TIPS FOR TAKING ACTION SHOTS WHILE TRAVELING 📸
We are by no means “trained” photographers, BUT we’ve learned from years of experience in our own travel photography, and will reveal all the goodies for capturing fast-moving subjects below!
READY THEN?! Here are our tips for taking action shots when you’re on the road!
Use a DSLR if possible! Click hereo to see what camera we use: http://amzn.to/2O3sk5i—it’s affordable, and has VASTLY improved our photography.
FOCUS ON YOUR SUBJECT. Follow your subject through your camera’s viewfinder with your settings all ready. But what camera settings, you ask? We’ll cover that next.
Shoot in manual mode. We ONLY ever shoot with that little camera dial facing the “M.”
Use a FAST shutter speed, as you’re trying to FREEZE action into a frame. Play around with this based on how much light is available to you, but start AT LEAST with a shutter speed of 1/200 and go from there. The faster your shutter speed, the BIGGER the bottom number will be (i.e. 1/500 is faster than 1/200). You can increase the ISO to accommodate a faster shutter speed if you must, but avoid making the ISO TOOO high or else you’ll have a ton of noise.
Get a lens with a wide aperture. We’ll explain more in #6, but basically, the WIDER your aperture, the MORE light you allow into your camera. You need to allow as much light into your camera with your aperture settings when you’re using a fast shutter speed!
Widen your APERTURE, LIKE, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Aperture is written with an “f,” like f/2.8 or f/4. When you’re trying to capture a fast-moving subject, make your aperture as wide as your lens will allow—in other words, make that bottom number as SMALL as possible (i.e. the 2.8 in f/2.8 is smaller than than 8 in f/8, and so f/2.8 is wider and more ideal for action shots).
And if you need to, shoot on high speed continuous. This means that once you press your shutter button on your camera, it’s gonna run wild and snap a quatrillion pictures until you release the button. We use this setting for jumping shots—but be mindful of using it too long, or you’re gonna have a TON of pictures to sift through later!
NOW GET OUT THERE, AND START SNAPPING SOME PICS!
Interested to learn more about our travel photography? Here are our recommendations for travel cameras!
