Photo Inspiration: Secrets Behind Stunning Images

Action

Photography is the art of recording with light. Usually, this means that what the viewer sees is more or less exactly what he would have seen had he been standing next to the photographer at the time of capture. In some cases, however, the camera helps us reveal a reality that our own eyes were not able to perceive. Astrophotography and macro photography are two natural examples.

Action photography, whether by freezing the frame in the middle of an athletic feat or by using extreme wide angles, is another of these situations. The desire for accuracy (whatever this loaded term really means) fades away, replaced by the search for impact, a way to involve the viewer and make him feel that he was not just a spectator of the scene, but rather a full participant in it!

Action images, far from being clinical analysis of the movement of an athlete, should instead create a deep connection with the viewer, conveying a strong story and the emotion of the moment. It should grab the guts and, for just a split second, make the viewer know that this is what it feels like to climb a frozen ice pillar, or to perform a perfect soccer trick.

There are many ways to achieve this, and most rely on suggesting speed and movement via extremely high shutter speeds to freeze the action, sometimes in mid air. Care should be taken to obtain an “impossible” frame—only when the position of the subject ...