Dog Agility

C

Chubster

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Adrian
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Hi...Do we have anybody here that regularly shoots at dog agility events?

I am often dragged along by the better half and I am looking for tips to improve my success rate.

So any tips on what settings / techniques you use would be much appreciated

Cheers

Chub
 
Do you have any shots that you have already taken to show us? Where do you think you are going wrong? What camera are you using?

I generally shoot in Aperture priority and select f/2.8 or f/4 depending on the size of the dog. I then adjust the ISO to give me a nice fast shutter speed. Focussing is set to AI Servo and I focus on the dog as they are approaching the obstacle and fire off a short sequence as they jump/climb etc.

The most important thing is to get a good position. I always get down low so I'm at the same height as the dogs. Try and choose obstacles with an uncluttered background.

It's good to get along to training sessions to practice your technique.


Agility 071 by Mike Jackson1, on Flickr


Finnigan2765 by Mike Jackson1, on Flickr
 
Hi Mike....

Taken at the KC Agility Show last weekend on a A580 with Tamron 70-300 Di VC USD.

I nail some every now and then but more often than not the dog is slightly out of focus. I have been using single shot AF and focus on the bar as the dog approaches. I will try Continuous AF on my next outing.

The other two problems I have I cant really do much about, all three of my dogs are tiny.....the first one is ours....and a cluttered background....as I am sure you are aware its virtually impossible to get a clean background.

With regards the small dogs, do you try to zoom in on site or do you crop in PP? I like to include the whole fence if I can to give some perspective but the wee ones just get lost in the pic


August 14, 2011-01531 by ob1chubster, on Flickr


August 13, 2011-01352 by ob1chubster, on Flickr


August 12, 2011-01276 by ob1chubster, on Flickr
 
Hi

Agree backgrounds are the hardest to thing to get good clean shots, find that sweet spot, clutter free, and get down low dogs eye level, try get the dogs on take off and mid flight, landing shots are usually awkward






 
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I generally try and get the view right in camera but a bit of PP is quite often needed to get the crop as I want it. I pre focus on the obstacle so that the lens is somewhere near and then swap to the dog as it approaches. I have to be honest and say that I'm getting the money shot more often since I got my 1D MK IV but I'm making good use of the 10 fps shooting rate. The focussing on both my bodies is also more accurate with the f/2.8 70-200 than it was with my old f/4-5.6 28-135.

Nailing the action shots was one of the main reasons I went for the 1D.
 
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