Action Photography Tips
Using flash for action photography
Some great action photography tips and to add excitement and drama to your action
picture is by using a technique known as slow sync flash. This can be practised
using an
ordinary portable flashgun, and involves combining a burst of electronic flash with
a slow shutter speed, so you get a blurred and frozen image of moving subjects on
the same picture.
Sports and action photographers often use slow sync flash because it helps to capture
the feeling of speed and action that tends to be lost by using a fast shutter speed
to freeze all traces of movement. However, you can use it on any moving subject,
from your kids racing around the park on their bicycles, to people having fun on
fairground rides such as the dodgem cars and waltzer.
Auto sync flash mode
Some modern compacts have a slow sync flash mode which allows you to use the technique
automatically. The flash is only powerful enough for subjects that are a couple
of metres away from the camera though, so you are better off using a DSLR with a
flashgun mounted on the hotshoe.
Start by taking a meter reading for the ambient light levels and setting this on
your camera. Ideally you need a shutter speed around 1/15 or 1/8 sec to get sufficient
blur in the picture. If you use your camera in aperture priority mode it will select
the shutter speed automatically while leaving you to set the aperture - f/8 or f/11
is ideal. In bright conditions you need to make sure the shutter speed set is no
faster than the correct flash sync speed for your camera.
Under exposing the subject
To make your flashlit subject stand out from the background it is a good idea to
underexpose the ambient light by one stop, so after taking a meter reading set your
camera’s exposure compensation facility to -1, or switch to manual exposure mode
and set the next fastest shutter speed - 1/15 instead of 1/8 sec, for example.
To balance the flash with the ambient light you also need to underexpose the flash
by one stop. To achieve this, set your flashgun to an aperture one stop wider than
what you are using on the lens — f/8 instead of f/11, say — so it pumps out less
light. For the best result, focus on a spot your subject will pass, track it towards
that point with the camera and trip the shutter while moving so the background blurs.
It takes a little practice to master, but before long you will be producing stunning
slow sync flash pictures.
Here at Action Photography Tips we hope you’ve enjoyed this article on action photography.
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