Action shots can be one of the most exciting aspects of photography. You need a steady hand and either a very fast shutter speed 1/500th and higher to freeze action, or a slow shutter speed such as 1/30th or 1/16th to blur the action. You must use a good tripod with slow shutter speeds below 1/30th. Another great technique is panning rapidly with the camera to follow the action. This way the background is blurred and the moving subject remains sharp. This works great at car races. This method will take lots of tries to get it right. The key with shooting any kind of action is determining where the action will be happening and being ready for it. You need a firm grip on the camera and know how to gently squeeze the shutter just a moment before the action actually happens. If you wait to see the action it will be too late. Many modern cameras allow continuous shooting mode and this is terrific for action shots. Using continuous shooting I captured a bald eagle in flight. This image is one of my best selling images. Of course, a telephoto lens, or at least a zoom lens, is needed for most sports action shooting. When shooting indoors such as a hockey rink remember to change your light setting for indoor lighting. Set your ISO at 400. Flash photography indoors for action shots generally works only if you have a really expensive flash, or if you are very close to the action. Most standard flash units will only illuminate objects up to six feet. When shooting action, consider detail shots. The sweaty face of the runner may tell the story better than a full shot of his body in motion. Remember that it will be more difficult to obtain a sharp image of a subject moving across the shutter plane in front of you. It is much easier to freeze subjects coming directly at you, or away from you. Macro shots of insects or birds really demand a tripod but don’t despair if you don’t have one – try it anyway. With today’s digital cameras you don’t need to worry about wasting film take lots of shots and delete most of them later. Remember, when shooting action, pros will take hundreds of shots to get a few good ones. No one gets great shots every-time – especially with the target on the run. Enjoy.
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