Critique Fast moving puppy

ST Colin

ST Colin

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Hi all,

First post in a long time for me. Have had a WCS for 4 months now, he is 6 months old. First visit to the beach today and thought I would try some shots. Don't think I have one shot in focus out of about 50 shots I took. I kep the photo below because I like the expression. I'm also struggling with a new PC and monitor, so the colours seem way off so please ignore that whilst I fix it. Very washed out on Flickr, sRGB set everywhere else.

I used a Canon 80D with an EF 100-400 MkII. Servo AI, AF point left to camera (has never made a difference to me in the past). I'm used to photographing aircraft, motorsports, and this is the hardest yet. I don't think my settings are right, but I also think the 80D is very poor when tracking fast moving objects. How can I fix the type of shot below? Focus is either not happened at all, or lagging from the nose of the dog to the rear of the dog.

IMG_2298edit by Colin, on Flickr
 
Lovely dog :)

First off, shooting animals running towards you is very difficult. Leaving the camera to choose the AF point has resulted in the harness being in focus, as it's the area with the most contrast.

In future, you'll want to select the AF point yourself, close the aperture down too as you begin to use the deeper dof to your advantage. Try and track the dog in the view finder and shoot in a burst.

Oh and practice, practice, practice
 
Very nice indeed, well done :)
 
Ive tried this a couple of times and eventually used a different method. I set a specific focus point on the ground, a stick or stone maybe. I tried to ensure the dog ran over the object and shot a burst of 6-10 shots. At least one would be in focus.
As "toohuge" said, F number needs to be higher.
I couldnt get away with tracking.
 
I have an 80d and yes, it's not the best at tracking fast moving subjects compared to dedicated sports or modern mirrorless cameras. You can get good in focus shots with your camera, it's just the success rate is less. As already said, subjects coming towards you are very trying on the AF. I would pick an AF point in the camera, usually one that is slightly to the left or right (for compositional purposes) keep that in the dogs head between the eyes and shoot a burst of 5-6 shots.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Setting up a focus point before hand is something I've done before with motorsport, so might very well work here. Will try again soon.
 
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