February 26, 2024 • 23 mins
In this episode of the Travel and Adventure Photography SchoolPpodcast, host Robert Massey delves into the exciting world of action photography.
Drawing from his experience as a former sports photographer, Robert shares valuable insights and techniques for capturing dynamic action shots, covering topics such as understanding shutter speed, selecting the right gear, utilizing burst mode and predictive autofocus, exploring creative techniques like panning and intentional motion blur, mastering composition, and capturing the decisive moment.
These tips and advice will help elevate your adventure and travel photography to new heights.
Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.
Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!
Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
How's it going everybody.
Welcome back to the traveladventure photography school,
the podcast where we explore theworld of adventure and travel
photography, to help you masterthis style of photography.
As always I'm your host RobertMassey.
And in today's episode, we'redelving into the thrilling world
of action photography fromhiking to rock climbing, surfing
to wildlife encounters,capturing dynamic action shots
(00:24):
is an essential skill for anyadventure or travel
photographer.
If you've listened to previousepisodes, you may know that my
start in photography came frommy time as a photo journalist
and a sports photographer inparticular.
So I've spent hundreds of hourscapturing high action events,
like hockey, rodeos, basketballtrack, and field, rugby, rock
(00:45):
climbing, skijoring recently allsorts of amazing high octane
events.
This was my bread and butter fora years in photography.
So I am stoked to share some ofmy knowledge with you and to get
to talk about something that Idon't do as often as I used to.
And I really loved.
So at the end of today, youshould know everything.
You need to start capturingthose decisive moments in fast
(01:07):
paced environments.
And honestly, it is superexciting to get to be there.
All right.
Let's get going.
Let's start by diving into thefundamentals of action
photography.
At its core action photographyis about capturing moments of
movement, energy, and criticalpoints in a game or an
adventure.
Whether it's a surfer catching awave, a rock climber scaling a
(01:28):
cliff, a trail runner racingthrough rugged terrain, action
photography allows us to freezethose adrenaline fueled
experiences in detail youactually can't experience while
doing those activities andpeople can't experience while
watching them.
So the first thing you need toknow is understanding your
shutter speed's roll in freezingmotion.
That is central to masteringaction photography.
(01:50):
Shutter speed refers to theamount of time your camera
shutter remains open to allowlight onto the camera's sensor.
In action photography, a fastshutter speed is essential to
freeze fast moving subjects andcapture sharp, detailed, images.
Now if you don't know what Imean by fast shutter speeds.
Definitely go and review theepisodes on the exposure
triangle.
We go over all of those detailsand how the exposure triangle
(02:12):
kind of interacts.
But we're going to dig into thatjust a little bit here for you.
So for example, whenphotographing rock climbing,
where climbers, ascend, verticalcliffs with speed and agility, a
shutter speed of at least one,500th of a second or faster is
recommended to freeze theclimbers in mid action.
This is great for most forms ofrock climbing.
Like when people are moving alittle bit slower, they're
reaching for rocks, they'redoing the typical, slower, more
(02:35):
thoughtful movements in rockclimbing.
But if you're getting into speedclimbing, when people are doing
things like a dyno, you'll needan even faster shutter speed to
avoid that motion blur andreally show them frozen in the
action.
Similarly when capturing trailrunning, a shutter speed of
around one, 1000th of a secondor faster is going to be
necessary to freeze thoserunners in motion.
And this really depends on howfast they are running, but
(02:55):
generally speaking, you'll needone, 1000th to start.
And then to play with it fromthere.
Now, these are really just a fewexamples there to get your mind
going in to get you thinkingabout it.
And it's really going to bevariable and depend a lot on the
situation that you're in, on thespeed of your subject.
What you're trying to freeze,what's critical for you.
All sorts of other littledetails, but that should give
(03:16):
you an idea of start thinking ofjust how fast your shutter needs
to go to start freezing action.
Now, honestly, there weremoments during rodeos where I
knew I wanted the dust itselffrozen in the air.
That means an even fastershutter speed than I needed just
to freeze the athletes and theanimals doing their thing.
So I would look at a shutterspeed of at least 3,200.
(03:37):
Sometimes I could get it up to8,000 and that was letting me
get just little droplets of mudfrozen in the air around the
athlete that was allowing me toget every single minute, little
detail.
They almost felt over detailedat points when you were looking
at them, which was exactly whatI wanted.
I wanted people to really beengrossed and see everything
just frozen in time.
(03:58):
But now it's crucial torecognize that give and take
higher shutter speeds cause, andthat adjusting the shutter speed
is really just one part of thatexposure triangle we were
talking about that includesaperture and ISO.
Now the exposure trianglerepresents that delicate balance
between these three elements andadjusting one affects the
others.
And so you need to find thatbalance between them.
(04:19):
When selecting a shutter speedto freeze action, you'll need to
consider how fast your subjectis going, what you can capture
in there, what you need tocapture in there.
And a faster shutter speedallows for better motion
freezing, but may require awider aperture or higher ISO to
maintain your proper exposure.
For example, when capturing thehigh-octane events, Skijoring
where horses pull skiers andsnowboarders down a series of
(04:40):
jumps while they pull tricks.
Yes, this is a real thing.
It is spectacular to watch.
And it goes by in the blink ofan eye, you just have no idea
how fast these horses are movingwith these skiers and
snowboarders until you watchthem just rip past you on the
track.
So while I was shooting this, Iknew I wanted a wider depth of
field so I could capture theathletes and all of them because
(05:00):
they were moving so quickly.
Sometimes they would just blowthrough the camera, being able
to focus on those.
So I wanted a better chance tomake sure more of them was in
focused.
I knew I didn't want to razorthin aperture because those
athletes were moving so quickly,that that gave me less of a
chance of being able to capturemore of them in focus, to be
able to deliver a high impactimage.
(05:20):
I knew I also wanted that widerdepth of field so I could
capture the athlete as well asthe reaction of the crowd to
their stunts.
And there are some spectacularfacial reactions as somebody
goes off a jump and pulls off afull backflip 30 feet in the air
it's mind blowing to watch, andthen they land and you can see
these people's faces of just aweand amazement.
