WOW... You guys are awesome!!!! I am just now catching up on some of the additional advice from the past few days and can't wait to try out your tips this weekend at our Virginia tournament! I will upload a photo from this past weekend showing (hopefully) some of the improvement just from the tips in the first few replies for y'all.
I did discover the color settings on my camera this weekend so I adjusted the contrast up 1 and the saturation up 2. I see now that the saturation maybe only needed up 1 since it was somewhat overcast.... but I'm learning. I was so excited to actually see green grass though! It drove me nuts to see the beautiful green grass and trees over the past few weeks and then have my pics turn out totally blah, with faded out boring grass.
I got a little notebook to start keeping track of my settings so I can create my own little cheat sheets (love this idea, plus it will put my new laminating machine to use... amazon lightening deal... impulse purchase )
I DID turn off my IS this weekend and udpated my settings such as AI Servo. I also found some YouTube tutorials on my 7D that helped me understand some of the possible settings better than the book... though I'm still a work in progress.
Overall, I'm seeing huge improvements already and can't wait to see how much better it gets from here. My biggest obstacle is myself. I suffer from SSMS, "Scrapbooking Soccer Mom Syndrome". I'm so connected to the kids in the games that I just can't stand missing a picture. I end up shooting everything which I'm sure increases my out of focus pictures and totally overwhelms me in post-processing. At this point it's becoming easier to selectively shoot... as my confidence increases and my portfolios of decent shots of every team member increases. Now I have enough shots to build a slide show with for our gatherings so I don't feel quite as much pressure.
I am an extremely organized person so I do have a system down pat for all the files and have fallen in love with File Renamer which I use to rename all my files using the naming convention that allows me to stay organized. Although it takes time, I've found this to be absolutely crucial given how many photos I'm taking and for so many different events/teams/groups.
For now I continue to use the monopod but am paying closer attention to my technique. This weekend I found some success in resting it against my torso or knee as a way of reminding myself not to move it around too much.
I have also found I get much, much better pics in Lacrosse when shooting low. The boys are a little shorter than me (not for long though!) and they have helmets. Often they are looking straight ahead or down so it's hard to get their face. If I'm positioned lower than them it's easier to get their faces. This has been helpful in soccer where girls are often looking down to keep their eyes on the ball.
Zoomer - I will be taking you up on your offer to PM you with questions. I will take any help I can get to ensure I do my best to capture my kids memories! They are actually not my biological children, I met them and my husband when they were 3, 4 and 7. Their mother had walked out on them and no one knows what she did with most of the photos from their early youth. I feel so bad that they don't have those early photos, I want to do everything possible to ensure they have great photo books of the rest of their youth. I can't wait to take all the pictures and put them together into books for them!!! They will LOVE it!!! I do a collage for them every Christmas and sometimes I catch them just sitting in their rooms looking at them.
I'm going to try to post a couple pics to show the improvements. Let me know what you think and what else I can do!!
I took this pic of my son before I discovered the saturation settings on the camera. The grass was unbelievably green in person, but turned out awful in the pic. I was pleased about the improvements in the focus from all the tips here!
+1 for AI Servio. It is an AMAZING focusing tool. It takes a lot of practice to time things right, but when you get it you will never look back. In the shot you posted looks like there wasn't a clear focus on any of the 3 girls. AI Servio will help you a lot and adjusting levels perhaps in post. I have learned to master selecting focus without moving the camera from my eye. I can togggle the point easily now without a hitch. It took many months of daily shooting but it eventaully came. Using one select focus point is definately the way to go!
Hi heather.
Just to clarify.... I am in 100% agreement (+1 vote) with Ckaspar on using AI servio. There are 3 auto-focus methods available for Canon, and for fast-moving sports subjects AI servio is the ONLY one. When you first move over to AI servio you will probabally get a lot of bad shots until you get the hang of using it. You will also need to practice using your focus point selection where you highlight just one point on your grid. If you can learn to do this without looking and while in AI Servio your sports shots will jump to a higher level. AI Servio doesn't "lock" the focus, but rather slides in and out of focus with momentary clear focus times. When you see that clear focus you nail it. It will get you crystal clear shots even when the subject is moving lightning fast. This mode is even used for car racing...(think 100 mph). It is worth your time to play around with this! I first experimented with this mode with my daughter swinging full speed on our swingset. I was amazed at how SHARP even her eyelashes and eyes were...all while swinging full blast!
