How to take clear and crisp actions shots with my nikon d3000?

Gina P

I'm a horseback rider and like taking pictures of horses jumping at shows. I have found that indoor pictures especially are almost always blurry on the sports setting as well as most outdoors. I'm not super familiar with photography or cameras yet so sorry if this is a stupid question but i just feel like capturing clear action shots with a $600 camera should be possible and a lot easier than it has been.

clamdirt4

The first situation to consider is the lighting--
The second situation is the subjects distance.
If your having a blur appear. You need to get closer.
You may also need to use a Shutter-Speed.of 1/500
A ZooM Lens requires more light.than a shorter Lens.
Consider shooting less ZooM. And Cropping your original. To achieve Zoom/
Large Resolution will give poor results in low light--
You might trry-->>1600 x 1200 [M3}. NOT Wide Screen.
Use a TriPod. And a Shutter-cable switch.
My camera has a 2-second TIMER--you might try that--on a TriPod.
I'll use my 10-second TIMER on a TriPod for very difficult image capture.
But I would imagine 10-seconds would be a MISS--on all photo's.

BigAl

As you now have the dSLR you need to take some time learning how to use it. With it's high sensitivity rating - 166ISO possibly 3200ISO you sjhould be able to select a shutter speed fast enough to stop action - if you have figured out how to set the required ISO. You don't mention the lense you are using but if it is the standard 18-55mm it is simply not 'fast' enough for indoor sports action.
There are many Nikon fit elderly lenses out there and all will perform to some extent on your camera.
A 135mm f2.8 manually controlled lense will put you closer to the action, and the manual focussing gives you sharper pictures with no delay. In a well lit stadium you would hope to be able to set 1/125th at 2.8 and a 3200ISO capability should provide that if not better. With the 18-55mm at it's 55mm setting you would have to set 1/30th in the same lighting.
When people speak of 'fast' lenses it is the maximum aperture they talk of. An f2.8 is two stops faster than an f5.6 and that means faster ie shorter exposure time and that contributes to sharper pictures. While a tripod is probably too unwieldy you should also consider using a monopod as that too will contribute to sharper pictures and they are not expensive.

thephotographer

1) turn on the camera, make sure you have a memory card and lens attached
2) switch the mode dial to "A" for aperture-priority
3) put the f/stop value to the lowest number available. Assuming you're using the 18-55mm lens, at 18mm, the lowest f/stop value would be f/3.5, and at 55mm, it would be f/5.6
4) now turn off auto ISO and select a high value. Depending on how much light you have, you may need to go all the way up to 3200. This will make the picture grainy, but its better to have it like than then blurred.

Ollie O