I used to be heavily into high-power rockets. When I wasn't building, prepping and flying my own rockets, I took photos of other people's rockets for the club newsletter. I got pretty good at it.
I wasn't a professional-quality photographer by any stretch, but I had a decent 35mm camera body, a set of adequate lenses, and the other wherewithal, plus I knew enough about the rockets themselves to know how to frame the shot and when to snap the shutter. It was important to know that at the moment of full motor ignition, the rocket was going to go from stationary to really fast, really quick.
A basic film camera is a mechanical device, like a rifle. When you push the button, the camera doesn't take time to make up its mind. It just snaps the shutter. This is an advantage.
Which is why I'm having to learn how to take pictures all over again. A typical digital camera has the advantage of storing electronic images you can load directly into your computer; it has the disadvantage of being an almost entirely electronic device, which doesn't always behave the way you want/need it to. If you press the shutter button halfway, it automatically sets up the focus and exposure, which is great. But then when you press the button the rest of the way, it takes its dear time doing ... whatever the hell it's doing. Since I'm trying to take photos of a wiggly puppy, this can be infuriating. By the time the image is captured, the image you wanted is long gone.
I say this because I just got back from a photo walky that had me fuming and swearing. I need to take the time to learn how to use this new camera, and I need to get it right before I get so frustrated I just shoot myself in the head. With a rifle, not a camera.
3 comments:
As you are no doubt dealing with a consumer-level camera, the lag time is just a fact of life. To get the immediate shutter release similar to that of a 35mm, you need an exorbitantly priced digital SLR.
See if it has a sports setting, usually depicted by a running stick figure. That could solve your problem.
The sport setting may work to your advantage as it is made to take active movement, but if you have a baby setting...you are laughing all the way to spontaneous puppy photography heaven.
It's always hard to get used to something new, but you'll like it better off when you have played with all the optional settings that these cameras come with.
Try to keep the sun behind you.
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