OK--any basic places to start for my point & shoot for action shots tomorrow?

[Darrell KSR]

Tomorrow starts the "show choir" season. Think "Glee" TV show, if you haven't seen it before. People love it or hate it.

Anyway, I usually record when I am allowed, and this particular venue won't permit it. But I'd love to get some action shots of my daughter dancing anyway--this is her first year with the high intensity mixed show choir group, and they do a lot of high intensity stuff that's fun--hair tossing, and spins, and kicks, and you name it. Anyway, I have had much more difficulty filming it than I ever did with her playing volleyball, or my son playing soccer, or taking photos of basketball or baseball games. All that is so much easier.

So I'm going to start over. Where do I begin? Usually I do the general program setting, and let it be automatic everything. Get a lot of blurred photos that way.

The good news is--tomorrow is show choir competition # 1 of 4 I'll be attending in the next six weeks or so. So when I screw up the photos, if I learn anything, I'll have a chance to fix it. I'm not looking for perfection, just non-blurred photos that can be emailed, etc.

Setting tomorrow:

* Indoor, but should be good stage lighting. It's at the Renaissance and Montgomery Arts Center, which is really nice.
* Guessing I won't have a great seat to take photos. Not sure what my zoom will be
* Fast action movements

Now--where do I start?

Do I start by selecting...

Aperture priority? If I choose that setting on the dial, I can change that from f2.8 to 8.0. And I have NO idea what that means. I can additionally select the ISO setting from 100 to 1600, or leave it automatic. And I can choose quality from 6 blocks or 3 blocks, or 6 block RAW, 3 block RAW, or RAW in big capital letters. It is currently at 6 blocks, not that I know what any of that means. There are other things like I.EXPOSURE, Metering Mode, etc. that I am afraid to touch.

OR

Shutter priority? If I choose that setting, I can change from 1 through a number of settings to a maximum of 1/2000. Same other options as above. No idea what the f2.8 to 8.0 aperture thing is when shutter priority is selected.

OR

Program AE? if I choose that setting, I can scroll down to a min. shtr speed and go from 1 to a maximum of 1/250. No idea what the f2.8 thing is on this setting either. Can choose ISO also

OR

Manual exposure? That allows me to change the shutter using the entire range to 1/2000. It says f2.8 at the bottom of the screen; not sure if that can be changed or not. Hmm. I have no idea what happened, but it changed to 43.0. Needless to say, I am very unfamiliar with this one. It also has some graphs or something where it looks like you can move something +1 or -1, etc. in various settings, but have no idea what that is, either.

OR

Sports setting, select Indoor sports, and leave the rest of it alone?

We will get there a couple hours early and see 2 or 3 groups and Ill practice a little with them first. But I am fully expecting to butcher these as I've done in the past.

Any starting point?

[dan_bgblue]

Use aperture priority and set it at 2.8 and get as close to the action as possible so you do not have to use the zoom feature. More on that later. In aperture priority you select the size of the iris opening in the lens. 2.8 is the largest available opening for your lens and lets in the most amount of light. In this mode the camera will automatically choose the best shutter speed for the image. If there is not enough light hitting the sensor in the camera the shutter speed will slow down and you could get blurry images.

You also can select the shutter priority mode which allows you to set the shutter speed. Set it at a minimum of 1/500th to freeze the action, 1/1000 is better if the subjects are moving at a faster pace. In this mode the camera will choose the best aperture to let in the right amount of light to get a properly exposed image. Down side to this is the images may not be blurry but may turn out to be dark as the lens can only let in so much light at the largest 2.8 aperture.

Set the ISO to 400 or 640, or 1000. The higher the number the more grain you will see in the image, but the higher setting will allow for decent images in poor light situations.(less blur and brighter pictures). Do not choose a ISO below 400 for indoors shooting.

Try to not use the zoom feature at all if possible as the more zoom you use the less light that gets to the sensor. Not going into he math on this one, just please trust me. More zoom means darker or more blurry images.

[Darrell KSR]

Thank you!

[Darrell KSR]

Just finished. Very happy with the shots. Nothing great, but many to all usable. Thank you again for the tips

[dan_bgblue]

I am happy to help when I can and also very happy you were able to get he shots you wanted.

[Darrell KSR]

Well, we made finals. So I get another chance at 11pm CT, although they're running a little late.

I'm not going to admit to rooting against them making finals to get home at a decent hour. I would never.

[Darrell KSR]

Another question. ..not that I'm going to do it, but would an older beginner DSLR like the Nikon D3200 do a good job for indoor action pics? I saw some good prices for the body and even for a bundle with a basic lens and was just wondering...

[dan_bgblue]

fainted

[Darrell KSR]

Lol.

I'm just asking. Don't faint yet.

[dan_bgblue]

I suspect the kit lens is something like f3.5 on the larger end without zoom and f5.6 on the small end fully zoomed. Probably a 17-50 mm lens or something close to that. The answer would be no it would not help in low light situations vs what you are using right now. I suspect that bundle would set you back $400.00 to $450.00 new. After they get you hooked, then the fun starts with 2 or 3 lenses at $700.00 to $1,500.00 per lens to allow you to be able to snap those clear as a bell images in row 4.

The body you mentioned is a good one, but the lens is not much unless you want to spend all your time out doors or with a flash mounted to the camera body. Oh yeah the flash will run about $250.00 on the low end

[Darrell KSR]

Great answer, thanks much. Not ready for a new hobby yet. Some day, just not now.

You have nailed every answer for my needs perfectly. I think you get my mindset. That probably is not a great thing for you ;).

[dan_bgblue]

https://cdn.photographylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Aperture-f-Number.png

[Darrell KSR]

Interesting to see that perspective. A picture really is worth a thousand words.