Agility Photographs

Jumps!

I’m still getting used to taking low-light photos using my speedlight. Fortunately, Quincy and Grete provide me practice and encouragement (not to mention photogenic content).

This week we went up to a gym in Lynnwood where Quincy and some of her dog agility classmates practice. While the gym has standard lighting, it turns out it’s way too dark for non-flash, quick shutter photography. I found this out the first time I joined them (there were no useable photos… just too dark or too blurry). This time, I brought Quincy’s D90 (which has higher ISO settings) and my speedflash.

I found that all the research I did on proper technique really paid off. Oh, right, I didn’t look up anything at all. That must be why my photographs fell into two categories: washed out and dim. I was at least able to stop the action. Quincy loved it, of course. We learned that Grete curls her toes under her on jumps; some dog curl, others stretch. I would have bet her a stretcher, given how often she’s sprawled out on the bed in every direction.

I’m thinking that distance is a great factor in these types of photographs. Zooming in and out with the 55-200 lens doesn’t change the brightness of the flash much; but moving physically closer to the action (or the action moving closer to me) does impact quite a bit. I’m thinking that I might have a setup for close, medium, and far shots. What knobs to widget I have no idea. I guess I’ll just have to look something up!

You can see more photos on Quincy’s Flickr page (linked from the photo above).