90 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
The raw, the merrier
Matt knew to shoot raw files alongside
JPEG, as these ‘digital negative’ files offer
far more scope for editing during post-
production. Shooting under grey skies and
a canopy of trees meant that the light was
a couple of stops lower than it would have
been if it was just overcast, so being able
to boost contrast, colours and shadow
detail would have been essential.iming is really everything in
photography, and perhaps
never more so when you
shoot moving subjects.
Modern digital cameras make
getting a good shot more achievable than
ever, with sophisticated autofocus systems
and the ability to capture many frames per
second in continuous drive mode.
Although it’s tempting to think that the
‘spray and pray’ method is a failsafe way of
capturing a decisive moment in fast-action
photography, you’ll be filling up your capturecard, only to spend more time afterwards
binning shots rather than editing them.
A keen mountain biker himself, Matt had
the benefit of knowing how the riders would
most likely tackle the course. For this shot,
Kate was riding a short straight section of
a downhill incline: we estimated her speed at
around 10mph. The background was looking
dark, so Matt used some off-camera flash,
plus a slight panning movement at 1/60 sec.
To freeze the action of a subject moving at
this speed, you’d typically be looking at
around 1/1,000 sec.Expert opinion
Matt channelled his action photography
smarts well here, keeping his camera
primed and firing as Kate approached the
target area. Using flash meant that fast
continuous drive mode was redundant,
so this shot was really all about the timing- and Matt has nailed it. The vegetation
on either side of the course provides some
visual interest, and the colours of nature
contrast well with the man-made colours
and geometry of the bike and rider,
which the flash has made pop.
T
Challenge 1Capture an action
shot of a rider on
the course
Camera Sony Alpha 7R III
Lens Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
Exposure 1/60 sec at f/4, ISO 800