Outdoor Action Photography – What You Need to Know to Take Dynamic Action Photos

Feature, How To — By travis

outdoor action photography

Action photos have always stood out to me. There’s a dynamic appeal to an athlete frozen in a complex movement. I have no problem relating to the placement of the subject in time and space; the blurred background streaking behind a downhill bike rider commands the eye with speed. A zoom lens, a tripod and a digital SLR camera can help elevate any modest sports picture to an attention-grabbing composition of energy and movement.

Timing

“Timing is everything.” All clichés aside, timing really is key. Before you attempt any fancy blurred motion shots, watch a few moments you wish to capture without taking a picture. When you can isolate the crucial movement (the swing connecting with the ball, the arch of the dive) try snapping a photo with your camera set on a high shutter speed to get the timing down. This is where having a DSLR comes in handy; any delay in the shutter release by a cheap digital camera will make timing your pictures practically impossible.

Camera Basics

Once you have your timing and angel down, you’ll need to adjust your camera based on light availability and desired effect. If you are lucky enough to have a well-lit subject and a 300mm lens with an f stop of 2.8 (or 500mm f/4; the bigger the aperture, typically, the higher the price) the opportunity for a vivid depth of field moment will present itself. It’s important to let the environment and moment guide your photographic decisions and techniques when the subject is more or less out of your control. Since your camera’s aperture will be opened fully in this scenario, you will need to have a fast shutter speed to counter the high exposure of light.

Motion

For an optimal blurred motion photo, it helps for the lighting to be less bright. An overall dimness will allow a slow enough shutter speed for a blurred background to occur while maintaining the subject’s sharpness. Keeping the subject sharp in a handheld photo with the shutter speed slower than 1/60 of a second is almost impossible, making that setting a good starting point. This technique will definitely take you a few tries to master, but the effect is worth it. While standing in a stationary location with the subject passing by at a decent speed (this is sometimes easier when standing closer to the action) try “tracking” or following the subject in your viewfinder. If you can match the speed of the subject in your viewfinder correctly and take the picture while your camera is moving, the result will be a blurry background and a sharp subject. This look is perfect for car races, runners or anything else that is based on speed.

A mastery of outdoor action photography requires lots of practice and mistakes. The upside is you’ll start going to events, meeting new people and possibly get paid for your noticeable work.