I was shooting an R/C Car Race this weekend and a buddy of mine were trading cameras all day. One would focus on shots in the pits and one would focus on track pics. When shooting pit shots we would switch to One Shot focus. When shooting on the track we would switch to AI Servo. If you took shots on the track without AI Servo you knew it immediately!!
Basically, you can hold the shutter button halfway down and follow your subject with 1 AF point on your camera. I would start with the center one. Then just follow the subject around until something you want to capture happens and press the shutter the rest of the way. It should be pretty sharp. With the shutter button half pressed you will hear and maybe feel the lens keeping your subject in focus. You will also see if through the viewfinder.
It does take a little getting used to but hang with it and and eventually you won't even think about it.
Maybe later I will be able to post some pics from this weekend using the AI Servo function to show how fast it is.
I just wanted to jump in - the 3 recent shots you posted are very, very good. You should be proud. Keep up the good work.
Now, I also read your comments about wanting to shoot everything. I will say that is going to be a source of MUCH frustration. The biggest problem new sports shooters face is they want to shoot everything. Here's a good rule of thumb:
If shooting portrait orientation (my preference): subjects should fill at least 2/3 of the vertical frame IN CAMERA. If they aren't filling 2/3 of the frame they're too far away - wait till they're closer.
If shooting landscape orientation, make sure they're at least 3/4 of the frame. The more of your subject that is filling the frame, the better the camera can focus. Do that, and you'll be amazed at how your percentage of in-focus shots jumps up to 75-80%. Then you can start tossing shots because they aren't "as good" as other shots rather than because they're out of focus.
Heather,
Very nice results on this last set of shots! You mentioned post processing work being slow. I'm guessing you've at least tried using the Canon DPP that came with your camera. DPP will handle most if not all of your post processing needs, especially for sports. If you haven't seen this tutorial yet, it's really really worth it. For some reason Canon makes it hard to find.
Heather,
Very nice results on this last set of shots! You mentioned post processing work being slow. I'm guessing you've at least tried using the Canon DPP that came with your camera. DPP will handle most if not all of your post processing needs, especially for sports. If you haven't seen this tutorial yet, it's really really worth it. For some reason Canon makes it hard to find.
I have it bookmarked and refer to it when the need arises. I guarantee it will speed up your workflow.
THANK YOU so much! I actually never opened the software. So many things I buy come with software that is junk so I just used Photoshop. I've looked through the tutorials and LOVE this! It it the only software I've found so far that can rename CR2 & JPG versions of the same file with the same name. Love it! Thanks!!
other Canon Eos 7D resourses
Heather -
I thought you might also appreciate a link to a forum that is nearly exclusively dedicated to the Canon 7D. It will let you ask more camera specific questions. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1019 I got my 7D in January and have found it very useful.
Your shots have improved. Not to take anything away, the lighting seem much more consistant due to less sun which made things easier.
Here are some tips I would like to suggest / clarify / re-emphasize:
1. get the 7D manual PDF online for easy searching http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=314&modelid=19356
2. Use Single Point or SP Expanded focus mode, it will track too but let you be more selective with your subject/focus versus multi-point which tracks but can get confused and switch players
3. Learn how to do custome white balance (very easy, and will improve your color renditions considerably) Even the preset WBs aren't great, but I most often error on Shade or Cloudy settings versus daylight as it warms things up on the skin tones.
4. AI servo as some advance settings to prioritize tracking - you want a slow to med slow tracking priority (let's it stay locked longer on original player without jumping to anther player or ref that got in front)
5a. For outdoor sports, I am having most luck and consitancy with Partial metering mode and then do manual EC depending on dark or light background etc.
5b. I tend to use Tv mode + Auto ISO which is why you would need EC as it will let you adjust the camera's metering mode.
6. I like Contrast as +1 for outdoor grass sports as I prefer slightly darker shadows in the grass. YMMV
7. Learn the various benefits and options (search DPreview) of using the AF-ON button on the back of the camera. I actually currently have it set to AF-OFF which allows me to center and recompose even if in AF Servo mode (not for continuous tracking though which would require moving the intial focus point.
8. Learn how to set your initial focus points for both horizontal and vertical (right-up and left-up) positioning.
9. RAW is a whole nother topic - currently I am shooting straight to jpeg to reduce PP time.
That's about it for now.
