Learn all about how to take great action photos. In this article you'll learn five tips you can use right away to help you take eye catching action pictures.
When it comes to taking great action photos,
one of the most important digital photography basics is understanding shutter lag.
Also called "processor lag" this is the time that it takes between the time you press the shutter release and the time the camera actually takes the shot. Press too soon, and you end up with something completely different than what you expected.
In spite of all their advantages, compact digital cameras are slower than film cameras, some more than others. 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 fast cameras have to still anticipate actions so they can be in the right spot at the right time.
By having a better understanding of what you're photographing, you'll be better able to anticipate the actions and get better shots. In other words, if you plan to photograph your child's soccer game, learn the rules of the game. If your child's performing in the Nutcracker, watch a rehearsal or two.
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 investigate what other people are saying in photography forums and read all of the manufacturer's specs online.
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 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. As an example of different settings, freezing action in a soccer tournament requires a shutter speed between 1/250 to 1/500 while taking photos of your pet 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 well when the subject is moving in a fairly straight line. Here's how to pan:
Set the camera to Auto focus. With your feet firmly planted on the ground, rotate your upper body and follow the subject with your camera. Just before the anticipated action that you want to capture occurs, start pressing the shutter release button and continue following the subject until you've pressed the button all the way down and the camera gets the shot.
Is the auto focus on your camera too slow? Focus on an area with a lot of contrast like a number on a uniform. Auto focus works better with more contrast.
Experiment with panning to get various effects. If you want to put more emphasis on the movement, you may want to consider blurring the movement to make it look like it's moving faster.
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.
