The Photography questions thread

[flash]

By the quality of the pictures posted on this forum there seem to be quite a few experienced photographers on board.
I'm pretty new to photography and i don't always get the shots that i want to get.

Here are a couple of photos I took last saturday

I got the sense of movement I wanted but the main subject isn't as sharp as I want. maybe my hand wasn't steady enough, but maybe I could have the settings better on my camera??.
Fairly dark cloudy day



Shutter 1/200
Aperture f 9.0
Max aperture f 3.6
Exposure bais -0.67
Exposure: Aperture priority
ISO Speed 100




Shutter 1/50
Aperture f 9.0
Max aperture f 4
Exposure bais -0.67
Exposure: Aperture priority
ISO Speed 100

[El Gibbon]

Two suggestions I've found worked for me when I was shooting my son at motocross.

Always used a tripod, swivels tighten enough to provide some resistance but not to cause jumpy rotation, always shot from a distance.

You need to pre-plan your shot to a specific location/spot/jump that you want to capture. Send some one out there to stand while you get the best focus you can on them alone. Rotate with the rider until your at the pre-determined spot and fire on the spot, keep the camera rotating after the shot for a second or two (follow through).

Takes some practice but works reasonably well especially if you can't afford the high end lenses the pros use.