Everybody’s seen those incredible high-speed action photos of athletes frozen in mid-leap. Without these shots (and the swimsuit photos), Sports Illustrated would be no thicker than a pamphlet. Through a combination of careful positioning, focusing, lighting, and shutter-speed adjustments, you can take the very same stop action shots. Even if you never take sports photos, knowing how to freeze action lets you capture water splashes, birds in flight, and fleeting childhood moments.
While some of the techniques you’ll read about in this section work with any camera, for best results, try to get your hands on a camera that has:
- A telephoto or zoom lens. Action shots look more dramatic when your moving subject fills the frame.
- Manual or shutter-priority mode. To freeze movement without blur, your camera has to grab the shot in a fraction of a second. Both these shooting modes help that happen.
- Prefocus. A great shot can pass right by while your camera focuses. Many digital cameras let you focus in advance by pressing the shutter button halfway before you’re ready to shoot. (Check the manual to see if your camera has this feature.)
- Burst mode. If your camera lets you fire off a few pictures in rapid succession, chances are greater that you’ll get the shot with one of them.
- Spot metering. While not critical, this feature helps ensure that your focus of interest (not the background) is properly lit, and not obscured by a shadow or the sun’s glare.
You don’t need all these features for sports pictures, and you won’t use each of them in every shot. But knowing how these tools work and when to summon them helps expand your shooting repertoire.
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The keys to capturing effective action shots are to shoot at your camera’s highest resolution, use a fast shutter speed, and take measures to reduce shutter lag.
Two of the most important techniques for stopping action and capturing the decisive moment are to use a fast shutter speed (1/350th of a second for this shot) and to enable burst mode, which allows you to fire off a rapid series of frames. You can then pick the best image from the sequence.
Following these suggestions will improve the quality of your action shots:
1. First, set your camera at its highest resolution. You will probably want to crop your image later to bring the action closer. Having extra pixels actually extends the reach of your lens, which is very helpful for this type of photography.
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Speaking of the flash, how many times have you seen hundreds of cameras firing off from the stands during a sporting event in a large stadium? Alas, what a waste of film, battery power, and space on memory cards.
The flash range of most point-and-shoot cameras is about 10 feet. That means that if you’re shooting from the stands, you’re illuminating a couple of rows of seats in front of you, and that’s about it. Instead, turn off your flash and use existing-light techniques. If you can adjust your camera’s ISO setting, bump it up to 200 or 400. This will increase your camera’s light sensitivity.
When you take the shot hold the camera very steady, because the shutter speed will be slow and you’ll want to minimize camera shake, which degrades image quality. Better yet, use a tripod if the situation allows.
Even if you hold the camera steady, the action on the playing field will blur, so try to make your exposures right after, or before, the action.
Obviously, you’re not going to get Sports Illustrated shots from the cheap seats. But for memorable occasions, such as your hometown team winning the NCAA championship, it’s great to have a few well-exposed images from the event to keep in your scrapbook.
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