?'s for you Digital photography buffs...

Couple suggestions:

Practice Practice Practice. Digitial makes it cheap and easy to do so.

Get a Lens hood. - I actually have a soft rubber one that works pretty well, and can compress around the lens. It was pretty cheap too.

Get a Canon 50mm prime lens, and use THAT for you sledding lens.
Pro's - it's CHEAP (85 bucks or so). It's reasonably fast, and pretty sharp also it's light and small. http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU

Con's - it's a fixed focal length, so no Zoom.

I use it for my riding because if I break a fifty dollar lens I won't be as pissed as breaking a much more expensive lens - Lenses are not cheap and high end Canon L series glass is SPENDY. The kit lens is pretty good (if it's the new IS version - I think it is) and isn't too spendy, so if you do prang it up, you can replace it for a resonable price. It should cover MOST of your riding needs, I've found mostly I take landscape shots while riding so a wide angle lens works best for that.

Nice camera by the way. I'm still on a Reble XT

I have been experimenting with my D-SLR canon XSI and I too have found it tricky to get the "perfect" shots. So far I found it best to keep the camera and target i am shooting in the same light ie. dont be standing in the shade shooting into light or vs versa. Second I rarely find auto mode works well most just mess with the manual settings. I find it helps to bump up the aperture to +1or 2 if the item I am shooting is showing up dark. Lots of times the sled and person will look dark because the camera is sensing all the light from the snow. Bumping up settings may make the background or snow look a bit more washed out but the rider looks clearer. The auto bracketing is nice because it will give a good feel for what the camera settings should be. Honestly, most times its a pain to get the camera out find the right settings but after awhile you get better at guessing what the camera is going to like. So far my best pics turn out when we are both in the sun and the sun is at my back so that the target has alot of light. Havent messed with the iso much. I imagine that would help out as well. Most pics I have are in the 400 range for iso.

Remember a great winter shot may be 1 per 100 or even worse at first but with more practice and settings hopefully the ratio will start to improve. Last trip out took 3-400 photos got about 6 great shots. They where alot of decent photos but always looking for the perfect shot. Then what really sucks (as most photographers will agree) is you great shots of your buddys but never a killer shot of yourself hehe. The D-SLR helps out though eventually they get lucky!

Like mentioned before lens help alot but can be spendy, heavy, and dont really want to break one. So far I have been using the smaller lens it came with. Just make sure to get close to your target.

I would be curious if others had a recipe for different light conditions ie high/med/ low light for action/sled shots and also recipes for landscapes to get the best pic. Limiting factors will most likely be lens as at this point I dont plan to hike 4 lens worth $$$$.

I did round up a polarized lens cover and plan do some testing with that.

coupla tips

1. I would make sure you have a circular polarizer and learn how to use it. It can really make a huge difference on blue bird days.

2. Like they say above...practice is cheap with these

3. Learn your auto focus and the servo settings for action shots

4. Know where your light is coming from and use it to your advantage. Sometimes I will have my buddies hit a shot two or three times so I can get in different angles to take the shot.

5. Learn how to "pan" your shots. This will allow you to focus on the moving object and blur the scenery around the moving object...a cool effect.

6. Have fun!

Also - make sure your buddies buy a good camera and learn how to use it or you will never have any good action shots of you! :face-icon-small-win

My two cents...

BroT

A polarized lens will help with the glare from the snow so that the snow does not over expose the picture . Most newer digital cameras have a pretty good auto setting now but if you switch to manual mode remember your going to have to close you aperature settings a couple of sizes as to not over expose the picture if shooting in bright conditions. But like said above shooting with a digital camera is cheap compared to learning with a film camera like i did.

You'll like the Nifty Fifty - takes good shots for a cheep price.

Heres some I took yesterday with the same lens - ignore the black blotch in the upper right - got dust on the sensor

http://picasaweb.google.com/r.hein1969/Greenwater31January2009#

Every one was with the 50mm.

Nice pics rhein, that 50 works for you. I recently bought a Canon XTi and am having a blast learning how to really utilize the camera. As a few of you said, Practice. I carry camera and at least 1 lens everywhere I go anymore. Take from 20 -200 pics a day and maybe get 1-10 decent shots.