And had I been shooting with arazor thin aperture.
(05:42):
I might not have been able tosee those people's faces.
So I knew that I had to do this,but the offset to being able to
have a high shutter speed and afairly high aperture.
Was that I needed to crank myISO.
And in my eyes, that is a wellworthwhile trade off.
To be able to see that wholestory of the event, to be able
to see that story of how peoplewere reacting to it.
(06:04):
Plus I knew the limits of thecamera was shooting on.
It was a Sony, a seven four thathas a really great sensor in it
where you can actually get thatISO pretty high before you get
out of the usable range of animage.
So I knew that I'd be able torecover a lot of that detail and
I knew things would be prettygood.
So by understanding thatinterplay between shutter speed
aperture and ISO you can reallyeffectively balance these
(06:25):
elements to tell the story youwant.
Alright, next up is the gearyou're going to need.
This is one of those placeswhere the camera really does
make a difference.
A lot of times you can shootpretty much anything on any type
of camera, but in this case,high action really does need
certain specialized pieces ofequipment.
(06:45):
It's cause some cameras actuallytop out at a shutter speed of
like 3,200.
And that is not even close towhat you'll need to freeze.
Action.
So first and foremost, yourcamera should be capable of
shooting at high shutter speedsto freeze motion.
Most cameras today can achieve aminimum of one, 8000th of a
second with their physicalshutter or even more with the
electronic shutters.
And Sony's new A nine three withthat fantastic global shutter
(07:08):
can even get to 120 frames persecond while tracking a subject.
That is truly mind blowing tome.
And I would have loved to havehad that as a sports
photographer.
It would have been a total gamechanger.
So look for your camera that hasthat really quick shutter speed
to it.
(07:29):
Now, in addition to pure speed,you'll need a camera with fast
auto focus capabilities toensure that your subject remains
sharply in focus.
Even amidst that fast pacedaction.
So look for a camera that offerssnappy autofocus performance and
allows you to track movingsubjects.
This is critical as you'll befollowing subjects through
frames and through scenes andyour camera needs to keep up.
(07:50):
And with the other criticalthings that you'll need is an
autofocus system that doesn'tjump between subjects.
You'll need to find one.
That allows you to focus on onespecific subject.
It identifies it, and you'll beable to track it as they pass
between other players as theypass behind objects, as they
move through things that couldcause that autofocus to jump
onto another subject.
You want one that will know thisis what I'm looking at.
(08:14):
This is what I need to stay on.
Even when it moves behindsomething.
Alright, now let's talk lenses.
A fast lens with wide apertureis essential for capturing sharp
images in environments where youcan't add additional light.
So look for a lens with a wide,maximum aperture, such as 2.8 or
wider.
To allow plenty of light toreach your camera's sensor.
This is especially importantwhen shooting inside places like
(08:36):
a hockey rink or a climbing gymwhere you can't set up external
flashes to help compensate forhow dark it is.
And you need to capture thatmovement really quickly.
One of the other benefits towide apertures, is that you can
also create better separationbetween your subject and their
background, isolating yoursubject and drawing attention to
the action because thatbackground becomes a little bit
blurrier.
And finally, one of the otherthings you should consider with
(08:56):
lenses is how fast that lensitself focuses.
Some lenses are really sluggishand that focus motor just can't
keep up or focus hunts.
And it kind of guesses around atwhat it's trying to do.
That is not a problem with yourcamera.
That actually is a problem withthe focus motor on the lens
itself.
And this is particularly aproblem with cheaper lenses and
(09:16):
older lenses where they justcan't keep up with the focus
capabilities of cameras today.
So they will skip, they willstutter and you will end up
missing more shots because ofthat.
So if you're really into actionphotography, you need to look
for a lens that can keep up withyour camera.
Now.
Sticking with lenses.
We're going to talk about focallength and you need to consider
(09:38):
the specific type of actionphotography you'll be focusing
on.
So, for example, if you'recapturing fast moving subjects,
like wildlife, and they're goingto be at a distance from you.
A telephoto lens with a longfocal length will allow you to
zoom in and capture that stufffrom a distance.
It's especially important inwildlife photography, where you
really won't be able to get upto that wildlife.
And you really shouldn't begetting up to that wildlife.
So telephoto lenses are superimportant.
(10:00):
On the other hand, if you'reshooting action in tight spaces
or need to capture a wide fieldof view, wide angle lenses may
be more suitable.
It really is dependent on thesituation and where you will be
able to shoot from.
It'll also depend on your ownpersonal stylistic choices.
For the most part when I was aphoto journalist, I used medium
telephoto lenses.
But when capturing things likebiking, I love an excellent wide
(10:23):
angle lens to get that viewerinto the action of really let
that bike come really uptight tothe camera.
And this was especiallyimportant in situations where it
wasn't a competition.
So I was able to get right ontothe track with the athletes and
they were able to work with meto get really close to the lens.
Now, one last thing you shouldconsider investing in is a good
camera strap or a harness thatallows for quick and easy access
(10:45):
to your camera.
While, keeping it secure to yourbody.
I have a harness set up thatallows me to carry two cameras
at once.
And keeps them in easy reach.
So they're just hanging down bymy hips and I can just grab one
and pull it up, put it down,grabbing the other and pull it
up.
So I always had typically a,something like a 24 to 70 and
then a 70 to 200 or.
Similar kind of ranges.
So I'd be able to capturesomething at a distance and then
(11:06):
something close up.
If you look at sportsphotographers on the sidelines
of like an NFL game, you'll seethat they typically have four or
five cameras attached to them.
One's on a monopod.
That's normally like a 400 or500 millimeter lens.
You'll see another one that'ssomething like a 70 to 200.
You'll see another one.
That's.
You know, a 24 to 70, you'll seeanother one.
That's a 16 mil.
They are ready for anything tohappen in front of them.
(11:29):
And yeah, that does get heavywhen you start attaching that
many cameras to you and it getsawkward to start shooting.
