PHOTOS THAT INSPIRE PHOTO WORKSHOP

Chapter 4. Action, Sports, and Motion Photography

Action photos are some of the most exciting ones that we can create. However, portraying action and motion is challenging and requires timing and skill. The first thing you must decide is how you want to portray movement. Some kinds of action are best expressed by freezing their peak moments. You may want to use a fast shutter speed so that every detail is very sharp — a basketball player suspended in midair, or a skateboarder at the peak of his upward momentum. However, at other times you may choose to blur your subject intentionally with a slow shutter speed to emphasize the feeling of motion. For example, you can open your shutter and allow subjects like dancers to move across your frame in a blur of color. Whatever way you choose to portray action, it's fun to experiment with a variety of shutter speeds, vantage points, lenses and styles.

Besides shooting the typical sports action, sometimes it's nice to capture special moments as this photographer did during a Little League game. A fast shutter speed froze the mud spraying from the catcher's mitt, and a long telephoto lens brought the action in close. When using such a long telephoto, sharp focus is critical. For this reason, many sports photographers use a monopod to steady their cameras. A tripod often gets in the way at busy sporting events. When capturing split-second action like this, it's a good idea to use your camera's motor drive or sports mode to shoot several frames ...