Advice? (Racing action shots)

I wonder if anyone could offer some advice on taking racing shots. The subjects are dogs, specifically Beagles, and the track is a straight run of ~140 yds that I have pretty good access to.

I'm using a Sony DSC-H7, which has an unfortunately useless "action" mode. It's useless because it chooses very low shutter speeds - a bug in the firmware which Sony chose to correct by bringing out a new camera (H50) rather than a firmware upgrade.

Anyway, my technique is as follows: I generally position myself beyond the end of the course, go for shutter priority with a decent speed (1/500 or better), zoom in a bit to frame the finishing area, and set and lock focus on the finishing post. I then wait for the dogs to arrive and let the camera's burst mode (around 2 fps) do its thing.

I sometimes get some usable shots, but it's very hit and miss. Any tips on better ways to approach this?

I was just about to post similar as I would like to get better shots of my lot running.

Hi Beanie's Dad, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you how it should be done, but I've taken some good-ish shots of my Jack, running flat out on the beach and doing Agility. Firstly what sort of camera do you have?
if it's a DSLR it will take quicker pic, set it to the sports setting, and on continuous picture taking, and the ISO either at 200 or 400, then focus on the dog, (I've only ever had one to focus on one at a time) and follow the dog taking pics as you go, don't focus on a spot then wait for the dog to get there, not all the pics will be brilliant,but as I said I've had some reasonabley good shots taking them this way

Just a couple I've taken

I would go into shutter priority mode and get the shutter speed as fast as possible for the available light - that should get you blur-less pictures. With regards to focusing on a particular dog, try changing the focus to tracking mode if you camera has it, this is so that it follows and keeps in focus your subject for the shot.

I'm not sure if all cameras have such a mode in their focus system tho - I would check the manual and see what it has under the focusing section.

Let us know how you get on!

Hi CLMG (nice pics BTW) and Azz

The camera's a Sony DSC-H7. It has a shutter priority mode which gives me full control over the shutter speed, and that side of things is working well. It's the focussing and the timing that I'm finding really hard.

The camera has reasonably fast AF but not fast enough for the subjects, particularly if they're coming head on. That's where the "sports" mode really disappoints, because it has predictive AF that seems to work well but chooses ridiculously low shutter speeds (which I can't override). Shutter lag seems to be a bit of an issue as well. That's why I've gone for the static focus + burst mode method, but it only gets more so far. But of course, like everything else I need to get more practice!

The only other thing I can think of is to stay in shutter priority mode, but then go in manual focus mode (does it have manual focus?)... then line up your shot and focus on a point where you'll want to take the shot... and then when the dogs get in line of that focus point hit the shutter!

A bit crazy but it could work?

I must add that that first pic is awesome!

Just had a look at the spec's of your camera, and to have got the shots that you have is very impressive. It's missing one of the modes that helps with action shots, continuous AF. Without it, it will be very difficult to get head on shots without being very, very good with the manual focus.

I'd say ditch shutter priority and go to aperture, and have the lens wide open. Will get you the quickest shutter speed the camera can do with the conditions. Do as you have and use manual focus on a spot the dogs will run into and hit the shutter just before they get there and burst shoot till they have gone past the point you pre-focused on as Azz suggested.

Other than that I'd say change your position and pan on the dogs, with a low shutter speed to get a nice feel of movement, easier to do without continuous focus as the distance they are from you remains a little more consistent.

Some good tips there Ste, I didn't think to change positions and go for a different 'feel'. Also didn't think to try Aperture priority either - thank goodness for forums eh?

For dog racing/action shots i try and have the shutter speed at around 1/600 maybe faster as in this way you will get a nice blurred background as you pan the image to give the sense of movement but its quick enough to get the dog in sharp focus.

I also sometimes set the aperture to around f4 or f5 and take shots that way, but i prefer setting the shutter speed as this also gives better control over the amount of light coming in.

Each even is different and i use different settings at each event.

This shot...


Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 90 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Different event for this shot required different settings...



Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 280 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Heres another one, with a slower shutter speed panning with the dogs as they ran past

Nice examples sam, although I disagree on one point. Setting on shutter priority gives you no more control over the amount of light coming in compared to aperture priority. The camera's meter makes that decision for you, only in manual do you have control over the light.