the jump shot

The jump shot is probably already a cliche in photo albums. Nonetheless, it is still one of the most difficult photograph to take. It requires persistence, timing, speed, and sometimes, a relatively expensive piece of equipment.
Persistence - quite often, it requires more than one jump to obtain the perfect shot: where everyone is elevated and at the peak of their jump.


Timing - the photographer must make sure that at the moment the shutter is pressed, everyone in the frame is elevated from the ground. Sometimes, it is also required that the photographer consider the amount of delay between the actual exposure and the pressing of the shutter. This is almost certainly true for point and shoot cameras, where the delay is quite noticeable. The photos above were taken using a Powershot A590IS. Among several attempts, only one photo was successful. It was probably a combination of luck, Jay's accurate consideration of the camera delay, and my relatively high jump.

Speed - the shutter speed of the camera should be fast enough to make the jumpers seemingly still. This requires sufficient lighting or a large aperture opening. I wanted to show a jump shot taken in low light to demonstrate how blurred it will be due to the motion of the subject, but I don't have such photo right now.

Expensive equipment - when persistence, timing and speed is an issue, a relatively expensive piece of equipment can be a life saver when taking the jump shot. A Canon Digital Rebel XT for instance with a shooting speed of 3 frames per second can lessen the timing requirement. Furthermore, it's unnoticeable delay between shutter press and exposure allows better accuracy. Even better than the Rebel XT is the Canon 40D with a shooting speed of 6.5 fps or Mark3 at 8.5 fps! A fast lens (which is also expensive) can also help in the speed department with its large aperture opening.

Anyway, here are some of the jump shots that I'll be using as a friendster photo. Thanks to Marci and Jay for being my background. I would've chosen the photos with all of us flying but I wanted to feel special. haha. :P