Lights… camera… action!

A quick reminder for those of you who shoot action shots: shots where the subject is moving.

For anything where the subject is moving, you may want to:

  1. Use Tv/S or manual mode (or Av/A mode with a large aperture) to set the exposure time to 1/200th sec or faster – the faster, the better, typically..
  2. Use a high ISO (in hockey arenas and wedding dance halls, you may well need 1600 ISO).
  3. Use the center focus point
  4. Set the focus mode (the “how does the camera focus) to “Continuous” (AF-C/AI Servo).
  5. Set the drive mode to continuous.
  6. If you are moving with the subject,  turn off your lens’s stabiliser, unless you have a “mode 2” for panning.
  7. You may want to try JPG shots for these.

And finally, do think about how you want to show or freeze motion. It is not a given that all motion must be frozen. A hint of motion blur can show the viewer that something was actually happening, and that they are not staring at a statue.