Your biggest challenge in sports and action photography is
making sure that the main subject in your image stays in focus. Because your subject
is moving your focus is constantly changing. There are several options for
keeping moving subjects in focus.
Manual Focus:
Keep your subject in focus by tracking in manual focus mode.
This takes practice and is increasingly difficult the faster your subject
moves.
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Automatic Tracking:
Another option is to use the automatic tracking/focusing
mode. This keeps a moving subject in focus if you hold down the shutter release
button half way before firing off your shot. Most DSLRs have this option and
quite a few Point & Shoot cameras do too.
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| Photo Credit John Sterling Jr. |
Pre-focusing:
This is an option I personally like and use frequently
depending on what I’m shooting. Pre-focus on a spot where your subject will
pass in front of your camera. This takes practice but is really useful if your
subject is moving on a predictable path like a race course.
If your subject is unpredictable, like a football player who
changes direction often, you might like to try one of the other focusing
methods above.
In theory pre-focusing is quite easy. Simply switch to
manual focusing, choose a point where your subject will pass and focus on that
point. Just before your subject hits that point you hit the shutter button and
you should capture the shot. This may take time to perfect so you’ll want to
practice on various moving subjects to perfect your technique.
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With a fast moving subject set your camera at a fast shutter
speed. You might also consider shooting in continuous shooting mode. In this
case, start firing off shots a second before your subject arrives or starts moving. You’ll take
a number of shots around your focusing point and should get at least one or two
great images.
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When you first try pre-focusing go to a dog park, the beach etc. and position yourself where you can see people, animals
or even cars moving towards or around you. Switch to manual focusing, choose a
spot and get your camera focused upon it. Wait for the action to hit that spot
then click the shutter. But remember to shoot just before your subject arrives
at your chosen spot. Word of caution: don’t stand in front of the action!
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It will take a few outings to get your timing down but
you’ll get there with practice. Give it a try this week!
Leave a photo in your comment box for
all of us to share and enjoy. If you have trouble leaving a photo, give us a link back to your blog and leave your photo there :)
Happy clicking!
61 comments:
Love all of these pics and it's really hard to pick a fave out of this group!! Capturing a helicopter in
flight is a difficult feat in itself, love how the rotor blades appear to be standing still; fantastic shot.
You gave some good tips at shooting objects in motion as I can attest at how difficult it is from shooting pics at the dog park etc. As you recommend I focus on a spot and hope to capture a picture that is halfway decent to show others. Tried to upload pic an action shot of Erin chasing hares in Germany as it's one of my fave pics but was unable; it took many many attempts to get it as dogs are unpredictable creatures. Blessings :)
with the new digital setup, you just tend to forget about shutter speed..because of the auto function,,even the highlight is protected from overexpose automatically ..it's good that you brought up this topic..back to the roots..love that dog picture,,beads of water spraying everywhere..
Great tips - I'm going to try a few of these!
hi mari, great tutorial- i am relying totally on digital facilities. am not good in controlling speeds etc. in the case of moving objects/ subjects. i like the color of the water frozen in time.
I love your tutorial! I am sharing this to Facebook where my husband, who love photography, can take a look.
Stunning photos and great advice!
Blessings!
Thanks for the tips. Hardest thing I find to do is focus on fast movers.
Here's one I got lucky with...having no idea what I'm doing. I use a basic auto focus camera...cheapy. Some day I'll invest in something that allows me more control over focus and shutter speeds. I've always wanted to learn more about photography Mari. Thanks for the great advice.
Type your comment GREAT TIPS MARI as always . Here is one of mine using the prefocus you mentioned
It is one of the ways I use in Baeball
Thank you Mary these are great tips. I love your photos as always.
Now then ,i can use these tips to capture those high flying birds properly . thanks for the tips
Love the way you captured these moments...every single one of them begging to know the story...love all the photo's...look at the water coming off the dogs tail and dripping off his body...mixing ith the splashes in the water as he runs through...and love the water caught in motion...another great tutorial Mari...
This is very challenging for me. I think I've tried pre-focusing, but I haven't really practiced so my shots were blurry. And I haven't tried adjusting shutter speed and firing multiple shots. Thanks for the tips, Mari!
much good advice!
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Very helpful tips
Thanks for visiting my cruise pictures and the comments. I almost abandoned it since I am almost out of ideas and pictures. I took over the Chennai City pictures blog and trying to take daily pictures. http://chennaicitypictures.blogspot.com/
Sorry about not being very active with comments and visits. I am not rally going to do anything to publishes the chennai blog. I am only hoping for search traffic and as of now the chennai blog is doing better than Cruise. Since most search traffic is from India the AdSense revenue is less, but it is ok.
I am in a confused state and thinking about taking up a new job, hopefully something I can do from home instead of driving to work in a hectic traffic everyday.
I am just writing it to let a few of my good blogging friends to update on whats happening with me.
what great blog you have here! My partner and I are just trying to revive our blog and seeking people who share our interests. I'm so glad to have found my way here. I'd be needing all the photography tips! Thanks for the inspiration Mari.
yaglulinghayaw,
Andresa
Great tips Mari! Love the water shot !
