Trimmings

Date : 24th Jan 2010

Location : East Coast Parkway

Lens : EFS18-55MM. f3.5-f5.6 IS

A little cropping helps when there is a limitation to the zoom from the kit lens and when we encounter fast action subjects.

I have already maxed out the focal length of 55MM but the subject still appears very small in the photo. We had chanced upon the water skiing sport and I was not prepared with my telephoto lens. The subject was also moving very fast; I did not have sufficient time to focus on the composition, rule of thirds and stuffs.

When obtaining shots of actions, I focus the camera on a particular spot where I anticipate that the action will take place and wait for the subject to enter the frame. Another suggestion to avoid the delay, is to press the shutter button halfway, hold it and press down when we are ready to shoot.

I also used a faster shutter speed to prevent blurring. A faster shutter speed freezes action. A slower shutter speed can better demonstrate movement but it also means there will be some blurring of the subject as it moves. I think this is just a matter of preferences ; what is the story that you want to tell?

Settings : f5.6, 1/640, ISO 100, WB @ Auto, 55MM

Original

After first trim

After second trim

It also helps that I am taking the photo on a high resolution (image size from 8M to 15M) . With each trimmings, the photo size is compressed. The original photo has an image size of 3456 X 2309 pixels. After the first trim, it was reduced to 2764 X 1843 and after the second trim, it is now only 2212 X 1474. Using a high resolution has the advantage when you want to extract interesting parts of the image without losing much quality.

Settings : f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 200, WB @ Auto, 55MM

Original

After

Settings : f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 200, WB @ Auto, 55MM

OriginalAfter