How to take good sports photography?

The main factor to capture sports photography is where the photographer should be and what to look for. Besides, you should also know the function of the camera. Some skills shared in this article will help you master the skills of capturing sports photography.

Nikon D750, 140mm, f/2.8,11500s, ISO 100.

First, use the correct autofocus mode.

How to use autofocus correctly to capture fast motion is the first and most important step to capture excellent shots of moving subjects. Each camera has multiple autofocus modes. They have different names depending on the manufacturer, but you can see the following on any camera:

Focus lock: after you get the focus, the focus will not change until you take a picture or change the focus position;

Stay focused. The camera will constantly adjust the focal length with the movement of the subject.

Manual focus. Fast action shooting is not recommended.

The camera will also have several settings for calculating autofocus. The name will be different, but it will be like this:

Fully automatic: the camera itself can determine the focus to focus, without the participation of photographers;

Extended autofocus or grouping. Using multiple focal points can keep your subject clear, not just a point or a square.

Track. You set the focus, and the camera will stay in focus until you take a picture. When you adjust the camera to make the subject focus clearly, you will see the focus shift.

Nikon D7100,200mm, f/3.3,11500s, ISO 100.

In order to capture fast motion, you need to use one of the latter two modes and make sure that the camera is set to continuous autofocus. Action photography has too much unpredictability and will need to use all the photography skills and functions.

Tracking mode is particularly effective in newer camera models because the algorithm for locking and tracking objects is very advanced.

If the camera has a tracking option, this function is recommended, but extended autofocus or grouped autofocus mode can also be used normally. Compared with a single autofocus point, they provide you with more freedom and wiggle room.

Second, return the button focus.

Paying attention to the back button is more than just setting the camera. You can use the button on the back of the camera instead of using the shutter button to focus.

Back button focusing seems counterintuitive, because autofocus seems to go hand in hand with pressing the shutter button. However, there are several good reasons to use this focus, especially when capturing fast motion.

When you set the camera to continuous autofocus mode and use the shutter button to activate autofocus, you can press the shutter button while following the subject to get a perfect shooting effect.

Nikon D7100,200mm, f/2.8,11500s, ISO 100.

Almost every camera can use the back button to focus, but you need to change some menu settings to enable it.

Third, automatic ISO

In this case, if the subject is blurred (unless you try to capture motion blur), good composition will be meaningless (therefore, faster shutter speed is needed). This usually means using a higher ISO value, especially when shooting indoors where the light is weaker than outdoors.

Automatic ISO can save shooting time and set minimum shutter speed and maximum ISO. Most modern cameras can provide excellent results up to ISO 6400, while still retaining enough colors and details.

Nikon D750, 80mm, f/4, 1/500s, ISO2000. A fast shutter speed may be too high for a pedestrian, but the photographer wants to be absolutely sure. Auto-ISO chose 2000, which proved to be acceptable.

The automatic ISO setting used by photographers is that the lowest shutter speed is 1/500 seconds (11000 seconds if the subject moves very fast) and the highest ISO is 6400.

Fourth, aperture priority shooting.

If you need a fast shutter speed to shoot, why not shoot in shutter priority mode? Because automatic ISO can give you the ideal effect.

Nikon D750, 35mm, f/4,11000s, ISO 100.

When shooting with aperture priority using automatic ISO, you can set the aperture to provide the correct depth of field, which means you don't have to consider other exposure elements, because the camera will remain within the set shutter and ISO settings.

If you know that your light is not good, you can increase the aperture size or dial a higher ISO for automatic ISO. Use the aperture to control the depth of field first, and always get clear photos. The shutter speed is not lower than 1/500 seconds.

Nikon D750,200mm, f/2.8,11000s, ISO 100. Use an open aperture to blur the children in the background, and aim the audience's attention at the children in the middle. The camera determines the ISO and shutter speed according to the automatic ISO setting.

Pose to make sure the subject is not backlit. If shooting in bad weather, be sure to equip the camera with some protective equipment.

conclusion

High-speed continuous shooting is very important for action photography. Usually, the only limitation is the size of the camera's internal buffer or the speed at which the camera transfers images to the memory card.