So one of the things I loveabout my harness set up,
especially when I'm trying tomove fast and light is that I
can easily grab them while I'mrunning to different spots to
shoot different photos and I canhold onto them, which helps me
prevent them from banging itobjects while I go running by.
All right.
Some techniques for freezingaction.
(11:50):
As we've previously discussedone key component of action
photography is using a fastshutter speed to freeze motion.
We're not covering that again.
Instead, let's explore anothervaluable technique burst mode.
Burst mode also known ascontinuous shooting allows you
to quickly capture a rapidseries of images with just a
single press of the shutter.
This can be incredibly useful infast paced action scenarios.
(12:11):
As it increases your chances ofcapturing that perfect moment.
Now, one caveat to this, you canalso miss the perfect moment if
you are just as old schoolreporters, put it spraying and
praying.
This is where you continuouslyshoot everything with burst
mode.
And you're just praying thatwhat you want is going to be
there in front of you.
And that's instead of justwaiting for those pivotal
(12:33):
moments.
So you are better off getting tounderstand the sport you are
shooting and waiting for thosepivotal moments and then letting
the shutter fly.
Cause if you're here justshooting.
Absolutely everything.
A, you have a lot more photos togo through, which means you can
actually miss that criticalphoto in there.
There's more of a chance thatyour buffer on your camera's
going to be buffering and you'regoing to miss the critical
photo.
Or you're just going to be inbetween moments and you just
(12:56):
won't have that exact right.
Second to capture what you need.
And I learned this from one ofthe Getty images, sports
photographers.
He used to shoot in Calgary allthe time.
And that was his big thing.
He would wait and wait and waituntil right as a critical moment
was occurring and then shoot.
And that was because he learnedwhen he was just spraying and
praying that a lot of the timesthat critical moment was
(13:18):
happening, between the imagesthat we're firing off.
So he would wait and he wouldlearn how the action was coming
in front of him and then firesomething off.
Plus it saved him time behindthe computer because he wasn't
hunting as much for the rightphoto.
In addition to burst mode,consider using predictive auto
focus to track moving subjectsand maintain focus as they move
across the frame.
This allows you to keep yoursubject in focus even as they
(13:39):
change speed or direction,ensuring that your action shots
are still sharp and wellfocused.
We were talking about thisbefore, where you need a camera
that will track your subject asyou were going.
Now, one of the other ways toensure that your subject is in
focus is to practice zonefocusing.
This comes from the world ofmanual focus.
And from a time before autofocuswas as reliable as it is today.
(14:01):
It's where you focus on a zoneof action, you know, your
subject will pass through.
Then when they come into it, youare guaranteed to capture images
in focus at that point.
It's definitely a little morecumbersome, but if your camera
doesn't have trackingcapabilities or you can't track
the subject before they comeinto the frame, like they are
coming out from behind abuilding or they're in a lot of
trees.
This is a great option.
(14:22):
Now to do this.
Put your lens into manual focusand focus on an important area
where your subject will passthrough and then wait.
Don't move your camera or yourfocus zone will change.
And then when they start cominginto that area, fire off your
shutter use burst mode, let thempass through that zone.
And something in there should bein focus for you.
This does take a lot ofpractice.
But it's a well worthwhile thingto learn how to do, because it
(14:45):
just increases your chancesagain, of getting a great photo.
Finally, one of the moreadvanced techniques to consider
is panning.
Panning involves moving yourcamera along with the subject,
as it moves, keeping the subjectrelatively sharp while blurring
the background, creating a senseof motion and energy in the
image.
This technique worksparticularly well for capturing
subjects like cyclists, runnersor cars in motion.
(15:06):
The key is to keep the cameramoving consistently and match
your subject's movement andpace.
And typically if you'recapturing something like a car
or runners, you will want tokeep your camera moving just in
a horizontal line.
You don't want to be going upand down at all.
So shooting this on a monopodreally helps.
Because then you are more likelyto just keep it in one specific
(15:26):
spot or you can also use thepanning head on a tripod.
Now, well, we've emphasized theimportance of using a fast
shutter speed to freeze motionand action photography.
There are times whendeliberately dropping your
shutter speed can enhance thevisual impact of your images.
In certain situations, allowingparts of your image to blur
intentionally can add a sense ofenergy and create more
compelling visuals that evokeexcitement and some emotion into
(15:48):
that scene.
So one scenario where droppingyour shutter speed can be
beneficial is when you want toconvey a sense of speed and
motion to your images.
For example, when photographinga cyclist, racing down a winding
trail or a skier carving throughfresh powder, intentionally
lowering your shutter speed canaccentuate the sense of speed
and motion creating dynamic,streaks and blurs that convey
that thrill of movement andmotion.
Similarly dropping your shutterspeed can be effective when
(16:09):
photographing subjects withrepetitive or rhythmic movements
such as dancers or athletes inmotion.
By allowing some aspects of theimage to blur while keeping the
main subject sharp, you cancreate a sense of fluidity and
rhythm capturing the dynamicenergy of that scene.
So we're thinking about keepingthat dancers torso.
Kind of frozen their head kindof frozen depending on how
they're positioning and thenwatching their arms turn into a
(16:31):
blurry windmill.
That really shows how fast thatdancer is moving and the control
they have over their body,because it's just one part
that's blurring.
And the rest of them is nice andtight and sharp.
So it's really important to notethat when you're intentionally
introducing motion blur intoyour images, you need to be very
careful with your compositionand with your framing.
And you need to consider thedirection of movement within the
frame and position your mainsubject accordingly to create
(16:53):
that sense of flow anddirectionality and make sure
that everything kind of makessense in the frame.
Ultimately the decision droppedyour shutter and introduced
motion blur into your actionphotography should be driven by
your creative vision and thestory you really want to convey.
Okay.
onto the most critical aspect ofa great action shot.
Composition.
This may not seem as importantwith action shots as it does
(17:15):
with say weddings or landscapes,because the primary focus should
be what's happening in the sportor in the action in front of
you.
