Photos - Kettering 2011

[Daniel Ernst]

I have posted my photos from Kettering 2011 at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielernst/sets/72157626218631340/

As usual, these are free for non-commercial team and personal use.
Please contact me for any other use.

Enjoy.

[Mr.G]

Very very cool shots.....Thanks for sharing.

[Basel A]

Fantastic as always!
A question: How much of a challenge was photographing the minibots? I had some blurriness issues (admittedly with shutter speeds too slow for an FRC competition), but your pictures from only a couple yards away from me (hence things like this (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6540222&l=4f6bcf4e00&id=631438600)) seem great.

[IKE]

Amazing shots Dan. Thank you so much for taking these.

[Daniel Ernst]

Fantastic as always!
A question: How much of a challenge was photographing the minibots? I had some blurriness issues (admittedly with shutter speeds too slow for an FRC competition), but your pictures from only a couple yards away from me (hence things like this (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6540222&l=4f6bcf4e00&id=631438600)) seem great.

Photographing the minibots was quite a challenge. They're fast and tiny, sometimes not much wider than the pole. Autofocus is the only thing fast enough to keep up, but it's often confused with what to focus on; the pole, the light at the top, or that barely noticeable blob racing up the pole. My "hit" ratio with minibots was much lower than with all other subjects. I did pick a spot on the pole and prefocus a few times, which worked out better sometimes, but I was often disappointed when the minibot I chose to cover didn't even make it up the pole, and another one next to it did, but I wasn't set up for it.
My suggestion is to shoot a little wider scene, focusing on the top of the pole, and shoot many frames. Also, if you have any leeway in shutter speed, you'll want to overexpose a bit as the meter usually picks up the overhead lights and underexposes the subject.
As for shutter speed, I usually shoot in aperture mode, wide open, and iso as high as I'm comfortable with (1600 ~ 2000), which usually yields an adequate shutter speed. But it's always a compromise. Depending on your lens, you may have to push iso higher and put up with some noise, or even underexpose. But that's just my personal preference. I'd rather see a slightly underexposed, noisy image with no blur, than a correctly exposed blurry one.

[tr6scott]

Thanks for sharing, you have great talent.

Your watermark on these say copy write 2010...

[Daniel Ernst]

That's me, living in the past.
Thanks for catching that. Happy new year!