joshodonnell

Ryan, I'm in Tampa and am trying to get into more sports... I've been shooting some baseball, soccer, mountain and road bicycling, and triathlon type stuff so far... Hoping to do some HS football this fall.

Hi there Ryan, I'm in Tampa as well... I've never done any volleyball but that's only b/c the opportunity has never presented itself. Are you looking for someone to shoot volleyball for you?

I don't really do anything special for fire ants other than making sure not to stand on any mounds... Before I leave the house I usually spray myself down pretty good with Deep Woods Off, and then when I'm out in the sticks I'll apply a generous amount of Cutter Sport spray as needed. I also wear full-length pants that are made of a canvas-type material and also that have an elastic draw string around the ankle, and I tuck that into my hiking boots.

 

As for gators, simply have to make sure I'm not lingering too along at any given spot along the waters edge (I usually make sure to stay back from the waters edge, and the areas I shot these photos in were pretty dry).

I shot an off-road mountain bike race that took place on some trails that go through a swamp here in the sunshine state... It was a lot of fun, made me wish I had signed up to ride in the race! The area got about 3 inches of rain the night before so some of the trails were under about 6 inches of water, made for some very muddy riders. I was very disappointed that I wayyy overexposed the last shot posted here... This crash occured on the riders' first pass through this tough section of large tree roots and in the middle of the action I inadvertently turned the aperture control dial and opened it up to f2.8 (was set around f8 originally). All made with a Nikon D300, Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, and SB-800.

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<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/3908/1.jpg">

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<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/3908/2.jpg">

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<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/3908/3.jpg">

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<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/3908/4.jpg">

Chris,

 

No problem... These were all made with a Nikon D300. The first and 5th image were with the 300mm f4 AF-S + 1.7x TC. The rest were with a 80-200mm f2.8 AF-S + 1.7x TC. Shot in A-mode, aperture at f6.3 or f7.1. ISO varied between 400 and 640 (it was somewhat overcast with the sun was popping in and out, when it was sunny would drop to 400, when sun went back behind the clouds would bump up to 500 or 640 to keep shutter speed around 1/1000 or faster). I was set up directly behind first base right next to the dugout. Used a monopod when using the 300mm + 1.7x TC, handheld when using the other lens.

I'm still a newbie to this forum and sports photography in general but I thought

I'd get this one started for this weekend... These are all from this afternoons

U of South Florida-Indiana State baseball game... This is only the 2nd baseball

game I've ever shot (first was Friday nights game under the lights- not so good

for me).

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/10.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/2b.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/7.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/12.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/14.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/18.jpg">

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/22408/1.jpg">

Any constructive comments/suggestions?

I agree with Rainer, the extremely shallow DOF when shooting at f1.4 is likely the primary culprit here... I would guess you were ~15 feet from the subject? If so, then you'd only have 18.3 inches of DOF, of which only 8.7 inches is in front of the subject. Assuming you focused on the numbers on the jersey, that would explain why the ball is soft, it's likely outside the DOF window. Also agree that bumping ISO would help as well, with the D300 ISO 800 or even up to 1600 for sports action should result in printable images. 1/400 of a second may also not be fast enough to completely freeze the quickest motions. The solution may also simply rest with the lens, you could have a bad copy that's soft when shot wide open. I definitely would NOT dump everything you have now in favor of the Mark III, if you're planning to spend that type of money on a FF body you'd be better off with the D3 IMHO.

Marc, just posted a few images from this morning in a new thread... Thanks for asking though, it was a lot of fun but I still have A LOT to learn!

Well I shot my first duathlon this morning... It was a lot of fun but my

inexperience definitely showed. I ended up with some decent shots (I think

anyways) but will also benefit from more experience. Here are a few of my

favorites so are...

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/21708/b.jpg"

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/21708/d.jpg"

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/21708/e.jpg"

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/21708/f.jpg"

 

<img src="http://www.joshodonnell.com/21708/g.jpg"

Estelle,

 

Have you tried the two-button reset on your SB-600 and/or D80 to see if that solves the problem? That would be my first step.

 

Richard,

 

AFAIK TTL-BL mode will only work when mounted on a camera, it will not work in remote mode.

The key is a long number that is located on a piece of paper that should be in with all the paperwork for your camera. It is covered by a black strip that you have to use a coin to scratch off, similar to a scratcher lottery ticket. I couldn't find mine at first either and I've read about several other freaking out thinking they didn't get theirs as well.

I always check the shutter actuation count before buying a used dSLR. Anyone can say a camera is in 'MINT' condition and the superficial cosmetic appearance may indeed be flawless. However, the exterior appearance doesn't tell you anything about how many shots have been made. The file number the camera gives each photo is not reflective of the number of times the shutter has been triggered, that number is embedded in the EXIF data and needs special (but free) software to view. I use Preview Extractor from

http://drchung.new21.net/previewextractor/. It's freeware and all you need is an image from the camera to view the shutter count. Ask the seller to take a picture (of anything) and sent it to you then use that software to check the count. I'm not sure what the D80 shutter is graded for, but if you find that it has 30K or more shutter clicks I'd think twice about buying it. Last thing you want to have happen is the shutter crap out after only a few months of use.

