Yesterday, I went to shoot the spring game of Texas Tech Football. It was scheduled to be in Midland, Texas which is about a 2 hour drive from Lubbock. A lot of big money donors for Texas Tech live in Midland and the Texas Tech football stadium is being renovated. Well thunderstorms were predicted in both Midland and Lubbock so the spring game for the public was cancelled and the practice was held in Tech indoor practice facility. With it being cloudy with rain and less than good lighting in the building I was stuck shooting with my Z8 and a 70-200 f2.8 with ISO's ranging from 3200 to 10,800. I knew I really had to stick with the F2.8 lens. We were also limited to one location on the field and couldn't move aroun.
Just two years ago we didn't have as many of the tools we have today. I knew going in that I would not be printing any pictures and these would all go on a 247/CBS website. So here is a list of the tools i was able to use yesterday to get photos to how fans in a photo gallery on the website.
1. Z8 with eye focus and the capability to toggle or use custom buttons to get the focus and follow the action. I used various eye focus detection in different modes. Also the ability to quickly toggle between FX and DX modes in camera to fill the viewfinder or to fine tune the focus at distance. Using 45mp to get better cropping on the photos at distance and finally the 20fps for bursts to get the high point of the action.
2. 70-200f2.8. Not all that different from my old g 70-200 but to have the focus button on the lens is certainly and attribute. The z mount is also faster in AF than the g mount.
3. Finally the upgrades in LR. Not only the AI Noise reduction but also the other new tools like darkening the background to create more subject isolation on shots at the far end of the field.
All of these tools made the job much easier what I did in the past with either the D500 or D850 which were both great cameras. I know this is a wildlife forum but shooting sports and wildlife can go hand in hand. Not as many differences as one might think. While in sports you don't have to be as patient as with wildlife but you still need the fast af especially with initial focus on the subject. The abilities of the tools are just as important in both genre's and practice in one genre helps significantly in the other genre. Many of the same attributes in sports lend experience to wildlife shooting.
Below are a few photos from yesterdays practice and a few wildlife pics from the previous couple of days.
Just two years ago we didn't have as many of the tools we have today. I knew going in that I would not be printing any pictures and these would all go on a 247/CBS website. So here is a list of the tools i was able to use yesterday to get photos to how fans in a photo gallery on the website.
1. Z8 with eye focus and the capability to toggle or use custom buttons to get the focus and follow the action. I used various eye focus detection in different modes. Also the ability to quickly toggle between FX and DX modes in camera to fill the viewfinder or to fine tune the focus at distance. Using 45mp to get better cropping on the photos at distance and finally the 20fps for bursts to get the high point of the action.
2. 70-200f2.8. Not all that different from my old g 70-200 but to have the focus button on the lens is certainly and attribute. The z mount is also faster in AF than the g mount.
3. Finally the upgrades in LR. Not only the AI Noise reduction but also the other new tools like darkening the background to create more subject isolation on shots at the far end of the field.
All of these tools made the job much easier what I did in the past with either the D500 or D850 which were both great cameras. I know this is a wildlife forum but shooting sports and wildlife can go hand in hand. Not as many differences as one might think. While in sports you don't have to be as patient as with wildlife but you still need the fast af especially with initial focus on the subject. The abilities of the tools are just as important in both genre's and practice in one genre helps significantly in the other genre. Many of the same attributes in sports lend experience to wildlife shooting.
Below are a few photos from yesterdays practice and a few wildlife pics from the previous couple of days.
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