Here are some of my recent shots. My daughte is #5, but for some reason I feel obligated to try to shoot them all. ;-) I know for some of them I have pushed the resolution in digital cropping. Overall in my gallery, no resizing done, just minmal levels and cropping using either Picassa or DPP . I have a 18-270mm lens and it feels short on the soccer field, will be buying a teleconverter (Kenko) 1.4x and 2x to try out. With the 270, you get about 1/2 field worth of reach.
WOW... You guys are awesome!!!! I am just now catching up on some of the additional advice from the past few days and can't wait to try out your tips this weekend at our Virginia tournament! I will upload a photo from this past weekend showing (hopefully) some of the improvement just from the tips in the first few replies for y'all.
I did discover the color settings on my camera this weekend so I adjusted the contrast up 1 and the saturation up 2. I see now that the saturation maybe only needed up 1 since it was somewhat overcast.... but I'm learning. I was so excited to actually see green grass though! It drove me nuts to see the beautiful green grass and trees over the past few weeks and then have my pics turn out totally blah, with faded out boring grass.
I got a little notebook to start keeping track of my settings so I can create my own little cheat sheets (love this idea, plus it will put my new laminating machine to use... amazon lightening deal... impulse purchase )
I DID turn off my IS this weekend and udpated my settings such as AI Servo. I also found some YouTube tutorials on my 7D that helped me understand some of the possible settings better than the book... though I'm still a work in progress.
Overall, I'm seeing huge improvements already and can't wait to see how much better it gets from here. My biggest obstacle is myself. I suffer from SSMS, "Scrapbooking Soccer Mom Syndrome". I'm so connected to the kids in the games that I just can't stand missing a picture. I end up shooting everything which I'm sure increases my out of focus pictures and totally overwhelms me in post-processing. At this point it's becoming easier to selectively shoot... as my confidence increases and my portfolios of decent shots of every team member increases. Now I have enough shots to build a slide show with for our gatherings so I don't feel quite as much pressure.
I am an extremely organized person so I do have a system down pat for all the files and have fallen in love with File Renamer which I use to rename all my files using the naming convention that allows me to stay organized. Although it takes time, I've found this to be absolutely crucial given how many photos I'm taking and for so many different events/teams/groups.
For now I continue to use the monopod but am paying closer attention to my technique. This weekend I found some success in resting it against my torso or knee as a way of reminding myself not to move it around too much.
I have also found I get much, much better pics in Lacrosse when shooting low. The boys are a little shorter than me (not for long though!) and they have helmets. Often they are looking straight ahead or down so it's hard to get their face. If I'm positioned lower than them it's easier to get their faces. This has been helpful in soccer where girls are often looking down to keep their eyes on the ball.
Zoomer - I will be taking you up on your offer to PM you with questions. I will take any help I can get to ensure I do my best to capture my kids memories! They are actually not my biological children, I met them and my husband when they were 3, 4 and 7. Their mother had walked out on them and no one knows what she did with most of the photos from their early youth. I feel so bad that they don't have those early photos, I want to do everything possible to ensure they have great photo books of the rest of their youth. I can't wait to take all the pictures and put them together into books for them!!! They will LOVE it!!! I do a collage for them every Christmas and sometimes I catch them just sitting in their rooms looking at them.
I'm going to try to post a couple pics to show the improvements. Let me know what you think and what else I can do!!
Where did you find the color/contrast in-camera settings for the 7d? Im having the same problem with dull colors and really enjoyed the second set of photos you took of your daughters soccer game....Thanks in advance
Where did you find the color/contrast in-camera settings for the 7d? Im having the same problem with dull colors and really enjoyed the second set of photos you took of your daughters soccer game....Thanks in advance
I hadn't seen this response until I just got an email yesterday that it had been posted (months later???). I have a 7D which has a button on the left hand side of the viewing screen (2nd of the 4 buttons). It has five squares on it I think. Push that button and the menu for the contrast/color/saturation settins will come up. You can also adjust these items in post processing, but it is a bit easier to just do it up front. Hope this helps!
I hadn't seen this response until I just got an email yesterday that it had been posted (months later???). I have a 7D which has a button on the left hand side of the viewing screen (2nd of the 4 buttons). It has five squares on it I think. Push that button and the menu for the contrast/color/saturation settins will come up. You can also adjust these items in post processing, but it is a bit easier to just do it up front. Hope this helps!
