What is it with jump shots that we really enjoy? One common-and-classic-but-fun thing to do when cam-whoring is posing for a jump shot; but for a shutter-bug like me, hindi lang pagpipikchur ang habol ko sa mga jump shots, gusto ko kasali din ako sa pictures! hehehe!

SHOOTING A JUMP SHOT LIKE A PRO
Is there a trick when shooting a jump shot? Personally, ‘pag ako yung nagte-take ng pic for jump shots, I just simply have to set my cam to “continuous-auto-mode” and let the subject/s do their act in unison while they do the counting and I do the clicking of the shutter; bahala na kung labo-labo, pipili na lang ng magandang kuha…hehe at ‘pag walang matinong jump shot, papaulit na lang! hahaha! Of course I do set a nice background para mas may dating yung picture… at mas okei para sakin if medyo hilly yung location, para sky yung background; kunwari mataas talaga yung jump! hehehe!

Pero out of curiosity again, I tried Googling for some articles on shooting a jump shot… yung tipong may mga tips on how to improve your photos when it comes to capturing jump shots, or how to set your cam to get a good photo…

Now, here’s one good post on shooting a jump shot that I came across the internet (credits given to http://www.galapinoyredux.com/2011/01/how-to-shoot-fantastic-looking-jump-shots/):

1. Choose shutter-priority mode. Fantastic-looking jump shots freeze your subjects while they’re at the peak of their jump. That is why it’s important that you set your camera on shutter-priority mode and choose a shutter speed of around 200-1000s of a second. If your camera doesn’t have this option, just time your shots to the moment your subjects are mid-air.

What if you cannot get a motion-freezing shutter speed? You could choose to kick up your ISO to ISO800 or higher so you can get a fast shutter speed.

2. Use burst or continuous shot mode. Timing your shots well can be quite tricky and may require some amount of trial-and-error. So to increase your chances of getting the shot that you want, choose to shoot in burst or continuous shot mode. What this mode does is to shoot a burst of shots with a single press of your shutter. Ideally, you’d want to have a camera with a burst rate of at least 5 frames per second (fps) to do this, but you’ll do fine with cameras with 3 fps.

To set this, you may have to choose it within your camera’s menu, or through a dedicated button on your camera. For more information, consult your camera’s manual.

3. Put your subject is in focus. Another thing you need to do when shooting a jump shot is to make sure that your subject is in focus. There are several ways to achieve this. One is by pre-focusing. To do this, focus on your subject before he jumps, set your lens on manual focus so the focus won’t change, and then shoot.

Another thing you can do is set your camera’s autofocus function on AI-Servo mode. What it does is to keep track of your subject even as it moves within the frame. In other words, you’ll leave it to your camera to make sure that your subject is always in focus even when in motion.

But what if your camera doesn’t have these features? Just push your shutter button halfway to focus on your subject, then press the shutter completely as your subject jumps.

4. Place the background in the frame. Now a travel jump shot will just be another jump shot unless you put it into the context of your travel. That is why you should place your background in the frame for your travel jump shots. Take for example the photo at the beginning of this article. You’ll immediately know that the photo was taken at the Ruins in Murcia because I’ve put the building in the background.

5. Experiment!

Thanks to these tips! I’ll be keeping these in mind and will try them myself the next time I capture a jump shot! hehehe! and I’ll give an update of this experiment on my next posts. Wish me luck! :D

POSING FOR A JUMP SHOT
Is there really a correct/perfect way of posing for a jump shot? As the subject, I really believe na kanya-kayang style yan, freestyle! hehehe! pero it’s fun if you could actually have a concept in your jumps—yung tipong fight scenes yung ipo-project nyo; or if in a group pic, you’ll show different styles of jumps, tapos pwede din yung mag-form kau ng letters while jumping hehe! saya di ba?

The most important thing when doing the jump shot is timing! In most jump shots that I’ve done, may isang member na taga-count ‘til three (3), para by then, sabay sabay nang tatalon ang lahat at mache-tyempuhan ng photographer ang pag-click ng shutter. Ganon ka-simple pero parang hindi ganun kadali gawin hehehe! Pero one thing I realize is that we’re actually not after a good shot hehe, well partly oo, kung papairalin ko ang pagiging shutter-bug ko; pero what really is more important is the fun while doing the jumpshots! Nax! Hehehe! :D

MY PERSONAL FAVE JUMP SHOTS

Here are some of my fave jump shots, so far. Gusto ko sana ipakita lahat ng jump shot attempts ko, kaya lang nakakahiya ang isura! hahaha! lalo na pag feel na feel ang pagtalon! :D Basta, lahat ng mga pix na ‘to reflect happy moments sa mga gala at pagpi-picture! :D

Looks like FUN, right? :D