Do you want more?
:Previous: :Main: :Next:
Why is it that everyone wants a faster frame rate? Sure it may make it easier to get 'a' shot, but is it 'the' shot? Is it not better to use skill and anticipation in full control of your camera to decide when to take the image? Pressing the shutter when using a motordrive, starts a chain of events that ultimately leads to you not having full control of your camera.
Imagine using the EOS 1D MkIIN in full flight - 8.5fps at a shutter speed of 1/500 second. In one second you will have captured 8.5 x 1/500ths of a second, which still leaves an awfully large chunk of that 1 second period (491/500ths of a second or 98.2%) unaccounted for. In fact, it's the greatest majority of that second which is unseen by the camera and unrecorded by you.
I remember reading somewhere once that a photograph is a fraction of a second in time, never to be repeated. If you see the image in the viewfinder, you've missed it. You will never be able to capture that precise juxtaposition of image elements again, since everything in the world is moving. If you think about it, it's very true and highlights the fact that you making the choice of when to capture the image, based on your anticipation of what is going to happen, will ultimately make a better picture.
Sure, I'm not adverse to using motordrive shooting on occasion (as in the shot above, taken on an EOS 1D MkII N in LOW SPEED motordrive), but the greatest sense of satisfaction is gained when I wrestle back control from the camera and make the conscious, or even subconscious choice of when to press the button.
Try next time you're shooting something that 'requires' a fast motor drive. Go back to either single frame shooting or CONTROLLED motordrive shooting, and exercise your creative freedom to capture the image when YOU want to. It's very frustrating, will take training, skill and luck. But, when you get it right, it's much more rewarding because you know that you took the image that YOU wanted, not the one captured by default because you camera happened upon a moment in time in the course of IT taking pictures.
Posted By: photopositive | Comment (0) | Sports | Permalink