And that's kind of true, butonly to a point.
There are some criticalcomponents to composing a strong
action photo that will help yourphoto stand out.
So the first thing you need todecide is if you are shooting
tight or wide, Tight, let youget right into the action.
(17:36):
Showing small details andmoments.
This great for showing facialexpressions, small details and
things spectators may miss.
Wide get you a morecomprehensive look at the scene,
showing the surroundings orproviding a larger than life
feeling if your subject comesright up to your lens.
Now you need to look for ways toget your subject to stand out in
the shop.
Can you isolate them against thesolid background?
So your subject isn't lost in amessy background where your
(17:57):
viewer struggles to see them.
Can you have them go through abright spot in that image where
they will be spotlighted againsteverything else around them?
Can you capture them framed bysomething interesting, like a
mountain peak or a building?
Can you find a leading line thatdraws your viewer into the
action?
These are all kinds of thequestions that you can ask
yourself when composing youraction scene.
Now, one of the best piece ofadvice I've ever read, came from
(18:19):
a mountain bike photographer,who said she sets up a beautiful
landscape shot.
And then has the cyclist rightthrough it.
Her idea, being that if thatlandscape shot is beautiful.
You're going to see that cyclistcome into it and it's still
going to be a beautiful photoand it's going to become a
beautiful action photo.
This always plays in my mindwhen I'm out capturing biking or
(18:39):
trail running, I'm alwayslooking for ways to show that
athlete in the landscape, theyparticipate in.
Now, whether you're capturing asporting event or working with
athletes to capture photosdirectly.
Your positioning is critical.
Get to know the best spots on acourse or in an arena if you're
capturing a live sporting event.
This gives you the best chanceof capturing the critical
(18:59):
moments during a game.
And you need to understand thestrengths and weaknesses of each
one of those locations.
One of the things I learnedwhile shooting hockey, was that
it was great to start the firstperiod where you could see an
overarching look at the entiregame.
So you kind of wanted to get uphigh.
You want to be able to look overthe whole ice surface and be
able to capture a little bit ofthe benches, the players in
action, a few face offs, butthen as the game went on, you
(19:21):
wanted to get right up tight tothe action, to be able to show
some of those critical momentsof goals being scored, saves
being made.
You want it to be able to showthe power and the energy of the
sport.
So I actually moved aroundarenas quite a bit to be able to
capture exactly what I needed.
And then typically, especiallybecause I got to know the teams
really well.
I was able to go onto theirbench to shoot for the third
(19:44):
period.
And that really helped because.
No matter what the outcome tothe game was, if they win or if
they lose, I was so close to theemotional reactions of those
players that I was able tocapture it.
So that was a huge benefit.
But I also knew that's where Iwanted to be to capture that end
game emotion.
Now, if you were workingdirectly with athletes, work
(20:04):
with them to find trails, thatwill show off the story you were
looking to tell.
Work with them to find the rightlocations and anything else
that's going to help show offwhat action they are doing and
then get yourself into the rightspots to capture the images you
need.
Get low, get high, climb, atree, move all over the place
just to find that right angle.
And don't be afraid to getdirty.
(20:26):
Some of my best photos have comefrom laying in the mud and
letting people spray me.
Or getting paddlers to launchwater at me while I'm shoulder
deep in a lake.
Or sitting on a fence and havingrodeo guys kick mud and dirt up
into my face.
Those are some of the bestphotos I've taken because I am
in the action.
And the action is right there infront of the lens.
(20:46):
And one last thought.
If you're working with athletesdirectly, pick their wardrobe
carefully.
Consider where you will capturetheir photos and choose clothing
that will help them pop out fromthe background.
We've talked about this a lot.
But just to remind you inforests, yellows, and reds,
really pop, out against, thosetypical blues greens and grays
of the forest landscapes.
In the desert blues and whiteslook crisp against those deep
(21:07):
reds.
And you've really just got toconsider that color space and
that color balance to help yourathlete and your subject pop.
Now, the last opportunitiesepisode is about capturing the
decisive moment.
This is really what you are hereto do.
Get that second, when theimportant thing happens, that
goal gets scored.
The person hits the post whilethey are hurdling.
(21:29):
They come across the finishline.
The mountain biker pulls offtheir trick.
The mountain biker crashes intoa tree.
Whatever that critical thing isthat happens.
That's what you, we're here tocapture.
So it's essential to familiarizeyourself with the activity
you're photographing andanticipate key moments of
action.
Whether you're studying themovements of a surfer or
observing the behavior ofwildlife, understanding the
subject's behavior will enableyou to anticipate and capture
(21:52):
those decisive moments.
When I shot the same hockeyteams over and over again.
I got to know the players reallywell, and I got to know what
their standard movement patternswere and what they were
predisposed to do during certaingame moments.
This meant I could anticipatewhat they would do and ensure I
followed them through a play andI captured more critical moments
(22:13):
during games, because I couldanticipate what these players
were doing.
So getting to this point in asport will really help your
action photos pop.
That's why it is so cool toshoot something and shoot an
activity that you love doing.
If you love trail running.
You have a pretty good idea ofwhat somebody is going to be
doing.
When they are approachingcertain obstacles.
If you love mountain biking,it's the same thing.
(22:33):
If you love hockey, same thing.
Shooting those sports that youlove will really help your
action photos to pop.
All right.
And that's it for today.
Those are my simple tips forstarting to capture high octane
events.
And I really hope you found ourexploration of action
photography techniques,informative and inspiring.
Mastering these techniques willelevate your adventure and
travel photography to newheights.
(22:55):
If you have any questions,feedback, ideas for future
episodes.
I'd love to hear from you.
Reach out to me on instagram@robertmasseyphotography or
visit my website atrobertmasseyphotography.ca,
where you can reach out as well.
Your input helps shape thecontent of this podcast.
And I'm always eager to connectwith fellow adventure
photographers like you.
I love having conversations likethis.
So reach out to me.
And, heartfelt, thank you forlistening.
(23:17):
Your support means the world tome.
And I'm so grateful for theopportunity to be part of your
photography journey.
