Capturing action is about the decisive moment and being ready to capture it before it ever comes to existence.
When shooting action and motion, making sure all of your settings are just right can be a daunting and even frustrating task. Sometimes just keeping your eye on the action is challenging enough. Many SLR cameras come equipped with settings to assist in capturing that moment with precision. Here are a some fundamental steps for capturing magazine quality action photography with your digital SLR camera.
Instructions
1. Invest in faster glass. The lens is where shooting magazine quality action begin. Wider apertures are necessary for the lens to react quickly while being able to let in more light from the shutter. Fast lenses are those with f-stops such as f 3.5, f 2.8 or even as low as f 1.2. Invest in prime lenses; they are fast, dedicated glass and have wider apertures.
2. Abandon the "sport" mode on your camera. Shoot in Manual, Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority for maximum control over your shots.
3. Increase the shutter speed to reduce motion blur. Fast shutter speeds are essential to precise and sharp action shots. Typically, a shutter speed setting of 1/500th of a second is considered a high speed. Some action shots may need higher shutter speeds of 1/1000th of a second. Many sport photography shots may require shutter speeds beyond 1/2000th of a second.
4. Increase the amount of light onto the sensor. When increasing the shutter speed, light will decrease and cause underexposed images. Use a higher ISO to allow the shutter speed to be raised without losing light. Open your f-stop by using a wider aperture number such as f 3.5 or f 2.8.
5. Shoot in continuous burst mode. Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras have frame rates that can capture fast moving subjects with precision in sequence. Some cameras are able to capture frame rates of an extraordinary 10 frames per second. Refer to your manual to find out the frame rate of your camera model.
6. Focus and Pan. Anticipate the moment and focus the camera accordingly. This is known as "The Decisive Moment" in photography. Some cameras have AF Assist, which is an auto focus assistant that places an invisible beam of light onto the subject and lock onto the scene. When ready to shoot, the subject is already focused. Pan and track the subject as the scene is unfolding.
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