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Stop Action Photography

How to Prevent Blurry Action Photos and Get Better Focus Today

Stop action photography may seem difficult at times, but it really is worth the effort to learn how to get great action photos.

Taking an action shot of a fast moving race car or sports game is exciting. But when its time to look over the photos later, it is really frustrating to discover that a large portion of them are blurry and out of focus.

You can freeze the action in your photos, but it does take some thinking ahead. It's important to know what your camera can do, and how to adjust the settings to get the best picture possible.

Why is it so difficult to get a focused action photo?

An action photo becomes blurred when the camera's shutter is open too long and the subject is moving during the exposure. Thus movement while the camera is exposing the picture causes the blurring.

How to prevent blurry action photos

There are several techniques you can use to stop action photography and keep blurs to a minimum. (Unless of course the motion blur is intentional!)

Increase the shutter speed on the camera. Depending on the speed of the subject, faster shutter speeds may range from 1/250 of a second up to 1/1000 of a second or more. (Some basic point and shoot cameras may not have this option.)

Increase the iso. A higher iso helps the camera to "see" better in lower light. So when your camera is set to a higher iso, you will have faster shutter speeds. (Again, some cameras may not have the ability to adjust this setting.)

Put your camera on sports mode. Many newer camera's have a variety of presets to chose from. Sports mode will automatically increase the shutter speed and iso, and may even switch to continuous shooting for better capture of the action.

Hold the shutter button down halfway. Pressing it down part way tells the camera to pre-focus and get ready to shoot. This prevents shutter lag and helps you take a faster picture at the perfect moment.
Use your camera's flash. A bright flash easily freezes motion. This definitely not the best option, and can cause a variety of problems, including harsh lighting, red eye, distorted colors, etc. It also may not be allowed at an event, or may be useless when the action is at a distance. That said, it may do the job if you must capture something important and is your only option.

It's Easier with SLR Cameras

After taking a few action shots you'll soon discover why professional photographers always use SLR cameras. A point and shoot camera will make it much more difficult to get great action shots. SLR cameras have more settings to adjust and wide variety of lenses to choose from.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Learn how to work with the settings on your camera, then apply some of these techniques next time you are shooting a fast moving subject.

Ending your frustration of blurry photos will take some practice, but it is well worth the effort when you do capture amazing stop action photography.

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