So if you enjoy today's episodeand you want to stay tuned for
more and you want to be updated,definitely subscribe.
And follow along so that, youknow, when more episodes are
released.
All right.
That's it for today, everybody.
Get out there.
Let's adventure.
Bye for now.
How's it going everybody.
Welcome back to the traveladventure photography school,
the podcast where we explore theworld of adventure and travel
photography, to help you masterthis style of photography.
As always I'm your host RobertMassey.
And in today's episode, we'redelving into the thrilling world
of action photography fromhiking to rock climbing, surfing
to wildlife encounters,capturing dynamic action shots
(00:24):
is an essential skill for anyadventure or travel
photographer.
If you've listened to previousepisodes, you may know that my
start in photography came frommy time as a photo journalist
and a sports photographer inparticular.
So I've spent hundreds of hourscapturing high action events,
like hockey, rodeos, basketballtrack, and field, rugby, rock
(00:45):
climbing, skijoring recently allsorts of amazing high octane
events.
This was my bread and butter fora years in photography.
So I am stoked to share some ofmy knowledge with you and to get
to talk about something that Idon't do as often as I used to.
And I really loved.
So at the end of today, youshould know everything.
You need to start capturingthose decisive moments in fast
(01:07):
paced environments.
And honestly, it is superexciting to get to be there.
All right.
Let's get going.
Let's start by diving into thefundamentals of action
photography.
At its core action photographyis about capturing moments of
movement, energy, and criticalpoints in a game or an
adventure.
Whether it's a surfer catching awave, a rock climber scaling a
(01:28):
cliff, a trail runner racingthrough rugged terrain, action
photography allows us to freezethose adrenaline fueled
experiences in detail youactually can't experience while
doing those activities andpeople can't experience while
watching them.
So the first thing you need toknow is understanding your
shutter speed's roll in freezingmotion.
That is central to masteringaction photography.
(01:50):
Shutter speed refers to theamount of time your camera
shutter remains open to allowlight onto the camera's sensor.
In action photography, a fastshutter speed is essential to
freeze fast moving subjects andcapture sharp, detailed, images.
Now if you don't know what Imean by fast shutter speeds.
Definitely go and review theepisodes on the exposure
triangle.
We go over all of those detailsand how the exposure triangle
(02:12):
kind of interacts.
But we're going to dig into thatjust a little bit here for you.
So for example, whenphotographing rock climbing,
where climbers, ascend, verticalcliffs with speed and agility, a
shutter speed of at least one,500th of a second or faster is
recommended to freeze theclimbers in mid action.
This is great for most forms ofrock climbing.
Like when people are moving alittle bit slower, they're
reaching for rocks, they'redoing the typical, slower, more
(02:35):
thoughtful movements in rockclimbing.
But if you're getting into speedclimbing, when people are doing
things like a dyno, you'll needan even faster shutter speed to
avoid that motion blur andreally show them frozen in the
action.
Similarly when capturing trailrunning, a shutter speed of
around one, 1000th of a secondor faster is going to be
necessary to freeze thoserunners in motion.
And this really depends on howfast they are running, but
(02:55):
generally speaking, you'll needone, 1000th to start.
And then to play with it fromthere.
Now, these are really just a fewexamples there to get your mind
going in to get you thinkingabout it.
And it's really going to bevariable and depend a lot on the
situation that you're in, on thespeed of your subject.
What you're trying to freeze,what's critical for you.
All sorts of other littledetails, but that should give
(03:16):
you an idea of start thinking ofjust how fast your shutter needs
to go to start freezing action.
Now, honestly, there weremoments during rodeos where I
knew I wanted the dust itselffrozen in the air.
That means an even fastershutter speed than I needed just
to freeze the athletes and theanimals doing their thing.
So I would look at a shutterspeed of at least 3,200.
(03:37):
Sometimes I could get it up to8,000 and that was letting me
get just little droplets of mudfrozen in the air around the
athlete that was allowing me toget every single minute, little
detail.
They almost felt over detailedat points when you were looking
at them, which was exactly whatI wanted.
I wanted people to really beengrossed and see everything
just frozen in time.
(03:58):
But now it's crucial torecognize that give and take
higher shutter speeds cause, andthat adjusting the shutter speed
is really just one part of thatexposure triangle we were
talking about that includesaperture and ISO.
Now the exposure trianglerepresents that delicate balance
between these three elements andadjusting one affects the
others.
And so you need to find thatbalance between them.
(04:19):
When selecting a shutter speedto freeze action, you'll need to
consider how fast your subjectis going, what you can capture
in there, what you need tocapture in there.
And a faster shutter speedallows for better motion
freezing, but may require awider aperture or higher ISO to
maintain your proper exposure.
For example, when capturing thehigh-octane events, Skijoring
where horses pull skiers andsnowboarders down a series of
(04:40):
jumps while they pull tricks.
Yes, this is a real thing.
It is spectacular to watch.
And it goes by in the blink ofan eye, you just have no idea
how fast these horses are movingwith these skiers and
snowboarders until you watchthem just rip past you on the
track.
So while I was shooting this, Iknew I wanted a wider depth of
field so I could capture theathletes and all of them because
(05:00):
they were moving so quickly.
Sometimes they would just blowthrough the camera, being able
to focus on those.
So I wanted a better chance tomake sure more of them was in
focused.
I knew I didn't want to razorthin aperture because those
athletes were moving so quickly,that that gave me less of a
chance of being able to capturemore of them in focus, to be
able to deliver a high impactimage.
(05:20):
I knew I also wanted that widerdepth of field so I could
capture the athlete as well asthe reaction of the crowd to
their stunts.
And there are some spectacularfacial reactions as somebody
goes off a jump and pulls off afull backflip 30 feet in the air
it's mind blowing to watch, andthen they land and you can see
these people's faces of just aweand amazement.
And had I been shooting with arazor thin aperture.
(05:42):
I might not have been able tosee those people's faces.
So I knew that I had to do this,but the offset to being able to
have a high shutter speed and afairly high aperture.
