written by Allegra
What do mud fights, puddle jumping and baseball season have in common? They’re all perfect springtime opportunities for you to hone your action photography skills!
If you’re new to photography, at the end of a sports game or an action-packed shooting session, you might find yourself with a bunch of streaky photos and a deflated ego. But don’t worry. We’re here to give you the tips you need to get right back in the action with your action photography. And you definitely haven’t heard these tips before.
1. Don’t Wear Your Fancy Pants.
Because you’re gonna need to move to get in on the action and you don’t want to be fussing over your outfit when the perfect shot is milliseconds away (and lucky for us, the “athleisure” trend is still alive and well).
Photo by Gabriel Sanchez
2. Get Low.
A jump, a cartwheel, a kick — just about anything — is way more epic when taken from a super low angle. So get down to the ground and shoot! Just make sure you’ve got that shutter speed cranked up so you can get a crisp, clear shot.
Photo by @jiang96283
3. Cheat. (Really.)
Things move fast, and when you’re photographing a sports game or any other scene filled with movement, you need to move fast too. Lighting conditions can change in an instant, so if you’re using a DSLR, give yourself a break (we can’t use manual mode all the time) and switch your camera to shutter priority mode. Crank it up to a shutter speed of about 1/1000, set your ISO accordingly, and your camera will take care of the rest.
Photo by @bgas
4. Close Your Eyes.
Well…kinda. Give blind shooting a try and leave it up to the camera gods. For the uninitiated, blind shooting, or shooting from the hip, is the practice of taking pictures without looking at your screen or viewfinder. Sound scary? It is, kind of. But it’s also kind of liberating. And for those of us who are too stuck on the rule of thirds, the surprising results can be a valuable lesson in breaking the traditional rules of composition. Plus, it allows you to snatch up an interesting shot without having to reposition your entire body.
Photo by William Hook
5. Fake It.
For an action shot that needs a little more action, look no further than the PicsArt photo editor. Try painting the Motion Blur Effect over a shot of a moving subject to enhance the sense of movement.
Photo by @arevdanielian
Or, if you’re looking for a more abstract technique, check out our photo editing tutorial to learn how to create a dispersion effect like this:
Photo by @bzein
6. Go for Crooked Compositions.
This is one of the most overlooked composition techniques, but a slight tilt of the camera can do wonders for an image. Perfectly horizontal images are neat, clean, calm… But a tilted image can capture all of the dynamic energy you are looking for in your action shots.
Photo by Stefan Holm / Shutterstock.com
7. Let the Landscape Do the Talking.
Sometimes the strongest action shots are the ones where it’s not all about the action. Pick a scenic backdrop for your shot (you can never go wrong with sunsets and silhouettes) and let the frolicking begin!
Photo by @tanpyad
No comments:
Post a Comment