I just bought a 430ex for my Rebel XT and have been playing around with it a little bit, however, I have not had the opportunity to really use it outdoors.

I will be heading out to a cross country meet in a little while, and was wondering if the flash would be beneficial on a partly cloudy/somewhat sunny day.

I am not sure if I will be putting my 35-80 or 55-250IS lens on. I usually prefer the 55-250 since it has the IS. It is hard to take good, clear shots while encouraging the runners.

Flash can be great to use especially with running but in every case I've used it or seen it used it was off camera and triggered wirelessly.

Today should be a very nice day to shoot without flash amd since its so new to you I would just go with your normal shooting without flash. Take a look at the Photography basics there is a topic on using your flash with sports that you may find helpful.

Thanks,Dbl. I was hoping that is what you would say. The flash will be better used during danceline season I am guessing. By then I should have more practice with it as well.

Hopefully I will have something to show you after the meet today. I think I need to make up a dumby card for checking out all my settings before I start shooting each event.

Light is fairly constant I would be looking at manual mode today. If your not comfortable Av with maybe +1/3 EC, depends on how much sun you have. ISO in the 400 range.

If you want to have some fun and try something different set your camera to Tv mode and dial in 1/125s, ISO around 200 and try and pan with a runner as they go by. If you get a few like that try, 1/60s and if you get some of those...try 1/30s. Can be REAL cool!




And then try some backlighted shots.

It got cloudy and cold by race time, so my plans had to change. It went from 72 and mostly sunny to 53 and cloudy.

This is one of my shots for the day. This is my youngest daughter approaching the finish line. She had a Personal Best run yesterday, so she was pretty happy.

I was in TV mode to try getting a faster shutter speed.
Canon Rebel XT, 55-250mm IS lens, f/4, ISO 400, metering mode set on evaluative.

I like the shot. Being in Tv will not get you any more shutter speed so to speak. That just allows you to set a specific shutter speed as in my first example. About the only time I use that mode is cycling, or panning shots.

If you want more shutter speed in Tv mode turn up your ISO or open your aperture. I believe you already were at your most open aperture at f4 with that lens so your only other option is to up the ISO.

Next chance you get to shoot find a spot on the course that gives you some fall color backgrounds. That will really make your shots stand out. When I shoot XC I always scout out the course and after the start hustle to the spot that gives me great backgrounds and nice light as in the second shot. I am always looking for a background with running, its what makes the shot. Great work and congratulations to your daughter for her personal best time!

Nice shot, Carolyn. It's sharp and properly exposed and a nice action shot. The only thing lacking, as Dan mentioned, is a clean bg. Scouting out the course beforehand, if possible, is a great idea. When I used to shoot a few XC meets for an area newspaper, some of the shots were with the runner on a hill with me at a lower vantage point. This way I'd get pretty much just sky in the bg. Fall colors didn't mean much back then, due to everything being shot with B & W film.

Be sure to also give my congrats to your daughter.

This course is beautiful, with a lot of maple trees. Unfortunately, most of the leaves were gone already. We had a wet, windy weekend that put a lot of leaves on the ground.

We have one more meet, so I will be able to play around with AV mode. This course has more opportunities for a decent background - no parking lots surrounding the course.

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it!

Thanks XT. I'll pass on the congratulations.

I do have a few shots where the background is better, but she is farther away, and they need a lot more editing than this one did. There is a big hill that they run down, cross a wooden bridge, then up a gravel golf cart path. The spectators usually stay clear of the hill, otherwise they won't make it to the finish line in time. After I do more editing, I'll see about posting them.

Nice shot fishinchicks! Shooting sports is challenging at best isn't it. I don't have much experience in it but I'm hoping by the time my kids are older I'll have somewhat of a clue. Thanks to you guys helping me out.

XT, did you say you worked for a newspaper before they had color film?

MM, many small-town weeklies didn't go color until well after 2000, and some are still B&W (it costs more to print a newspaper in color and weeklies aren't known for their affluence), though pretty much all are digital now. When I got into newspapers at a small weekly (paid circulation 2,500) in central ND in 1992, we shot Ilford iso100 and 400 B&W film and developed it in a darkroom.

When I went to work for the Timberjay in Ely in 2003, they were still shooting a combination of bulk B&W and color film, and didn't turn fully digital until sometime in 2004.

Thanks mm. Probably the most challenging thing for me right now is to not holler and take photos at the same time. Laura wants me to tell her where certain people are on the course, and to encourage her. I have to have my camera ready to take the shot, tell her what she wants to hear, then shoot.

I was just looking at our local weekly paper, and noticed that Laura's picture was in the sports section - in black and white. Didn't think anything of it until now!

Thanks for the info Steve. I was actually making an ill fated attempt to poke fun of Mike, who I suspected was running around shooting newspaper images with an old 4x5 reporter camera.

Thanks though that does make a person think about it. I remember when our local paper ran a color photo the first time. It was pretty cool. Now there's a color section on the front page every week.

Thanks Steve, for clearing that up for the young'uns. MM, I knew exactly what you were up to. Remember an earlier thread where I stated that I don't have feelings? It's a good thing or you might have hurt them.

MM, I figured you were poking fun at X-T on account of his advanced age, but also figured I'd ignore it. As the aggrieved party, it clearly was up to X-T to reply to you.