Comments
I did discover the color settings on my camera this weekend so I adjusted the contrast up 1 and the saturation up 2. I see now that the saturation maybe only needed up 1 since it was somewhat overcast.... but I'm learning. I was so excited to actually see green grass though! It drove me nuts to see the beautiful green grass and trees over the past few weeks and then have my pics turn out totally blah, with faded out boring grass.
I got a little notebook to start keeping track of my settings so I can create my own little cheat sheets (love this idea, plus it will put my new laminating machine to use... amazon lightening deal... impulse purchase
I DID turn off my IS this weekend and udpated my settings such as AI Servo. I also found some YouTube tutorials on my 7D that helped me understand some of the possible settings better than the book... though I'm still a work in progress.
Overall, I'm seeing huge improvements already and can't wait to see how much better it gets from here. My biggest obstacle is myself. I suffer from SSMS, "Scrapbooking Soccer Mom Syndrome". I'm so connected to the kids in the games that I just can't stand missing a picture. I end up shooting everything which I'm sure increases my out of focus pictures and totally overwhelms me in post-processing. At this point it's becoming easier to selectively shoot... as my confidence increases and my portfolios of decent shots of every team member increases. Now I have enough shots to build a slide show with for our gatherings so I don't feel quite as much pressure.
I am an extremely organized person so I do have a system down pat for all the files and have fallen in love with File Renamer which I use to rename all my files using the naming convention that allows me to stay organized. Although it takes time, I've found this to be absolutely crucial given how many photos I'm taking and for so many different events/teams/groups.
For now I continue to use the monopod but am paying closer attention to my technique. This weekend I found some success in resting it against my torso or knee as a way of reminding myself not to move it around too much.
I have also found I get much, much better pics in Lacrosse when shooting low. The boys are a little shorter than me (not for long though!) and they have helmets. Often they are looking straight ahead or down so it's hard to get their face. If I'm positioned lower than them it's easier to get their faces. This has been helpful in soccer where girls are often looking down to keep their eyes on the ball.
Zoomer - I will be taking you up on your offer to PM you with questions. I will take any help I can get to ensure I do my best to capture my kids memories! They are actually not my biological children, I met them and my husband when they were 3, 4 and 7. Their mother had walked out on them and no one knows what she did with most of the photos from their early youth. I feel so bad that they don't have those early photos, I want to do everything possible to ensure they have great photo books of the rest of their youth. I can't wait to take all the pictures and put them together into books for them!!! They will LOVE it!!! I do a collage for them every Christmas and sometimes I catch them just sitting in their rooms looking at them.
I'm going to try to post a couple pics to show the improvements. Let me know what you think and what else I can do!!
100% agree.
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
Are you talking about the tracking sensitivity? I don't know what you mean by +1 for AI Servo.
'+1' is a common forum shortcut for something along the lines of
Just to clarify.... I am in 100% agreement (+1 vote) with Ckaspar on using AI servio. There are 3 auto-focus methods available for Canon, and for fast-moving sports subjects AI servio is the ONLY one. When you first move over to AI servio you will probabally get a lot of bad shots until you get the hang of using it. You will also need to practice using your focus point selection where you highlight just one point on your grid. If you can learn to do this without looking and while in AI Servio your sports shots will jump to a higher level. AI Servio doesn't "lock" the focus, but rather slides in and out of focus with momentary clear focus times. When you see that clear focus you nail it. It will get you crystal clear shots even when the subject is moving lightning fast. This mode is even used for car racing...(think 100 mph).
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
Basically, you can hold the shutter button halfway down and follow your subject with 1 AF point on your camera. I would start with the center one. Then just follow the subject around until something you want to capture happens and press the shutter the rest of the way. It should be pretty sharp. With the shutter button half pressed you will hear and maybe feel the lens keeping your subject in focus. You will also see if through the viewfinder.
It does take a little getting used to but hang with it and and eventually you won't even think about it.
Maybe later I will be able to post some pics from this weekend using the AI Servo function to show how fast it is.
I just wanted to jump in - the 3 recent shots you posted are very, very good. You should be proud. Keep up the good work.
