Category Archives: How To

How to Use the PRE-SHOT ES Setting on the Fujifilm X-T3

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One of the coolest features found on the Fujifilm X-T3 is a setting called PRE-SHOT ES. Found in the SHOOTING SETTINGS Menu, this powerful setting is included specifically for photographing fast action and subjects that move very quickly. (EDIT: The new X-T30 also has PRE-SHOT ES.)

However, being a brand new setting that is only described in the manual with a single, confusing run-on sentence, that doesn’t leave new X-T3 users with very much to go on. It took me a bit of experimenting and a few messages to my Fuji contacts to figure it out myself, but now that I have a handle on it, I’m happy to share with you exactly how PRE-SHOT ES works and what you can do with it.

The first thing you should know is that PRE-SHOT ES only works when using the Electronic Shutter and CH mode. That’s because it takes advantage of the X-T3’s highly improved electronic shutter and faster processor, which allow for much faster read rates than what the ES offered on previous models.

PRE-SHOT ES is designed to compensate for the lag time between when you “see” your ideal shot, and when you actually press the shutter. With extremely quick subjects, that delay can easily cause you to miss your ideal moments, especially if your subjects are moving between obstacles, as seen in the shot above. 

By enabling PRE SHOT ES, the X-T3 will lock onto the subject and begin tracking at high speed as soon as you press the shutter halfway down. You’ll see the autofocus sensors start to track your moving subject.

As long as you keep your finger pressed halfway down while you’re tracking, the camera will start recording images into the buffer. It will continue to refresh so that you always have up to 20 frames stored in the buffer. 

Then, when you press the shutter all the way down, the camera will actually write those buffer images onto the memory card, essentially saving those frames that were recorded during the period of “half press,” as well as the new frames that are captured right when you start shooting. It will continue to capture and write new images the card as long as you hold the shutter.

In effect, PRE-SHOT ES allows you to nail your sequence and capture the entire series, including those initial moments, even if you end up pressing the shutter a little bit late. Normally, those moments would be lost, since it’s nearly impossible to recognize a passing moment and take the picture. Combine this with CH frame rate options of 10, 20 and 30 fps, this becomes a very powerful tool in your bag of tricks. 

To capture the forest scene above, I aimed my camera and started tracking the rider while she was still relatively out in the open. I used AF-C Custom Settings option #2: Ignore Obstacles and ZoneAF so that the X-T3 would keep the focus locked, even as she appeared through gaps in the tight trees.

It’s a little confusing at first, but once you understand how this setting works, you’ll see that it can be an incredible tool to help you capture extremely challenging scenes. It helps you nail the perfect body position, the perfect placement in the frame, or the perfect fleeting expression, running wildlife, flying birds, frolicking children, the list goes on…   

I’ve done extensive testing with PRE-SHOT ES and I’ve been highly impressed with how well it works. Combined with incredible speed at which the X-T3’s autofocus system can acquire moving subjects, PRE-SHOT ES has given me an amazing mechanical advantage for shooting action.

I’ll position myself where I think the peak of the action will unfold and put my camera on AF-C and Zone AF, setting the AF box size and position to match where the subject will enter the frame. I might do a couple of “practice pans” before the subject arrives, just so I know what I’ll be working with.

Then, when I’m ready, I’ll go beyond my estimated pan so I can acquire the subject(s) when they get close. Again, I do this before I reach my idea spot so that I can get a good lock with the AF. As soon as they’re in my view, I’ll half press the shutter and start the buffer rolling while the AF keeps tracking the subject. When I think I’ve got a good lock, I’ll go ahead and press all the way down while I follow them through my scene.

You don’t need to pan in order for this to work, you could keep the camera positioned at the “ready spot” with your ideal framing set. Then, as soon as you see the subjects enter your frame, press the shutter all the way. PRE-SHOT ES and CH will do the heavy lifting and take care of you.

With improved sensor technology coming out each year, this is sure to become a common feature on more high-end mirrorless cameras. Nikon had something similar on one of their “action cameras” a few years go, but it wasn’t implemented or advertised very well, and it went nowhere. Fujifilm has done an amazing job utilizing and refining this technology and rolling it into an already awesome and powerful camera.

