Critique of Lax and Baseball Shots

[JBPhoto]

Shot outdoor action for the first time with my 70-200 f/2.8 IS and would like to get some feedback on a few of the better (to me anyway) shots. The first two lax shots were at 1/1000 which was too fast given it was a bright sunny day, figured that out after. That left me with a higher than desirable f/stop of 10. ISO was set at 800. The pitching shot is at 1/1000, f/7.1 at ISO 800 and the sliding shot is 1/800, f/8.0 at ISO 800. This was also a bright sunny day.

So here's what I'm thinking... My ISO should be around 200-400 for these conditions, with shutter speed of about 1/500 to 1/800. That should allow me to shoot at a lower fstop range and produce higher quality images. Am I on the right track?

[livin4lax09]

always shoot at the lowest f stop you can get. the 70-200 can handle it, trust me. You'll get much better depth of field, and will be able to use faster shutter speeds with lower ISO. also, check your WB. it looks wrong on my monitor. the shots look pretty cool. as far as the specific shots go, there's not a whole lot of action going on, but they make good sportraits. THe last one is backfocused, but decent action. WHat bothers me is the baserunner's cut-off helmet. If you want, I can show you what I would do with the photos, But I need your permission. The first three look nice and sharp though. What are your focus controls set on?

[JBPhoto]

Brent - Sure, take a stab. My focus settings are 2.5 to infin, AF. The stabilizer is on in mode 1.

[livin4lax09]

and i meant how are you focusing? Single Shot? Al Servo? And are you using the * button? or pressing the shutter down halfway?

[ally]

There not to bad. I would always use the lowest f-stop the shallow dof as a feel of class to shots. I always use the shutter button halfway down and use al servo, that may not be you way but you've got to mess about and see what you find easy and gives you the best shots I've only started messing about with the * button a few weeks back after a few people were talking about it. I always find that you get more out of messing about trying diffrent settings finding out why this dos that? hands on is better than reading any manual. Watch your wb aswell, do you shoot raw? Hope this helps. Ally

[harfordSports]

I would suggest shooting Av-mode instead of Tv-mode outside during the day. Something like ISO 200; f/2.8 to f/4.0. With your shots having such a high f-stop you are getting really busy backgrounds.

[SmartWombat]

1/1000, f/7.1 at ISO 800
My ISO should be around 200-400 for these conditions

Bright sunny day? You don't need high ISO.
You can bring the ISO down to 100 to allow you to shoot at wider aperture (lower f numbers) and so get the background more out of focus.
That gives you less room for error on the focussing though, with a smaller depth of field.

With unpredictable action like lacrosse, I'd use AI Servo focus on the shutter button.
For something more predictable like baseball, I'd use the custom function to put AF onto the * button. Gives you the option to lock focus and then shoot without refocussing becuase the shutter button no longer operates the AF. But at the touch of the * button if something unexpected happens you can refocus.

[livin4lax09]

i disagree. For lacrosse, I think the * button is the best to use. it allows you to just keep your thumb on the AF and then if you want to focus, you just press it. Then, the shutter button halfway down locks exposure. I think the * button works much better than shutter halfway down in all sports examples.

[JSPhoto]

I use the * for all focusing, no matter what I shoot. For one it uses much less battery power as you are not focusing all the time, only when you have to. It also allows for quicker focusing than using the shutter button and you can recompose much faster.
It takes a bit of practice to get used to, but once you have it down it can really make life easier.... even for motorsports.

JS