Was that I needed to crank myISO.
And in my eyes, that is a wellworthwhile trade off.
To be able to see that wholestory of the event, to be able
to see that story of how peoplewere reacting to it.
(06:04):
Plus I knew the limits of thecamera was shooting on.
It was a Sony, a seven four thathas a really great sensor in it
where you can actually get thatISO pretty high before you get
out of the usable range of animage.
So I knew that I'd be able torecover a lot of that detail and
I knew things would be prettygood.
So by understanding thatinterplay between shutter speed
aperture and ISO you can reallyeffectively balance these
(06:25):
elements to tell the story youwant.
Alright, next up is the gearyou're going to need.
This is one of those placeswhere the camera really does
make a difference.
A lot of times you can shootpretty much anything on any type
of camera, but in this case,high action really does need
certain specialized pieces ofequipment.
(06:45):
It's cause some cameras actuallytop out at a shutter speed of
like 3,200.
And that is not even close towhat you'll need to freeze.
Action.
So first and foremost, yourcamera should be capable of
shooting at high shutter speedsto freeze motion.
Most cameras today can achieve aminimum of one, 8000th of a
second with their physicalshutter or even more with the
electronic shutters.
And Sony's new A nine three withthat fantastic global shutter
(07:08):
can even get to 120 frames persecond while tracking a subject.
That is truly mind blowing tome.
And I would have loved to havehad that as a sports
photographer.
It would have been a total gamechanger.
So look for your camera that hasthat really quick shutter speed
to it.
(07:29):
Now, in addition to pure speed,you'll need a camera with fast
auto focus capabilities toensure that your subject remains
sharply in focus.
Even amidst that fast pacedaction.
So look for a camera that offerssnappy autofocus performance and
allows you to track movingsubjects.
This is critical as you'll befollowing subjects through
frames and through scenes andyour camera needs to keep up.
(07:50):
And with the other criticalthings that you'll need is an
autofocus system that doesn'tjump between subjects.
You'll need to find one.
That allows you to focus on onespecific subject.
It identifies it, and you'll beable to track it as they pass
between other players as theypass behind objects, as they
move through things that couldcause that autofocus to jump
onto another subject.
You want one that will know thisis what I'm looking at.
(08:14):
This is what I need to stay on.
Even when it moves behindsomething.
Alright, now let's talk lenses.
A fast lens with wide apertureis essential for capturing sharp
images in environments where youcan't add additional light.
So look for a lens with a wide,maximum aperture, such as 2.8 or
wider.
To allow plenty of light toreach your camera's sensor.
This is especially importantwhen shooting inside places like
(08:36):
a hockey rink or a climbing gymwhere you can't set up external
flashes to help compensate forhow dark it is.
And you need to capture thatmovement really quickly.
One of the other benefits towide apertures, is that you can
also create better separationbetween your subject and their
background, isolating yoursubject and drawing attention to
the action because thatbackground becomes a little bit
blurrier.
And finally, one of the otherthings you should consider with
(08:56):
lenses is how fast that lensitself focuses.
Some lenses are really sluggishand that focus motor just can't
keep up or focus hunts.
And it kind of guesses around atwhat it's trying to do.
That is not a problem with yourcamera.
That actually is a problem withthe focus motor on the lens
itself.
And this is particularly aproblem with cheaper lenses and
(09:16):
older lenses where they justcan't keep up with the focus
capabilities of cameras today.
So they will skip, they willstutter and you will end up
missing more shots because ofthat.
So if you're really into actionphotography, you need to look
for a lens that can keep up withyour camera.
Now.
Sticking with lenses.
We're going to talk about focallength and you need to consider
(09:38):
the specific type of actionphotography you'll be focusing
on.
So, for example, if you'recapturing fast moving subjects,
like wildlife, and they're goingto be at a distance from you.
A telephoto lens with a longfocal length will allow you to
zoom in and capture that stufffrom a distance.
It's especially important inwildlife photography, where you
really won't be able to get upto that wildlife.
And you really shouldn't begetting up to that wildlife.
So telephoto lenses are superimportant.
(10:00):
On the other hand, if you'reshooting action in tight spaces
or need to capture a wide fieldof view, wide angle lenses may
be more suitable.
It really is dependent on thesituation and where you will be
able to shoot from.
It'll also depend on your ownpersonal stylistic choices.
For the most part when I was aphoto journalist, I used medium
telephoto lenses.
But when capturing things likebiking, I love an excellent wide
(10:23):
angle lens to get that viewerinto the action of really let
that bike come really uptight tothe camera.
And this was especiallyimportant in situations where it
wasn't a competition.
So I was able to get right ontothe track with the athletes and
they were able to work with meto get really close to the lens.
Now, one last thing you shouldconsider investing in is a good
camera strap or a harness thatallows for quick and easy access
(10:45):
to your camera.
While, keeping it secure to yourbody.
I have a harness set up thatallows me to carry two cameras
at once.
And keeps them in easy reach.
So they're just hanging down bymy hips and I can just grab one
and pull it up, put it down,grabbing the other and pull it
up.
So I always had typically a,something like a 24 to 70 and
then a 70 to 200 or.
Similar kind of ranges.
So I'd be able to capturesomething at a distance and then
(11:06):
something close up.
If you look at sportsphotographers on the sidelines
of like an NFL game, you'll seethat they typically have four or
five cameras attached to them.
One's on a monopod.
That's normally like a 400 or500 millimeter lens.
You'll see another one that'ssomething like a 70 to 200.
You'll see another one.
That's.
You know, a 24 to 70, you'll seeanother one.
That's a 16 mil.
They are ready for anything tohappen in front of them.
(11:29):
And yeah, that does get heavywhen you start attaching that
many cameras to you and it getsawkward to start shooting.
So one of the things I loveabout my harness set up,
especially when I'm trying tomove fast and light is that I
can easily grab them while I'mrunning to different spots to
shoot different photos and I canhold onto them, which helps me
prevent them from banging itobjects while I go running by.
All right.
