High-speed photography gives spectacular insights into the world of sport or wildlife. Being in the right place at the right time allows you to capture rare moments for posterity. But it is also one of the most difficult genres in photography. Fast movements bring their own difficulties. Without a deep knowledge of a wide range of photography technology and surroundings, the likelihood of blurry results increases.
It is essential to understand your camera techniques to never miss a chance of an outstanding shot. Equipment is one of the most important factors in action photography, but by learning to get the most out of affordable gear, you won’t have to stretch the budget to the extreme.
Next to fast movements, uncontrollable factors make it hard to achieve good results. Preparation is key. Master changing light and weather conditions, big locations and distance to your subject by extensive research and camera knowledge. If the subject is out of focus, post-processing won’t save it, so get to know different ways of dealing with fast movements to figure out the best way to translate the amazing feeling of seeing the subject passing by your camera lens with incredible speed.
Capture high-speed movements
Save time by using priority modes for sharp results
Switching to manual mode gives you full control over technical settings, but when capturing fast sport or wildlife action, there is limited time to set up basics such as aperture, ISO and shutter speed. To avoid missing those unique moments, spend time on settings and take advantage of priority modes.
Aperture priority mode is mainly used for still shots, where the focus is on the depth-of-field. In action photography, the focus is on the ability to freeze movement. An image may appear stylistically balanced, but if the activity within it is not sharp, the objective has failed. To avoid this, the shutter priority mode helps you to achieve professional shots while saving time to concentrate on other factors such as the main subject and the composition.
With shutter priority mode, the camera focuses on an optimal shutter speed setting in every situation. Aperture and ISO settings follow