Now, I also read your comments about wanting to shoot everything. I will say that is going to be a source of MUCH frustration. The biggest problem new sports shooters face is they want to shoot everything. Here's a good rule of thumb:
If shooting portrait orientation (my preference): subjects should fill at least 2/3 of the vertical frame IN CAMERA. If they aren't filling 2/3 of the frame they're too far away - wait till they're closer.
If shooting landscape orientation, make sure they're at least 3/4 of the frame. The more of your subject that is filling the frame, the better the camera can focus. Do that, and you'll be amazed at how your percentage of in-focus shots jumps up to 75-80%. Then you can start tossing shots because they aren't "as good" as other shots rather than because they're out of focus.
Again, nice job!
Very nice results on this last set of shots! You mentioned post processing work being slow. I'm guessing you've at least tried using the Canon DPP that came with your camera. DPP will handle most if not all of your post processing needs, especially for sports. If you haven't seen this tutorial yet, it's really really worth it. For some reason Canon makes it hard to find.
http://www.usa.canon.com/content/dpp2/index.html
I have it bookmarked and refer to it when the need arises. I guarantee it will speed up your workflow.
http://www.vitaminv.smugmug.com
THANK YOU so much! I actually never opened the software. So many things I buy come with software that is junk so I just used Photoshop. I've looked through the tutorials and LOVE this! It it the only software I've found so far that can rename CR2 & JPG versions of the same file with the same name. Love it! Thanks!!
Heather -
I thought you might also appreciate a link to a forum that is nearly exclusively dedicated to the Canon 7D. It will let you ask more camera specific questions. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1019 I got my 7D in January and have found it very useful.
Your shots have improved. Not to take anything away, the lighting seem much more consistant due to less sun which made things easier.
Here are some tips I would like to suggest / clarify / re-emphasize:
1. get the 7D manual PDF online for easy searching
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=314&modelid=19356
2. Use Single Point or SP Expanded focus mode, it will track too but let you be more selective with your subject/focus versus multi-point which tracks but can get confused and switch players
3. Learn how to do custome white balance (very easy, and will improve your color renditions considerably) Even the preset WBs aren't great, but I most often error on Shade or Cloudy settings versus daylight as it warms things up on the skin tones.
4. AI servo as some advance settings to prioritize tracking - you want a slow to med slow tracking priority (let's it stay locked longer on original player without jumping to anther player or ref that got in front)
5a. For outdoor sports, I am having most luck and consitancy with Partial metering mode and then do manual EC depending on dark or light background etc.
5b. I tend to use Tv mode + Auto ISO which is why you would need EC as it will let you adjust the camera's metering mode.
6. I like Contrast as +1 for outdoor grass sports as I prefer slightly darker shadows in the grass. YMMV
7. Learn the various benefits and options (search DPreview) of using the AF-ON button on the back of the camera. I actually currently have it set to AF-OFF which allows me to center and recompose even if in AF Servo mode (not for continuous tracking though which would require moving the intial focus point.
8. Learn how to set your initial focus points for both horizontal and vertical (right-up and left-up) positioning.
9. RAW is a whole nother topic - currently I am shooting straight to jpeg to reduce PP time.
That's about it for now.
Here are some of my recent shots. My daughte is #5, but for some reason I feel obligated to try to shoot them all. ;-) I know for some of them I have pushed the resolution in digital cropping. Overall in my gallery, no resizing done, just minmal levels and cropping using either Picassa or DPP . I have a 18-270mm lens and it feels short on the soccer field, will be buying a teleconverter (Kenko) 1.4x and 2x to try out. With the 270, you get about 1/2 field worth of reach.
http://schlacter.smugmug.com/Sports/Jamie/2010JamieSpringSoccer/12220019_LNNP3#870425676_XCHYj
http://schlacter.smugmug.com/Sports/Jamie/2010JamieSpringSoccer/12220019_LNNP3#870435629_nSxM2-X3-LB
Wait until you have to go indoors - it's 10x harder. ;-)
- gschlact
- guy
http://schlacter.smugmug.com
Where did you find the color/contrast in-camera settings for the 7d?
I hadn't seen this response until I just got an email yesterday that it had been posted (months later???). I have a 7D which has a button on the left hand side of the viewing screen (2nd of the 4 buttons). It has five squares on it I think. Push that button and the menu for the contrast/color/saturation settins will come up. You can also adjust these items in post processing, but it is a bit easier to just do it up front. Hope this helps!
Thank you very much