Although the focus of this article is animals in action, the same technical principles can be applied to any subject that’s moving.
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A recent trend in the latest digital SLR’s is the inclusion of video. While it’s crossed my mind more than once that certain witnessed sequences would make a great movie, there’s nothing like capturing the decisive moment of an animal in action on a single frame. Although the focus of this article is animals in action, the same technical principles can be applied to any subject that’s moving. It could be your kid’s soccer game, cars whizzing past, or air show acrobatics. The subject is not the key - how you go about capturing it is. Moving subjects are certainly harder to capture than stationary ones, but adhering to a few tips will give you a higher return on your time in the field.
The Technical Aspects: Shutter speed / speed of the action / the ISO.
SHUTTER SPEED: The shutter speed is the key factor determining whether or not the action will be stopped. Commensurate with choosing the speed is the amount of light falling on the subject. The more light, the faster the shutter speed that can be utilized. While there are many schools of thought as to whether shutter priority is the best mode to use, the key is to be aware of the speed at which the camera fires relative to the speed of the animal. Great results can be attained using aperture priority and spinning the aperture to its widest opening to obtain the fastest possible shutter speed. Shutter priority can be used but be cognizant of the aperture the camera chooses. Manual works equally as well but the photographer has to set both the shutter and aperture to get the proper exposure.
SPEED OF THE ACTION: Logically, the faster the action the faster the necessary shutter speed to arrest it. For instance, a frame filling image of a hawk in flight requires a faster speed to freeze than a full frame horse trotting through a field. But equally as important to take into consideration is the direction of the movement. An animal approaching the camera doesn’t need as fast a shutter to halt the action as one crossing perpendicular to it. The beauty of digital capture is you can take a test shot to see if any blur is a result of too slow a speed.
ISO SETTING: If the ambient light is bright, higher shutter speeds can be utilized. High thin clouds introduce a level of difficulty if very high shutter speeds are necessary. Thick gray overcast conditions severely limit the options. Thankfully, digital photography allows us to bump up the ISO sensitivity to obtain faster shutter speeds. The problem of the law of diminishing returns comes into play if it’s too dark necessitating the use of too high an ISO. As the ISO is increased, so is the amplification of digital noise which degrades the image. As the technology of sensors continues to improve, it’s allowed shooters of high end cameras to maintain great quality even at ISO’s of 3200+ but the price tag on these cameras is high.
Autofocus Techniques: To increase the chance of getting a sharp photograph, set the camera to Continuous Auto Focus. This allows the shutter to be released even if the subject is not in focus. The intent is even though frame numbers 1 and 2 may have a soft rendering, the hope is that as you continue to fire off a burst, the lens can catch up with the action so that the rest of the frames in the sequence will be sharp. Simply delete the images that are out of focus. If you use Single Focus Priority, the shutter will not fire unless the camera confirms the subject is in focus. This prevents the possibility of having the lens catch up with the action. Based on the placement of the subject in the frame, be sure to highlight a focus point that coincides with it. If the sensor is not placed over the animal, the lens will focus in the wrong location.
The Basics - there are a number of factors that determine how well animal action can be arrested.
a) Know the Species you Intend to Photograph: do some research on the animal you intend to photograph to learn its behavior patterns. What signals does it give that it’s ready to fly? What does it do before it jumps? What time of the year is it most active - think mating season. What does it prey upon? The more you know and the more time you spend with a certain animal, the better your chance of capturing the peak moment.
b) Anticipate: once you become familiar with the species, when it gives you a signal, be ready. Patience is most certainly a virtue. Many wildlife photographers stand around waiting for hours to capture sixty seconds worth of activity. But when it happens, those sixty seconds are very rewarding.
c) Be Prepared: bring lots of memory cards and spare batteries. During the waiting period for the animal to do something, photographers often pass the time admiring their work on the LCD of their camera. This eats up big time battery power. The last thing you’d want to experience after a long wait is a dead battery so be aware of its capacity and change it if necessary. Additionally, you may need to follow the animal and unless you have the batteries and cards with you, all the following will be futile if you run out of cards or power.
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.
