Photography Class by Camilla Lesson 3

[Camilla and Darwin]

Okay you guys, you have all done AMAZING at these assignments I'm so proud of you all and amazed at your progress!

Because I think that nailing that focus while taking action shots is a great thing with doodles, we will be focusing (pun intended) on that again for this assignment. To do this we are going to use AI Servo mode. For Nikon "continuous focus". What this does is automatically tracks your subject as it moves through the frame. I am not going to go into how exactly that works because it's confusing and complicated and boring. :-)

Here is what I do. When I am shooting action shots of Darwin, I change my camera from "one shot" focus to "AI servo". When you press the shutter halfway down to focus, you will notice that you don't hear a beep or see that red dot that means focus is locked. Instead you will feel the camera continuously focusing. Perhaps try this on a person to begin, focus on their face, then press the shutter down in a rapid fire burst, while they are walking towards you.

Here is exactly what I do to get the best success. I will focus on Darwin's face, then as he's running towards me, hold the shutter down to take a rapid fire burst of photos. As he's moving towards me, I track his face with my focus point. Take as many photos as your camera will do in a row, then you can refocus and continue. AI Servo works best with something moving either towards the camera, or away from the camera. So practice having your dog run straight towards you, or throw a ball and photo them running away from you.

Now go out and have fun, and count it a success if you get some good sharp photos! I would say that when I started out, I was getting about 1/5 photos in focus. Now I'm at about 3/5. The point is that you end up after a lot of running bursts, with some good sharp images. Start out with straight away from or towards the camera, and if you are getting good success try sideways. Remember to track your subject !

Some of my favorite, all taken on AI servo mode.

[F, Calla & Luca]

These are gorgeous Camilla.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thank you F!

[DJ & Chance]

Wow! Really nice shots.


This will be fun!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Camilla, Your shots are all gorgeous. More ball throwing in my future :)

[Sue & Lily Grace]

Great shots Camilla. I love the last one.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Fudge was supposed to be running TOWARDS me, but she took off in pursuit of the geese. This is right after I issued the "stay" command. I think we have some more training to do.

TV Mode, 1/500, aperture 2, ISO 800

[Ann Kendig]

Nice shots. Mike

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Mike!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Very nice indeed.

[DJ & Chance]

Nice, Laurie.  

[Camilla and Darwin]

Excellent shots Laurie. I really love the first one! I like that you can see where she is because it isn't cropped in close. It makes me want to start keeping context in my Darwin action shots. :-)

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

HA HA HA HA  looks more like a "GO" command.  Great action shots, though.