What a beautiful image of Erin - I love her floppy ears and the way she is charging through the grass. Dogs and horses are very difficult - esp. dogs as they can make fast turns. But I always love your images of Erin, and now of Cody.
The dog image was fun - took about 10 shots and this was my fave.
Have fun! Would love to see your images.
I like the bubbles on that one. Glad you enjoyed the tutorial.
Thanks for the share to FB - I appreciate it!
It takes lots of practice to capture those fast moving objects.
I love your image - it's so joyful!! Thank you for sharing it. Keep reading and you'll get it!
Your image is amazing - tack sharp! Thank you for sharing it.
It may take some practice but it's well worth it!
I'm glad you enjoyed the tutorial. :)
I'm glad you enjoyed the tips. :)
It does take practice but it is well worth it!
Thank you for your comment, Cloudia.
Sailor - I'm glad you enjoyed the tutorial. :)
Thank you for the update. I'll "follow" the chennai blog also. I hope you find a great and interesting job working from home. :)
It may take some practice but it's well worth it!
I do hope you get you blog back up and running - I love it and your photography.
That's a favorite of mine :)
i'm really going to have to learn how to use my camera "a lot" better :) as always great advice mari
I've always resorted to continuous burst shooting as well as continuous focusing during my first year, I think is should practice more with manual focusing, (night time focusing is also another problem, maybe you can enlighten us about it next time :)
I always wondered how this was achieved. I recently did a photo shoot with a good friend here in town and we were joking about the hair toss that always happened in every episode of Charlie's Angels (original series). We started playing with that concept and it took a good twenty minutes and about 25+ attempts before the perfect shot was captured. The effect of my hair flying about is really cool, but boy, did it take a lot of patience and repeated effort! :)
- Dawn
Mari...I also read somewhere that if your subject is going to be coming from left to right (or vice versa) in front of you, stand with your feet planted shoulder length apart, and twist at the waist firing shots singly or continuously well before through well after the subject has passed. I tested this one day when there was a plane coming into a local airport...
Keep reading.... :)
Manual focusing will be a great topic. My next post is on panning. Then I'll do night focusing. Manual focusing on fast moving objects is tough. I prefer to prefocus on the spot whenever I can :)
Yes, it does take lots of shots and lots of practice. Would love to see the photo of you flipping your hair Charlie's Angels style :)
Love you photography. This works also and is good if you want a panning affect.
Mari-
Mahalo for visiting and joining my Hawaii blog! Quite an honor to have you looking in as I always learn something valuable from YOUr posts!
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Mari, thank you so much for the brilliant tips...I have not succeeded much with manual focus, auto focus works better for me...
And thank you for visiting my blog. I have decided to disable the comments and I have decided to tweet the blogs I read and appreciate, so that it helps the photobloggers :) If you are on twitter, please mention me, so that I can follow and mention you while tweeting your photoblog.
Regards,
24x7Clicks
I can't tell which of these are my favorites. They are all just so amazing and delightful. The black lab looks like my Rip. Passing the tip along to baby girl ;-)
Thank you for stopping by. I love black labs - they are the sweetest dogs! Hope your daughter is enjoying her photography at school :D
I'm on twitter and stumbleupon both. http://twitter.com/#!/MixedUpMedia2 and http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/PhotographyTips1/. What are your twitter and stumbleupon addresses or do you have links on your blog - I do.
Mari, the wonderful photo of the fountain gives me an idea for an abstract painting. If I can make it work, I will give you credit for the idea!
Here is a small abstract I did a couple of days ago. It is 10" x 10" and I call it "Trickle."
I use the continuous shooting mode. Then out of a dozen shots, I get one or two decent ones. Here is a couple of old, but still favourite shots of mine.
Thanks Mari. =) I was just testing it out trying to get the blur for the sense of motion. Luckily I had read that tip a day or two before our trip to the airport. =)
Lovely post, timing is everything. It takes a lot of practice to become perfect at speed clicking. Your snaps are amazing.
I love your abstract! The colors and textures are wonderful!! What medium did you use? I would be honored if you used my fountain photo!
These are wonderful! Thank you for sharing them. Obviously the kids were having a great time posing for you. Continuous shooting mode is great.
Thank you Sulekha. Yes, lots of practice and reading helps!
Mari, I used acrylics for "Trickle" The piece below is done in mixed media, and is 12" x 12." I have a lot of fun doing these little pieces, and abstract has never really been my thing, but I am trying to get a grasp of it. No easy task for a realist!!
Have been MIA for a while and catching up with all the interesting tips you have to share. The close up of the black Lab is amazing!!!
Glad to see you back. I took about a doz. shots of that Lab before I got one I really liked. :)
found you after you found my blog. can't wait to check up on your photography tips - i'm always needing help with my product shots! i'm following! nice to meet you :)
Welcome aboard!
You painting is amazing - I love the colors and abstract feel.
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