggestions from Woody.

I'll venture into dusk night photography.

If there is a budget, or this is a great opportunity to pick up some extra gear, come night you can get some cool photos and avoid high iso noise working in the dark.

1. Radio triggers: Amazon.com : YONGNUO YN-622N 1 x TX + 2 x RX i-TTL LCD wireless flash controller wireless flash trigger transceiver DSLR for Nikon D70, D70S, D80, D90, D200, D300S, D600, D700, D800, D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D7000, D7100 : Cam

This will give you a dedicated trigger and two receiver transmitters.

2. Flashes: If you can't borrow or steal them, here is a flash at an amazing price: Amazon.com : Yongnuo Professional Flash Speedlight Flashlight Yongnuo YN 560 III for Canon Nikon Pentax Olympus Camera / Such as: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark, EOS1D Mark, EOS 5D Mark, EOS 7D, EOS 60D, EOS 600D, EOS 550D, EOS 500D, EOS 1100D (Discontinued by M

You can pick up two of these flashes for dirt cheap and when it comes to flashes you really want to have at least two.

3. Putting it all together: You set up where you want to catch people coming through. Camera is tripod mounted. One flash at an angle behind the runner positioned low with a shield on the bottom of the flash (tape a piece of cardboard to the bottom of the flash if you need) to prevent a hot spot on the ground. Second flash roughly on the opposite side.

4. Now you can run a lower iso with a slow shutter to absorb some of the ambient light, keep iso noise to a min, and the flash will freeze the action so that they are not a blur as they run through. Adjust the power of the flash up or down to adjust how bright they are so you're not blowing them out.

This is an example of doing it on a tripod where I could drag the shutter to allow the ambient light of the sunset to come in while the flash froze the action. This is a single shot - I mention it because a number of people thought it was a composite photoshopped.
View attachment 204630

This is done handheld using high speed sync to freeze the action because I didn't know exactly where he would be. Of the two, the slow shutter allowing the flash to freeze the action is easiest. It takes a lot of flash power to at 1/500.
View attachment 204631

@Moabman: Those are some spectacular shots and great info on dusk / night photography! As it turns out, I'll be part of the team and we will be constantly on the move, so will likely not have the luxury of setting up a tripod for the camera, let alone lighting. However, I'm going to file the information for future use, as I absolutely need to pick up a decent flash equipment and learn how to use it, so your input is going to be extremely valuable! Thank you!

nikonpup · Mar 28, 2016

release mode - continuous high speed - pg 57/58. I like the high spd mode with moving objects, i also change my image area 1.3x in some cases. I have not checked fps but i feel like i get more shots before the buffer fills using 1.3x. The files size does drop about 1/2 in 1.3x. In the view finder i like the frame 1.3x puts on the screen, for me it helps keep the action framed better when shooting hand held. (@71 i need all the help i can get at times) get one of your runner friends and practice taking shots you will be off than going out and shooting cold turkey.

gustafson · Mar 28, 2016

nikonpup said:
release mode - continuous high speed - pg 57/58. I like the high spd mode with moving objects, i also change my image area 1.3x in some cases. I have not checked fps but i feel like i get more shots before the buffer fills using 1.3x. The files size does drop about 1/2 in 1.3x. In the view finder i like the frame 1.3x puts on the screen, for me it helps keep the action framed better when shooting hand held. (@71 i need all the help i can get at times) get one of your runner friends and practice taking shots you will be off than going out and shooting cold turkey.

Thanks for the tips on the 1.3x mode during continuous mode as well as the high speed mode! I need to use the 1.3x mode more, I realized it might save me from switching from my 105 to 135mm for more reach

gustafson · Apr 1, 2016

Two related questions:

1. What's the difference between the CL and CH modes on the D7100? I'm hoping to take no more than 3 shots per burst. Is there a way to set that or do you just have to practice easing off the shutter?

2. With regard to panning shots of a runner that's going past you, what shutter speed would work in daylight? And would you track them in AF-C and release the shutter as they are running past you while continuing to pan the camera?

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Moab Man · Apr 1, 2016

CL is continuous low speed. CH is continuous high speed. No you can't preset to do a three round burst.

When I shoot cross country I use AF-C with 9 points selected and no slower than 1/500, but making sure I have enough depth of field to keep them in focus. Using the center focal point of your camera is the most accurate for maintaining focus. This is where a big enough depth of field is needed because you're not going to be able to put that center focal point on their face.

Continue to pan after you shoot. The abrupt stop before the shutter is entirely closed can mess up the photo.

gustafson · Apr 4, 2016

Wanted to thank everybody for the advice. Got some epic photos of the event. For the D7100, using CL burst mode with a 1/500 - 1/250 shutter speed proved clutch. For panning shots, 1/50-1/25 worked well. My friend got spectacular shots in the green Auto mode on the D3300 - particularly portraits with the 55-200 VR II. After dusk, the keeper rate with the kit lenses dropped considerably, even with the pop-up flash. I forgot to change to a fast lens and paid the price for it, but pretty happy overall!

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