I encourage you to play around with PRE-SHOT ES, even if you aren’t a dedicated sports shooter. There are a multitude of subjects and moments that unfold very quickly, and this feature can help you start nailing them with more accuracy and confidence.

To read more tips for using autofocus with fast moving subjects, read my post 10 Essential Autofocus Tips for Sports & Action Photography.

5 Tips For Photographing Sports and Fast Action in Low Light

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Shooting action is a blast. Except when it’s not. There’s nothing more exciting than trying to freeze an exhilarating moment when your subject is whizzing by; trying to capture the feeling of speed and physical exertion in a single frame, except when the light is really bad.

Then this supremely awesome style of photography can turn into an immensely frustrating challenge. Photography is all about light, and if you don’t have very much of it, then you’re hard pressed to get the kinds of images you were hoping for. You’re left standing in the dark with a card full of blurry, grainy frames and very few keepers.

It happens to the best of us, but rest assured, I’m here to help. In this post, I’ll give you five simple tips that will ensure better images when you’re trying to photograph moving subjects in terrible light.

Remember, it takes a lot of practice to be a good action shooter, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not always getting killer shots. Look at each outing as a new opportunity to learn and build valuable experience. These techniques work with any kind of moving subject, no mater if you’re shooting adventure, wildlife, indoor sports or kids running around the yard.

1. Crank The ISO Dial Up…WAY Up.

First and foremost, don’t be afraid of shooting at high ISO. The noise war is over and we won. Modern cameras do an amazing job in low light, so you shouldn’t be afraid of those big numbers on the far end of the dial.

You’ll find that any camera made within the past four years will do a decent job. With my X-T2 and now the X-T3, I have absolutely no problem using ISO 1600 as a baseline and spinning the dial up to 3200 or 6400, or even 12,800 when things get really dim. (The lead off shot above is ISO 1600.)

Sure, you’ll get noise, but today’s image processors are able to render it as “grain” instead of the offensive, blotchy, digital noise that we used to get. And even if you do get a lot of grain, so what?

I know some of you old school guys get a little uncomfortable with this kind of cavalier, care-free attitude, but as I like to say, a little grain never hurt anyone. Your alternative might be a card full of blurry images, so deal with it. If you get a truly great shot, no one will care. They’ll be so blinded by the jaw-dropping bad-assery of your killer action image, they won’t even see the grain. They’ll just see awesome.

This being said, ISO noise does tend to block up in those mid-range tones, so it’s often most noticeable on human skin. i.e., bare arms and faces. If things get a little too splotchy for you, try using different compositions that don’t accentuate your subject’s faces, focus on other elements in the frame or back off and shoot wide.

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 12,800

 

2. Shoot in Monochrome

Here’s a technique I like to use with my Fujifilm cameras. Often times when I’m shooting at very high ISO settings, I’ll use the monochrome film simulations.

For some reason, the image processor is better able to reduce ISO noise and make it look even more like film grain when you’re shooting in black and white.

You’ll find this to be especially true with ACROS. It’s designed with a very complex grain structure that holds together extremely well and actually looks great at the higher ISO. I love shooting ACROS at ISO 3200 and 12,800.

In addition, black and white photos just look cool. They carry a strong, timeless representational feel that gives them extra power. Even if you don’t have bad light, and even if you’re not a Fuji shooter, I highly recommend shooting in B/W, or at least processing some of your color image to B/W when you get home. I think you’ll be impressed with your results.

I especially love using the new BW Warm/Cool adjustments, which is a brand new setting found on the X-T3, they let you add an additional element of style to your images.

The first two images below were made with varying degrees of adjustment using the “warm” setting. The third one is straight ACROS.

3. Use Your Widest Lens

Usually when shooting action, you want fast shutter speeds so you can get sharp subjects. By the nature of their design, wide angle lenses let you get sharper images at lower shutter speeds than you would normally be able to get with telephoto lenses.

As you move further away from your subjects and decrease their relative size in the frame, your chances of getting them sharp increase even more.

Earlier this month, I was shooting a mountain bike race inside a dark forest during a heavy rain storm, so my ambient light was very dim. My only hope was using my ultra-wide XF14mm f/2.8 lens and opening my aperture all the way up. With a telephoto, things would have been way too dark to get really crisp frames.

