First shots with the new Lenses and Body

So I finally got most of the pieces I wanted to replace the Gear that was stolen so I went out last night and took a few shots. The light wasn't great but I am impressed.
The riding shots are from the boat with the T2i and 70-200 f2.8L lens. The 2 pics of the lake are with the new 16-35 f2.8L lens.

This level of equipment is new to me so feel free to tell me where I am going wrong.

Love the second shot....Any chance you want a foster child?

Very nice! I have both of those lenses and love them both. The riding shots are sharp and look great. You may want to experiment with turning the camera in the portrait position so you can get the water below the rider. Shots look great though! Keep it up and keep posting your work.

Rob, Good advice, I have to get use to using the button on the battery grip. These are all using the AF on mode 2 not sure if I would be better off locking the focus when the rider first gets up. The riding shots were shot at ISO 100 f2.8 1/4000 not sure if that is right but I will keep playing. Actually kind of fun to shoot pics instead of driving in circles all day.

try shooting from the shore. though the shots are good, shots from towboat aren't all that exciting.

Joe, I tend to agree. Not to mention Tony let me know. lol. Since we kind of figured out the one spot that all the pics were taken on the lake i was going to tie up to the slider we have right there so I can shoot from the side. I think all of those shots would have looked much better from a different angle. Just got a price on a waterproof housing for the camera with grip and both lenses so that will allow me to get closer to the action on the tube. waterhousing.com 995 for the housing, port adapter and 2 lens ports. Cant wait for that.

Ben-
Try this... shoot in Aperture priority, ISO 100, and watch the shutter speed as you crank up the Aperture. If the light is bright you'll find you can probably get to 5.6-7.1 and still keep the shutter speed over 1/1000th. Shooting wide open (2.8) is great when you need it but you'll get an overall sharper image using 5.6-7.1. I very rarely shoot at 2.8 while shooting boarding. I even prefer to let me ISO creep up so I can keep my shutter fast enough while shooting over f4+

Hi Ben,

Those look great, it looks like the combo is focusing well. I agree with Rob, if you have the light lock the aperture at f4-f5.6 (or higher) and adjust the ISO to keep you at a minimum shutter of 1/1000th or more. While I like shooting at f2.8 with the 70-200 as well you just get more keepers in general stopped down a bit, more DOF and less chance of an OoF shot if the cam doesn't focus exactly where you're pointing it.

You mentioned the AF on mode 2, are you talking about the IS mode on the lens or are you talking about Aiservo mode on the camera (vs one shot)?

Well, I went out and tried Aperture Priority, Much better. I was able to keep the shutter fast and the aperture above f4. Much better. I played with a sequence shot just to see how it would look. I realized I should have adjusted all the pics to have the same light way to late to go back so you can see the difference but not bad for a first attempt.

Rich mode 2 is the IS mode on the lens. Also I am using Aiservo but not sure what the difference is between the settings. Also is it best to use single point AF or let the camera decide on Auto AF?

Here is a wake shot f4.5 1/1600 Loving this new set up

The lens setting is for the IS modes, setting 2 being the panning mode which disables horizontal IS when moving the camera horizontally. I've always just used mode 1 or turned off IS altogether because high shutter speeds kind of negate it's effects at the 70-200 focal length anyway.

As far as AF point selection goes I generally avoid all points when shooting WBing. I'll use either an outer point or center point but every Canon body behaves differently. Based on your shots I would say your camera is working fine the way you've got it set up but you'll have to decide ultimately based on the number of keepers you're getting.

Best just to experiment and see what gives you the best results. If you shoot hundreds of images you're going to get a bunch of good ones even if your settings aren't optimal, what you're looking for is settings which give you the highest number of in focus shots during any given session.

I do what Rich said, I usually manually set the outer focal point so I am leaving more space in the area in front of the rider. Depending on HS or TS, I will adjust the focal point I am using. When I am shooting from the shore I usually use just the center focal point but I have the Custom Settings set to where it will actually activate the points adjacent to the selected focal point. Pics are looking great! Just keep doing what is working for you.

m

Ben your getting good bud. Glad to see Tony still rippin!