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Shoot Stunning Action

Take breath-taking images of fast-moving objects

Trying to take an image of a fast-moving object is one of the most difficult skills in photography. Not only are there the settings of the camera to contend with, but being able to react to the subject fast enough is a skill in itself.

At Digital Camera Essentials we’ve taken our fair share of blurred images due to not being ready for the subject hurtling past, and as a result have learnt a fair few tricks to insure even if what you’re shooting can barely be seen, your images will still be impressive.

Over the next six pages will be explaining the finer points of taking action shots, from how to stand through to the finer points of adjusting the shutter speed and how to use burst mode. It isn’t only motorsport enthusiasts that will have something to gain from learning about action photography either, as the likes of children and pets can also dart around at too fast of a speed to react to. As a decent level of focus is one of the trickier aspects to correct in an image editing program it’s worth getting to grips with how to make the subject sharp, then learning the finer artistic points afterwards.

Learning the basics

How tampering with the shutter speed can alter the end result

Framing

Having space around the subject isn’t just good photographic practise in general terms, but for sports photography it offers practical value as well. Cropping too tight into the image results in the subject disappearing out of frame too quickly, resulting in only a part being in shot rather than the whole object or person. Instead leave a certain amount of room to move into, to cater for both the motion in the frame and your reaction time.

Detail

Retaining sharpness is one of the more difficult elements of photography to master, even when the subject is static. As there’s not really much time to try a setting then alter it if wrong when the object or person is hurtling around, it’s worth cater the camera to the subject before hand. Changing the focus area to the centre helps a huge amount, as the camera is confused by the backdrop.

Artistic blur

The real trick with action photography isn’t to push the shutter speed too high and freeze the subject, but to keep it low enough to maintain the illusion of movement. This is performed by keeping a small amount of blur in areas of motion, such as car wheels. At a shutter speed of 1/250 the body of the car is kept sharp but the wheels blurred, insuring a certain degree of drama is maintained.

Aperture

When using the Shutter Priority mode on a DSLR or compact the aperture will try and compensate for the increased shutter speed by opening up to improve the exposure. As a result of the aperture dropping depth of field will be limited as well, making it all the more important to insure the desired subject is picked up and focussed on by the camera. Much like shutter speed, the trick is to find a happy medium between fast reaction and sharp image.

Shutter speed

As with everything on a camera changing one setting will affect the others. For action photography the shutter speed, which is measured in fraction of a second, will generally need to increase into triple figures. Because the shutter is opening and closing so rapidly the amount of light allowed in will be greatly reduced, meaning the aperture will have to lower for the end result to be anything other than a black frame.

Focus

Most DSLRs, and a few of the higher end compacts, have the ability to alter how the camera focuses. The default setting will be for a single shot, usually depicted by AF-S, so once the shutter release is half pressed the focus is locked in that position. For sports photography AF-C can be a more preferable setting, which constantly focuses when the shutter release in half pressed. The level of sharpness can be lessened as a result, but for beginners the success rate will be higher.

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