Thanks Steve,

 

I will definitely be getting down low for shots... This race is taking place on a barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico, which means the entire course is FLAT. There are no hills to speak of.

Mark, wow thanks so much for the very informative response. I really appreciate it! I'm still trying to get ahold of a copy of the map for the race. Mercifully it's at a park that I'm very familiar with so if I don't get it until race day it's not that big of a deal. I will be working with another photographer and we are going to plan out our various shooting locations the day before the race. thanks once again, I'll post a few images Sunday evening!

I recently posted a question about using SB-800 remotely in FP mode. I discovered that it will only work if the on-camera flash is set to '--'.

That prompted me to test the light output of the on-camera flash when set to '--' as opposed to when set in Manual mode and set to 1/128, the lowest possible setting. There was nowhere near as much light emitted when set to '--' as compared that emitted when set to M 1/128. I know this doesn't answer your question but it might be useful information for others.

Hi folks, this weekend I will be photographing a duathlon, it will be my first

time photographing an event like this. It's being held at a local park along

the beach and consists of a 5k run, 10 mile bike, and another 5k run.

 

I'm being paid a flat rate from a company that will then market the photos to

the race participants. I want to make sure I maximize their sales potential so

I can hopefully work for them again. I'm expecting that I'll use my 80-200mm

f2.8 AF-S lens primarily (on a D300 and likely mounted to a monopod) and I'll

have have a 28-75mm f2.8 on a backup body.

 

Any specific tips or suggestions? I know that a clear view of the athletes bib

number is very important and that isolating the athlete from others will make

for mroe pleasing images.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Honeymoon Island is located just north of Tampa Bay near Dunedin, FL.

 

There is a large population of osprey that nest on the island. There are upwards of 20 or 30 nesting pairs most years and they're very concentrated in a small area. There are also numerous gopher tortoises on the island as well. As an added bonus, there is a family of great horned owls on the island and they just had two owlets hatch.

Well I got it figured out... When choosing the settings in Custom Setting E3, the on-camera flash needs to be OFF, which is indicated by two dashes (--). The on-camera flash will still fire the necessary flash to trigger the remote flash, however the output from the on-camera flash is minuscule and should not contribute to the overall exposure of the image (I tested the output and it is considerably less than when the flash is manually set to 1/128 power).

For my bird photography I use a Wimberley Sidekick and I have the flash bracket

that allows me to mount my SB-800 off camera up above the lens. I use an SC-17

to connect the flash to my D300.. I also use it in high-speed sync mode (FP)

most of the time. I find that sometimes the SC-17 can be an annoyance (yes it's

minor but still), so I'm considering picking up an AS-10 to mount my flash on

the bracket and then use the SB-800 in remote mode with the built-in flash as

commander. Will the FP mode still work when I'm using the SB-800 as a remote

flash?

what lens are you trying to use it with? If you're using it with the kit 18-55mm lens that the D50 came with then I don't think it will work. you have to be able to manually open up the aperture and if I recall, the 18-55mm does not have a ring to do so.

I agree that mine was able to focus very fast, however I am most definitely worried about it. My main purpose for buying this lens is to use it from wildlife photography from a hidden blind. If the lens squeaks while I'm trying to photograph an animal it will likely scare the animal away.

I agree with Tom... I 'made due' with the D50 for about a year and half until the D300 came out... Don't get me wrong, I loved my D50 and made many great photos with it, but I also MISSED many great photo opps because of its shortcomings. IMO the D50 and D300 shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence.

Hi folks, I just purchased a used 80-200mm f2.8 AF-S lens off of Ebay. I've

been waiting patiently for a good deal and I finally found it last week so I

pulled the trigger on it: Buy-It-Now for $650 which I think is a pretty sweet

deal. In the photos the lens looked flawless, these are the sellers exact words

from the listing - "Please note, I am not a professional photographer and am

acting only as a broker for this and other equipment I will be listing. With

that caveat, the equipment is in excellent working order, optics are in

excellent condition with no discernible scratches, hazing or other such marks.

Mechanically it is also sound: autofocus and manual focus work without any

troubles and are crisp."

 

I received the lens yesterday but didn't get around to trying it on my D300

until this morning. Much to my dismay, the first time I pressed the shutter

button to AF, the lens made a high-pitched squeak when it was focusing near

infinite. I tried it a few more times and it squeaked again, each time getting

a little quieter. The squeak only seemed to happen when it was focusing at or

near infinite, when I was focusing close it was silent. I set it down for about

10 minutes, tried it again, and it squeaked one more time. I played with it for

about another 5 minutes after that and it was silent, no squeak at all. Could

it be that the squeaking was just a result of the lens not being used for some

time, or does it indicate that the AF-S motors are going or have gone bad?

I don't know the answer to your question... But I will say this... Transferring photos directly from your camera to computer via USB is IMO not a great way to go about it... Mainly b/c if your camera batteries runs out of juice during the transfer you're likely to end up with some corrupt files that can't be saved. Spend $20 and get a card reader. It will likely transfer quicker and you won't have to worry about the battery on the camera crapping out.