I carry a Canon 35-80mm f/4.0 and a Tamron 28-200 f/3.8-5.8 Aspherical when I go sledding. Seems to cover any situation and if I break either I'm out very little since I bought both off Ebay for a fraction of what new are.

Dunatic said:

not that the 50mm is a bad a lens, I have one and love it, it is easily one of the best lens for the money.

One of the best tricks I learned for taking pics in the snow, is to overexpose a bit, I just bump up to a +3 for sunny days and a +7 for crappy days, and take a manual white balance reading, I carry an expodisc for taking WB readings, takes about 30 seconds...

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Dunatic, explain this expodisc if you would. I've seen and commented on your work, anything I can learn from what you do would be a plus.......

Nice pics rhein, that 50 works for you

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Thanks, I tend to take a ton of pics (glad I've got 2+TB in my WHS) Some turn out, some don't. I REALLY need to spend some more time doing dedicated practice - ie, take the camera, take a notepad and take notes of what I'm doing, settings, etc so I can get some idea of the settings that work best in various condions.

why would you want to take your nice camera out and just use a 50 1.8?

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Because it's small, takes nice shots, and is cheap. I spend enough money on sled parts that buying glass over and over isn't in the budget. :beer;

Dunatic said:

not that the 50mm is a bad a lens, I have one and love it, it is easily one of the best lens for the money.

One of the best tricks I learned for taking pics in the snow, is to overexpose a bit, I just bump up to a +3 for sunny days and a +7 for crappy days, and take a manual white balance reading, I carry an expodisc for taking WB readings, takes about 30 seconds...

Click to expand...

Good call on the EV settings... have to try that next time. Had a few pics that came out real dark, knocking off some of the top end of the histogram and upping the brightness helps a bit, but it still comes out kinda dark.

I like the expodisc idea, but it's kinda $$.

Thanks Dunatic, looks like another item for the bag.

A site I've found to be very useful for someone learning more than just P&S photography is DPS, lots of info and a good forum.

Dunatic said:

Expodisc

It is like a uv filter or or polarizer that you pop on the front of your lens, flip your WB to pre to take a reading, point your camera towards your light source and release the shutter (take a pic) it sets your white balance pretty much perfect every time.

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What camera are you shooting with dunatic I busted my 5d this summer been thinking about replacing it with a 40d something with the fast shutter? Love your pics by the way. great camera work.

Practice, practice, practice...I shoot so many pictures between my 40D and my rebel I use for my photography class-it is almost sickening.. I got my camera at the beginning of the summer, and I usually don't leave home without it..I take a lot of action shots for my boyfriends website-www.steveemersonracing.com, check out the news tab, I post more pictures in the blog than the actual photo tab...flash just takes too long too figure it all out right on the spot! Anyways, invest in some good lenses is key, don't buy junkers..in the long run your lens will last waaay longer than a camera. I have a 28-135mm, and seems to work well with what shots I want to get, a lot of the time I want to get closer yet! I plan on getting a nicer lense after the season is done with. As far as the snow and glare, making sure sun is at your back helps a lot, getting a polarizer also helps! And if you are shooting in manual, turning up your aperture also helps!

Take with a 70-200 at least. Otherwise, you have to be on top of the action with a 50mm to catch the action. Before you leave on your trip, go outside and put the sled in the yard and see how close you have to be to it to fill the frame. if your happy with that, then disreguard below.

Now i know that when your out, you want to get the scenery too, but if you have the 50, all you will see is scenery. If you have the 70-200 you can pick your shots. When your taking photos in the bright snow, there is no need for a 1.8. A 3.5-5.6 will be absolutely stunning with all that light.

I recommend to try before you buy, not all lenses fit your lifestyle or shooting style. I shoot lots of drag races, motocross and snowmobile races and one lense doesnt cover all. You need options. I suggest to check out www.lenserentals.com they are huge canon and nikon lense experts and you can try something before you make a rather large investment in a lense that may or maynot work for your shooting style.

You have a fantastic camera there, dont make it cheap by putting on a cheap lense. Its like having the fastest computer in the world, then hooking it up to dial up. If you wanted a cheap lense, you could have purchase a point and shoot for those results.

With that camera, you have the potential to make very large poster size photos that are extremely sharp. Make sure you use L glass or Prime glass and you will blow yourself away at the sharpness. Just keep in mind, the better the glass, the heavier the lense.

Most of all, make sure you have a fun time.

speednutt