NY Media Studio Offers 10 Tips for Stunning Action Shots

How to Take the Best Action Shots Possible with 10 Simple Tips

Action Photography Tip #1: Plan ahead.

Carefully plan where you will set up.  This is probably the biggest mistake for action photographers. No matter what action you are going to shoot, you need to predict where you can be to capture the face of the subject.

Action Photography Tip #2: Pre-focus.

If the subject suddenly springs into the frame, you might consider using a technique called pre-focusing.

Action Photography Tip #3: Shoot in short bursts rather than one long bursts.

This will prevent your buffer from filling up, which could cost you the shot.  Shoot action in three shot bursts, wait a second, then shoot another burst.  To do this, turn your NY Media camera to continuous high drive mode.

Action Photography Tip #4:  Give the subject space to move.

For fast-moving subjects, the best composition is usually to allow some space on the side of the photo where they are traveling.  

Action Photography Tip #5: Get a fast memory card.

This can help prevent your camera from slowing down if the memory card writing speed is the bottleneck in your system.  

Action Photography Tip #6: Don’t miss the face.

Capturing the expression on the face of the subject will add much more drama to the photo.

Action Photography Tip #7: Shoot JPEG.

Action photography is one of the only times that I switch over to JPEG.  Since JPEG files are much smaller than RAW files, most DSLRs can capture a few more frames per second on JPEG than RAW.

Action Photography Tip #8: Get down low.

One of the most important composition tips is that shooting from down low will make your subject look powerful.  Action shots are generally taken to make the subject look dramatic and powerful.

Action Photography Tip #9:  Shoot with two eyes open.

Closing one eye lessens your ability to determine depth and hinders your eye’s ability to track movement.  

Action Photography Tip #10:  Don’t mash the shutter button.

Mashing the shutter button will torque the camera at the critical moment when the photo is recording the scene.  The proper way to press a shutter button is to simply roll your finger back across the button.

[Source: Improve Photography]