4. Use Slow Shutter Panning Techniques

Panning is an essential technique that should be in every action photographers bag of tricks. In situations like this, it can make all the difference between nailing exciting shots and getting an entire card full of throwaways.

To get the best results, you simply lock onto your subject and follow it with steady camera motion while clicking away with a relatively slow shutter speed. The trick is to move your camera at the same speed as your subject as they pass by. Your background will be blurred, as will part of your subject.

However, any part of your subject that’s moving at the same speed as your camera will be rendered with varying degrees of sharpness in your frame. If you’re able to match the motion perfectly, then that part of your subject will end up being wonderfully crisp, although a nice combination of crispness and blur usually makes for the most dynamic shot.

What speed works best? That depends on your lens and how fast the subject is moving. These photos below were shot with my XF14mm wide angle lens between 1/30 and 1/50 second.

It will take some experimentation to figure out what speeds give you results that match the look you’re going for. In adding to side-to-side panning, I often use front-to-back panning, which gives a different feel.

5. Use a Flash

Bringing a flash into the mix can add a whole new dimension to your action photos. When I’m shooting sports with flash or battery powered strobes, I usually combine it with my regular slow-shutter panning techniques. Although off-camera flash is my preferred method, using the pop-up flash on your camera can work just as well.

A quick blast of light at the end of your shutter cycle will illuminate your subject and create a “ghost-like” motion blur where you have a prominent, sharp subject against a blurred background. In order for this technique to work, you’ll want to make sure your flash is set to “Rear Curtain Sync.”

In addition, by slightly underexposing your camera exposure, you can create effects where your subject is lit even more prominently against a darker background. You can see more examples of my flash/panning technique in action here.

One thing I didn’t cover in this tutorial is autofocus. That’s a whole different beast. To brush up on your AF skills, read my post 10 Essential Autofocus Tips for Sports and Action Photography.

Behind The Scenes – How I Got My Favorite Road Biking Photo

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One of my favorite things to shoot during the past couple of summers here in Anchorage are the short track road bike “crit” races that happen every Wednesday evening from May through August. I got this image back in July of 2016, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite images.

I love how dynamic it feels, I love the simple palette of strong colors, and of course, I love the light. Such bold sunlight contrasting against deep, dark shadows and caught just at the right moment, when the riders are stacked 3-deep as they come out of the blackness and turn the corner.

This was a very challenging scene to tackle, and it certainly put both my skills and my equipment to the test. Although I’ve shown and talked about this image in my classes and presentations, and it’s featured in numerous posts here on my blog, I’ve never broken it down and talked about it was made.

First a little background. I’ve been an action photographer for over two decades, but I’ve never really considered myself an “event” or “race” photographer. However, shooting races is a great way to practice action technique and try out new styles and equipment.

 

I had just gotten the Fujifilm X-T2, which was designed as an “action camera,” the Vertical Booster Grip, which makes it even more “action ready,” and the XF100-400mm lens. This seemed like an excellent opportunity to put all three to the test and see just how capable these tools were for relatively high speed sports photography.

After all, what better way to test your autofocus tracking system than by capturing races with a long zoom lens at 11 fps when they’re racing directly towards you at over 25mph in strong, contrasting light?

I’ve also been a bike rider for well over four decades, but I’ve never considered myself a “road bike racer.” However, racing with a bunch of dudes who are stronger than you is a great way to stay in shape and keep the heart and legs strong.

Plus, it’s a really fun scene out there, hanging with friends and teammates on a summer evening, riding bikes, shooting photos while standing really close and not trying to be run over, and yes, drinking beers afterward. What’s not to love?

Anyway, let’s get down to business.

When I shoot subjects like this, I’m always trying to change things up by looking for different vantage points, varying my technique and using different lenses. I started with the XF35mm f/2 lens, because even though it’s not really considered an action lens, it’s good practice to get outside of your comfort zone.

As you can see above, the light is nice and strong, with direct sunlight. However, on that backstretch of the loop, there are a coupe of sections where the light is blocked by trees. This creates large areas of shade, or as we like to call them in photography, “Shadows.”

Shooting in the shade doesn’t often make for bold photographs, but shooting against the shade is a technique that can really make the subject pop. Not only do you get that isolation against a solid black background, anytime you put bright colors against dark, those colors appear more saturated.

