Action Photography Tips - How You Can Take Great Action Pictures
Friday, March 12th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
When it comes to taking great action photos, one of the most important digital photography basics is understanding shutter lag.
More accurately called “processor lag,” this is the time that passes between the moment you press the shutter release button to the moment the camera actually gets the shot and you see the green light. Press the shutter too early and you’ll end up with a picture that’s completely different than what you were expecting.
Despite all of their advantages, compact digital cameras are slower than traditional film cameras. This article provides some tips for working with shutter lag, as well as some tips for how you can take great action photos.
1) Be Ready - Always try to anticipate the movement before it happens. Even professional sports photographers with speed-of-lightning cameras try to anticipate the action, just so they can be in the right spot and point the camera in the right direction.
By having a better understanding of what you’re photographing, you’ll be better able to anticipate the actions and get better shots. So, if you plan to take pictures of your child’s soccer match, learn the rules of the game so you’ll know what to expect. If your child is dancing in the Nutcracker, watch a couple of rehearsals before you start taking pictures.
2) Shop Around before purchasing a new compact digital. Unfortunately, you just won’t find a camera manual that tells you the amount of shuttter lag (or processor lag) that the camera experiences. Other factors can slow down the processing too, like the quality of the sensor and in dim lighting, the ISO setting. So check out what others are saying at photography forums and honest review sites, and read all the specs available.
3) Get a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) if You Can. They’re more expensive than compacts, but they’re FAST. DSLRs don’t have shutter lag problems, so if you’re taking photos outside, you can increase the ISO without your photos having digital noise like you would with a compact camera.
Digital Photography Tips You Can Use with Any Type of Camera
Whether you have a DSLR, compact or an automatic film camera, try these photo tricks of the trade.
Zoom in on Faces – Don’t always focus on the action. Look for the movement and expressions that represent the picture you’re trying to take like the smile of victory or the disappointing look of defeat!).
Tell a Story – Look for shots that tell a story of the event. For instance, take a picture of a team huddle or a group of runners stretching before the big race.
Freeze! – To freeze the action, set your camera to sports mode or set your Shutter Speed Priority to a high setting. For an example of the difference in settings: freezing action in a soccer game requires a shutter speed in the range of 1/250 to 1/500, while freezing the tiny movements of a pet that appears to be sitting still, requires 1/125.
Blur the Background – Take a cue from the sports photographers, and blur the background by decreasing the camera’s depth of field. If using a camera that has Aperture Priority, you can do this by simply decreasing the f-stop number. The lower the F Stop number, the more blurry your background.
Pan - This is a good alternative for digital compact users where dim light underexposes photos taken with sports mode/fast shutter speed. Panning works with automatic focus, but it only works when the action is moving in a fairly straight line. Here’s how to pan:
Set the camera to Autofocus. With feet planted firmly on the ground, move the upper half of your body while following the subject with your camera. Just before you think the action will occur, start pressing the shutter release button half way down and continue following the subject until you’ve pressed the button completely down to get the shot.
Autofocus too slow on your camera? Focus on an area with a lot of contrast like a number on a uniform. Autofocus works faster with contrast.
Play around with panning and see what kinds of different effects you can get. You might want to show some blur in the action to emphasize the speed of movement, such as with a race car.
And once you get an action shot you love, don’t forget to share it with others by putting it in a photo frame. Most action pictures go best in simple metal picture frames but wood photo frames with simple wood moldings also look good as they both don’t distract from the action photo.
Whether you are shooting a sporting event or taking photos of your dog playing frisbee, action photos are really a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. And once you master the digital photography basics (like compensating for shutter lag) it makes it all the more fun.
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