Some techniques for freezingaction.
(11:50):
As we've previously discussedone key component of action
photography is using a fastshutter speed to freeze motion.
We're not covering that again.
Instead, let's explore anothervaluable technique burst mode.
Burst mode also known ascontinuous shooting allows you
to quickly capture a rapidseries of images with just a
single press of the shutter.
This can be incredibly useful infast paced action scenarios.
(12:11):
As it increases your chances ofcapturing that perfect moment.
Now, one caveat to this, you canalso miss the perfect moment if
you are just as old schoolreporters, put it spraying and
praying.
This is where you continuouslyshoot everything with burst
mode.
And you're just praying thatwhat you want is going to be
there in front of you.
And that's instead of justwaiting for those pivotal
(12:33):
moments.
So you are better off getting tounderstand the sport you are
shooting and waiting for thosepivotal moments and then letting
the shutter fly.
Cause if you're here justshooting.
Absolutely everything.
A, you have a lot more photos togo through, which means you can
actually miss that criticalphoto in there.
There's more of a chance thatyour buffer on your camera's
going to be buffering and you'regoing to miss the critical
photo.
Or you're just going to be inbetween moments and you just
(12:56):
won't have that exact right.
Second to capture what you need.
And I learned this from one ofthe Getty images, sports
photographers.
He used to shoot in Calgary allthe time.
And that was his big thing.
He would wait and wait and waituntil right as a critical moment
was occurring and then shoot.
And that was because he learnedwhen he was just spraying and
praying that a lot of the timesthat critical moment was
(13:18):
happening, between the imagesthat we're firing off.
So he would wait and he wouldlearn how the action was coming
in front of him and then firesomething off.
Plus it saved him time behindthe computer because he wasn't
hunting as much for the rightphoto.
In addition to burst mode,consider using predictive auto
focus to track moving subjectsand maintain focus as they move
across the frame.
This allows you to keep yoursubject in focus even as they
(13:39):
change speed or direction,ensuring that your action shots
are still sharp and wellfocused.
We were talking about thisbefore, where you need a camera
that will track your subject asyou were going.
Now, one of the other ways toensure that your subject is in
focus is to practice zonefocusing.
This comes from the world ofmanual focus.
And from a time before autofocuswas as reliable as it is today.
(14:01):
It's where you focus on a zoneof action, you know, your
subject will pass through.
Then when they come into it, youare guaranteed to capture images
in focus at that point.
It's definitely a little morecumbersome, but if your camera
doesn't have trackingcapabilities or you can't track
the subject before they comeinto the frame, like they are
coming out from behind abuilding or they're in a lot of
trees.
This is a great option.
(14:22):
Now to do this.
Put your lens into manual focusand focus on an important area
where your subject will passthrough and then wait.
Don't move your camera or yourfocus zone will change.
And then when they start cominginto that area, fire off your
shutter use burst mode, let thempass through that zone.
And something in there should bein focus for you.
This does take a lot ofpractice.
But it's a well worthwhile thingto learn how to do, because it
(14:45):
just increases your chancesagain, of getting a great photo.
Finally, one of the moreadvanced techniques to consider
is panning.
Panning involves moving yourcamera along with the subject,
as it moves, keeping the subjectrelatively sharp while blurring
the background, creating a senseof motion and energy in the
image.
This technique worksparticularly well for capturing
subjects like cyclists, runnersor cars in motion.
(15:06):
The key is to keep the cameramoving consistently and match
your subject's movement andpace.
And typically if you'recapturing something like a car
or runners, you will want tokeep your camera moving just in
a horizontal line.
You don't want to be going upand down at all.
So shooting this on a monopodreally helps.
Because then you are more likelyto just keep it in one specific
(15:26):
spot or you can also use thepanning head on a tripod.
Now, well, we've emphasized theimportance of using a fast
shutter speed to freeze motionand action photography.
There are times whendeliberately dropping your
shutter speed can enhance thevisual impact of your images.
In certain situations, allowingparts of your image to blur
intentionally can add a sense ofenergy and create more
compelling visuals that evokeexcitement and some emotion into
(15:48):
that scene.
So one scenario where droppingyour shutter speed can be
beneficial is when you want toconvey a sense of speed and
motion to your images.
For example, when photographinga cyclist, racing down a winding
trail or a skier carving throughfresh powder, intentionally
lowering your shutter speed canaccentuate the sense of speed
and motion creating dynamic,streaks and blurs that convey
that thrill of movement andmotion.
Similarly dropping your shutterspeed can be effective when
(16:09):
photographing subjects withrepetitive or rhythmic movements
such as dancers or athletes inmotion.
By allowing some aspects of theimage to blur while keeping the
main subject sharp, you cancreate a sense of fluidity and
rhythm capturing the dynamicenergy of that scene.
So we're thinking about keepingthat dancers torso.
Kind of frozen their head kindof frozen depending on how
they're positioning and thenwatching their arms turn into a
(16:31):
blurry windmill.
That really shows how fast thatdancer is moving and the control
they have over their body,because it's just one part
that's blurring.
And the rest of them is nice andtight and sharp.
So it's really important to notethat when you're intentionally
introducing motion blur intoyour images, you need to be very
careful with your compositionand with your framing.
And you need to consider thedirection of movement within the
frame and position your mainsubject accordingly to create
(16:53):
that sense of flow anddirectionality and make sure
that everything kind of makessense in the frame.
Ultimately the decision droppedyour shutter and introduced
motion blur into your actionphotography should be driven by
your creative vision and thestory you really want to convey.
Okay.
onto the most critical aspect ofa great action shot.
Composition.
This may not seem as importantwith action shots as it does
(17:15):
with say weddings or landscapes,because the primary focus should
be what's happening in the sportor in the action in front of
you.
And that's kind of true, butonly to a point.
There are some criticalcomponents to composing a strong
action photo that will help yourphoto stand out.
So the first thing you need todecide is if you are shooting
tight or wide, Tight, let youget right into the action.
(17:36):
Showing small details andmoments.
This great for showing facialexpressions, small details and
things spectators may miss.
