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ORIGINAL: GaGeeBees

Yep. A popular trick when shooting waterfalls is to shoot at as slow a shutter speed as possible so the movement of the water is blurred. Gives it a sorta surreal quality. Gets annoying if overdone though

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ORIGINAL: slayerphonics

Not always the fastest speed,

If its to fast the car will look like it has no movement cause even the spin of the wheels won't be motioned blur,
I always like to find the balance of sharp picture of the truck, but slow enough so the wheel spin is motion blured,

I just use the manual mode on my nikon and just change my shutter speed as needed, it changes depending on the angle your shooting the cars at

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nick2618
Nice Pic!and

But i have a question now. To get the best rc action shots would it be best to use Apature Priotrity and set it to the lowest apature setting yeilding fastests shutter speed?

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My "starting set-up" is rather simple:

1. Shutter Priority: Shutter speed as low as possible to allow motion blur, yet fast enough to prevent subject blur. ISO as low as possible. The "event" and/or the potential speed of the subject is one factor I consider in addition to the lighting conditions.

2. Aperature Prioity: I use AP in low level lighting and ISO as low as possible. A grainy shot may be better than no shot at all. ISO Auto is OFF.

3. Manual: I may switch over in low level lighting and/or when using the trap focus technique. However, most of the time I am panning with the VR off.

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Continuous High Shutter Mode - I paid for it and I want to have the option available. I very seldom shoot at full high speed, but I want the option on just in case I want to blast away to capture a specific event.

Continuous Servo Focus - I'm usually on this setting though I usually use the AF-ON button instead of the shutter button to focus.

Single area AF - This appears "faster" to me.

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Metering - Matrix is usually my first choice since that is what helps make the camera and is more advanced than weighted metering. However, I may also use spot metering depending on how much the subject stands out from the background.

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Composition - I may not compose action shots like still shots but I still consider the background. After all, I don't want a bunch of trash cans in the background or some other distracting object. I try to find a spot where I like the background and pan the subject until it reaches that spot. I'll also adjust the focus point to fit that spot as well as whether I want to shoot in landscape or portrait mode. Remember magazine covers are usually in portrait mode.

Cropping - I try not to crop alot; however, I leave room to crop since I may not take the shot "level" and need to straighten it out in post processing. After all, I want to use and retain as many megapixels as possible. I also do have numerous 20x30s framed.

RAW - I probably shoot RAW 99% of the time. The reason being is that I have been specifically asked for RAW files by publishers. Numerous sports shooters and/glamour photos that I have ran into shot in RAW+JPG since the review the JPGs first, then work on the RAW files if those shots are used.