Plena for Dog Sports

This past weekend we were at a Flyball tournament in Richfield WA. I took over 8000 images there! I knew when I took this one that it would be a nifty capture. This is my friend Paul Linnerud on the right in back, launching his dog toward the box (where the ball launcher resides), behind which I am sitting to catch this.

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- Steve Cavanaugh -
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Attachment#1 (jpg file)

Very, very cool shot. I never would have thought of using this lens for such a subject but you've proven it's a good combination.

Thanks for sharing.

Now THAT is subject isolation! Nicely done!!!

My wife and I have been doing a couple of shoots for a friend of ours that runs her dogs through agility trials, and it’s a blast. I’ll bet that super fast telephoto helps a heck of a lot, as the light is almost always abysmal. Tricky subjects, and you really nailed it here.

Great capture!

>Now THAT is subject isolation! Nicely done!!!
>
>My wife and I have been doing a couple of shoots for a friend
>of ours that runs her dogs through agility trials, and it’s
>a blast. I’ll bet that super fast telephoto helps a heck of
>a lot, as the light is almost always abysmal. Tricky subjects,
>and you really nailed it here.
>
>Great capture!

Thanks! I bought this lens hoping the f1.8 might help at Flyball tournaments because I've been forced into ISO's as high as 12800 in the recent past with my 70-200 running at f2.8. The combination of this particular venue and the new lens let me drop ISO's to around 5000 or so, which is a big improvement. But with f1.8 you get subject isolation in the extreme. I have to say, I don't mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Wow! This could be an add for this lens. Really well seen.

Very kind of you to say, Kent. I appreciate it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

An exceptional effect as the dog leaps out of the background - love it! Well done in spotting an innovative application!

Brilliant capture!

Were you on continuous focus or did you focus on the jump and shoot a burst?

Barry
https://art2printimages.myportfolio.com/work
bwesthead@art2printimages.com

AF-C with animal eye detect. The uprights on the jumps kept bothering my focus results, so I created a custom focus point 1 wide and 3 high so I could shoot down the racing lane and pick up the dog without interference. I have that set on my shutter button half-press, then I have 3D on my AF-On button. Seems to have worked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Wow - outstanding photograph!

Ian

Thank you Ian!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

What a great capture, Steve. Perfect timing with dog's front legs crossed and all 4 in mid-air.

>AF-C with animal eye detect.

Wow. That is impressive!

Could you ball park estimate your in-focus keeper rate for that setting at the event?

Barry
https://art2printimages.myportfolio.com/work
bwesthead@art2printimages.com

Thanks Bonnie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>>AF-C with animal eye detect.
>
>Wow. That is impressive!
>
>Could you ball park estimate your in-focus keeper rate for
>that setting at the event?
>
>Barry

Wow, that's a hard number to estimate, but I will say the majority of my deletions are based on composition, not focus. And I did note in processing this morning that shooting the dog from the side was apparently harder for the focus system to stay on the eye - it was routinely reverting to the head, which, when running at f1.8, makes the eye a tad soft. But blown focus shots are probably below 10% for the entire set of images.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Steve Cavanaugh -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit my Nikonians gallery.