Action Photography Tips – How You Can Take Great Action Photos
ByWhen 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 dealing with this lag, as well as tips for how to take more exciting and memorable action pictures.
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) Before you get a new compact digital camera investigate what you really want. Unfortunately, you just won’t find a camera manual that tells you the amount of shuttter lag (or processor lag) that the camera experiences. Others things like the quality of the sensor and the ISO setting (if in dim light) can also slow down the processing time. 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 are more expensive than compact cameras but they are super 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 Basics to Use with any Type of Camera
Whether you have a compact, DSLR, point-and-shoot film camera or camera phone, try these professional tricks.
Zoom in on Faces – Don’t always focus on the action. Capture those expressions of determination, triumph and even defeat (especially if it’s an opponent!).
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 movement, set your camera setting 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 you’re using a camera with Aperture Priority, you can do this simply by decreasing the F Stop number. The lower the f-stop, the more background blur.
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 your feet firmly planted on the ground, rotate your upper body and follow 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.
Is the autofocus on your camera too slow? Focus on an area with a lot of contrast like a number on a uniform. Autofocus works better with more contrast.
Experiment with panning to get various effects. 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.