Wide get you a morecomprehensive look at the scene,
showing the surroundings orproviding a larger than life
feeling if your subject comesright up to your lens.
Now you need to look for ways toget your subject to stand out in
the shop.
Can you isolate them against thesolid background?
So your subject isn't lost in amessy background where your
(17:57):
viewer struggles to see them.
Can you have them go through abright spot in that image where
they will be spotlighted againsteverything else around them?
Can you capture them framed bysomething interesting, like a
mountain peak or a building?
Can you find a leading line thatdraws your viewer into the
action?
These are all kinds of thequestions that you can ask
yourself when composing youraction scene.
Now, one of the best piece ofadvice I've ever read, came from
(18:19):
a mountain bike photographer,who said she sets up a beautiful
landscape shot.
And then has the cyclist rightthrough it.
Her idea, being that if thatlandscape shot is beautiful.
You're going to see that cyclistcome into it and it's still
going to be a beautiful photoand it's going to become a
beautiful action photo.
This always plays in my mindwhen I'm out capturing biking or
(18:39):
trail running, I'm alwayslooking for ways to show that
athlete in the landscape, theyparticipate in.
Now, whether you're capturing asporting event or working with
athletes to capture photosdirectly.
Your positioning is critical.
Get to know the best spots on acourse or in an arena if you're
capturing a live sporting event.
This gives you the best chanceof capturing the critical
(18:59):
moments during a game.
And you need to understand thestrengths and weaknesses of each
one of those locations.
One of the things I learnedwhile shooting hockey, was that
it was great to start the firstperiod where you could see an
overarching look at the entiregame.
So you kind of wanted to get uphigh.
You want to be able to look overthe whole ice surface and be
able to capture a little bit ofthe benches, the players in
action, a few face offs, butthen as the game went on, you
(19:21):
wanted to get right up tight tothe action, to be able to show
some of those critical momentsof goals being scored, saves
being made.
You want it to be able to showthe power and the energy of the
sport.
So I actually moved aroundarenas quite a bit to be able to
capture exactly what I needed.
And then typically, especiallybecause I got to know the teams
really well.
I was able to go onto theirbench to shoot for the third
(19:44):
period.
And that really helped because.
No matter what the outcome tothe game was, if they win or if
they lose, I was so close to theemotional reactions of those
players that I was able tocapture it.
So that was a huge benefit.
But I also knew that's where Iwanted to be to capture that end
game emotion.
Now, if you were workingdirectly with athletes, work
(20:04):
with them to find trails, thatwill show off the story you were
looking to tell.
Work with them to find the rightlocations and anything else
that's going to help show offwhat action they are doing and
then get yourself into the rightspots to capture the images you
need.
Get low, get high, climb, atree, move all over the place
just to find that right angle.
And don't be afraid to getdirty.
(20:26):
Some of my best photos have comefrom laying in the mud and
letting people spray me.
Or getting paddlers to launchwater at me while I'm shoulder
deep in a lake.
Or sitting on a fence and havingrodeo guys kick mud and dirt up
into my face.
Those are some of the bestphotos I've taken because I am
in the action.
And the action is right there infront of the lens.
(20:46):
And one last thought.
If you're working with athletesdirectly, pick their wardrobe
carefully.
Consider where you will capturetheir photos and choose clothing
that will help them pop out fromthe background.
We've talked about this a lot.
But just to remind you inforests, yellows, and reds,
really pop, out against, thosetypical blues greens and grays
of the forest landscapes.
In the desert blues and whiteslook crisp against those deep
(21:07):
reds.
And you've really just got toconsider that color space and
that color balance to help yourathlete and your subject pop.
Now, the last opportunitiesepisode is about capturing the
decisive moment.
This is really what you are hereto do.
Get that second, when theimportant thing happens, that
goal gets scored.
The person hits the post whilethey are hurdling.
(21:29):
They come across the finishline.
The mountain biker pulls offtheir trick.
The mountain biker crashes intoa tree.
Whatever that critical thing isthat happens.
That's what you, we're here tocapture.
So it's essential to familiarizeyourself with the activity
you're photographing andanticipate key moments of
action.
Whether you're studying themovements of a surfer or
observing the behavior ofwildlife, understanding the
subject's behavior will enableyou to anticipate and capture
(21:52):
those decisive moments.
When I shot the same hockeyteams over and over again.
I got to know the players reallywell, and I got to know what
their standard movement patternswere and what they were
predisposed to do during certaingame moments.
This meant I could anticipatewhat they would do and ensure I
followed them through a play andI captured more critical moments
(22:13):
during games, because I couldanticipate what these players
were doing.
So getting to this point in asport will really help your
action photos pop.
That's why it is so cool toshoot something and shoot an
activity that you love doing.
If you love trail running.
You have a pretty good idea ofwhat somebody is going to be
doing.
When they are approachingcertain obstacles.
If you love mountain biking,it's the same thing.
(22:33):
If you love hockey, same thing.
Shooting those sports that youlove will really help your
action photos to pop.
All right.
And that's it for today.
Those are my simple tips forstarting to capture high octane
events.
And I really hope you found ourexploration of action
photography techniques,informative and inspiring.
Mastering these techniques willelevate your adventure and
travel photography to newheights.
(22:55):
If you have any questions,feedback, ideas for future
episodes.
I'd love to hear from you.
Reach out to me on instagram@robertmasseyphotography or
visit my website atrobertmasseyphotography.ca,
where you can reach out as well.
Your input helps shape thecontent of this podcast.
And I'm always eager to connectwith fellow adventure
photographers like you.
I love having conversations likethis.
So reach out to me.
And, heartfelt, thank you forlistening.
(23:17):
Your support means the world tome.
And I'm so grateful for theopportunity to be part of your
photography journey.
So if you enjoy today's episodeand you want to stay tuned for
more and you want to be updated,definitely subscribe.
And follow along so that, youknow, when more episodes are
released.
All right.
That's it for today, everybody.
Get out there.
Let's adventure.
Bye for now.
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