After trying out a couple of different locations, I found a great spot on the back corner. Shooting straight on with the 100-400 lens, my plan was to capture the racers right as they emerged from the shadows.

Although I had been shooting horizontally, I noticed that if I positioned myself just right, I’d be able to catch them “stacked together” as they drafted off of each other in the downhill turn. For that reason, I decided to switch to vertical, which I felt would play well with three closely stacked racers.

Manual Exposure

I knew that this extremely contrast of light and predominant shadow might make for a tricky exposure. If I used an auto exposure mode, that big wall of dark behind them would likely cause the camera to overexpose the scene, blow out the highlights and reduce the impact of the super bright colors, as it did in the shot below.

Also, autoexposure could very well have shifted things a bit as the riders got closer and filled more of my frame. In this kind of situation, you want consistency with your exposures.

In order to preserve the scene and keep all that wonderful contact, I chose to shoot in Manual Exposure mode. Basing my exposure on the bright sunlight, I set my camera to 1/2500 sec @ f/5.6 at ISO 400. Since I was trying to freeze super fast action with a very long lens, I wanted a very high shutter speed, and bumping up one stop to ISO 400 would give me a good jump with no loss in image quality.

AF-C and Zone Autofocus

The last problem to solve was focusing. The X-T2 has an incredibly capable autofocus system which features highly intelligent tracking algorithms. The XF100-400 lens has twin linear autofocus motors, making it one of the fastest AF lenses in their entire lineup. Although it’s a slower lens with regards to maximum aperture, it has a slightly faster AF motor than the XF50-140mm f/2.8. Both are pro-quality workhorse zooms.

Using Zone AF, I set the camera to AF-C to track the motion. I wanted to make sure I caught the riders before they came out of the shade, so I actually started tracking them while they were still in the shadows. Although the final image shows a background of inky black, the human eye, and the camera, can actually see into those shadows.

I was able to acquire and lock onto the riders, so that when they came into the sunshine, there was no delay. I could fire at will. With the Vertical Booster Grip on the X-T2 and the lens zoomed all the way out to 400mm, I was able to grab at a quick burst of four shots at 11 frames per second.

At that speed, even a split second can make a big difference framing. A second later, it’s over. In this sequence, the first frame was my favorite. I felt it had the best body position in the lead rider and the best “stacked” framing of the other two guys behind him.

I parked myself in this location and shot a few more laps, but I never got anything quite as good. The next best one was this last image below, which is significant for two reasons. Not only did the guy in white make his move on the last lap and get the win, he’s the son of my friend John, a fellow photographer and bike rider.

So, to wrap, Manual Exposure, AF-C autofocus and the Vertical Booster Grip on the X-T2 make an excellent combination when you’re shooting sports and action with bold, high contrast light. If you use a different camera setup, then it’s all about bold light and manual exposure.

Ok, your turn. Spring is here and summer is right around the corner, so get out there and shoot some action!!

Brand New eBook, X SERIES UNLIMITED – The Definitive Fujifilm Camera Guide

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I’m excited to announce the release of my brand new ebook, X SERIES UNLIMITED: A Comprehensive Guide for Mastering Techniques and Maximizing Creativity with your FUJIFILM Camera. This comprehensive 329-page guide will teach you eventing you need to know in order order to gain mastery with your … Continue reading →

Using The AF-C Custom Settings on the Fujifilm X-T2

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With the development and introduction of the X-T2 last year, Fujifilm brought mirrorless cameras into the realm of performance previously ruled by DSLRs. One of the main advancements of the camera was a fast, highly predictive 325-point autofocus system that’s able … Continue reading →

3 Examples of How I Use Luminar to Process My Photos

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Even though I’ve been a Lightroom user for many years, I’ve really been excited about Luminar lately. In fact, I’ve used Luminar far more often than LR or PS during the past two months to process my photos. I like that I … Continue reading →

How Good is RAW on the Fuji X20?

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As I continue to take my Fujifilm X20 on more adventures, I’m loving the feeling of complete liberation from having to lug around big gear like I’ve done for so many years. Camera bag? Forget it. I just wear it slung … Continue reading →