Embedded Files
Frames in Focus:
Frames in Focus:
Photography Tips & Tricks
Photography Tips & Tricks
A Column by Owen Duncan
How to Take Pictures of Moving Things
Much to many a photographer’s dismay, there are a lot of things that don’t nicely sit still and pose for you to take their portrait. Birds and other wild animals are rather fickle, as are family pets, family members, athletes, and vehicles. Photos of moving subjects can provide an extra challenge, but can result in some fantastic images if done well.
Take a Lot
The simplest advice for shooting moving subjects has to do with your mentality, and is to just take as many photos as you can and hope at least one is good. One of the major advantages of digital photography is that a memory card can hold a lot more photos than a roll of film, and can be used as many times as you want. Generally speaking it’s better to think about every photo carefully, and be deliberate in your composition and settings, as this will result in more precise and creative photos, but in this case quantity will probably result in quality. If you get fifteen photos of a bird in before it flies away chances are one will be what you wanted, or one of the pictures of your dog will perfectly catch it lifting off the ground. That’s not to say that settings can be completely ignored, or that just pointing and hoping for the best will produce brilliant photos, but the two seconds it takes to adjust something can be the difference between a fantastic image and a blurry mess that might have an animal in it somewhere. If your camera has a continuous shooting setting where it takes images as long as you hold the shutter button this is a good time to use it, and putting as many settings as you trust the camera with into an automatic mode can help.
Not all photos work out...
... but some do
Shutter Speed
A high shutter speed will freeze motion
The main camera setting to consider when shooting moving subjects is shutter speed. Shutter speed controls how long the shutter of the camera is open, and therefore how long light is on the image sensor. A high shutter speed means less time for light to get in and a low one means more time; however, that’s not the only part of the image affected by shutter speed. Previous installments of this column have discussed how with styles of photography that typically use lower shutter speeds, like low light and landscape, blurriness can often be an issue. This is because a lower shutter speed gives a greater opportunity for either you to move the camera or the subject of the photo to move. Either of these movements will result in a blurry image, so when the subject is already in motion to start with a high shutter speed is required. Think of it as watching a TV show and opening and closing your eyes; if you open your eyes for a few seconds you’ll see the characters moving around, but if you open and close your eyes very quickly, like a reverse blink, you’ll only catch a short glimpse of the show where everyone will appear to be staying still. A high shutter speed will freeze motion.
Most phones will have some sort of automatic sports mode that adjusts these settings for you, as will most cameras. If you’re shooting manual, however, you’ll need to set a higher shutter speed on your own. Managing shutter speed, aperture, and ISO all at once is difficult enough if the subject of the photo is a landscape that hasn’t changed in years, which means it’s very difficult if the subject is highly mobile. A good way to simplify this is to use not full manual mode, but shutter priority mode (S on some cameras, Tv on others (Time variable; it does make some sense)), which allows you to set the shutter speed and let the camera work out the rest of the values for you. This means you don’t have to spend time frantically matching settings while the perfect photo happily flies or runs away. Do keep in mind that the camera, while usually very accurate, is only a camera and as such can easily make mistakes. It may be wise to set a lower exposure value than zero, as it’s always easier to make a photo lighter than darker afterwards, and to, if not set the ISO manually, set a limit on it to avoid grain.
Or…
Alternatively, don’t touch the shutter speed. If you’re confident in your ability to track a subject you can get a really interesting effect of a motion blurred background and a crisp subject by using a slower shutter speed. This will probably take a few tries, and is probably easier with a cooperative person as the subject rather than a wild animal. If you can keep the camera on the subject as they go by you, at the same speed that they’re moving, you’ll end up with them in focus and clear, and the background blurred out. This will look very interesting and convey the movement of the image much better than a static background.
Patience
The other part of taking a lot of photos is having to get rid of a lot of photos. Most, if not all, photos of moving subjects, especially wildlife, will be blurry, out of focus, improperly exposed, or suddenly of empty space as the subject takes off. While it may be frustrating at first, this is completely okay and is going to happen. Subjects will escape, moments will be missed, but if you stick with it and dial in the technical aspects you’ll eventually start keeping more than one of every twenty photos. It also pays to wait, particularly with wildlife. If you stay in one place long enough birds and other creatures will eventually stay still in a conveniently visible location, and when they do you’ll be ready to take a burst of photos, one of which will be precisely what you want. Maybe.
Wait long enough and you'll get results
Moving subjects can make every challenging aspect of photography even more so by putting a time limit on it. Hopefully these tips can make it slightly more manageable. More so than with any other styles of photography, with action, sport, or wildlife photography it can be very beneficial to practice these techniques ahead of time and get very familiar with your camera’s settings so that when the perfect moment presents itself you won’t be left fumbling. Stay with it, and eventually you’ll have fantastic exciting photos. Happy photography!
A Note from Owen, Frames in Focus Columnist:
Complete beginner looking to try a new hobby, amateur photographer looking for some tips, or total pro in need of something new to experiment with? This is the column for you! Every issue will feature a new batch of tips and tricks, with something interesting for every skill level, as well as a submissions section for you to share your work.
Page updated
Report abuse