12 Weeks to Better Photography- Week 8

This week was all about shooting on the go--specifically busy kids, sports, and pets. The lesson offered a few tips for shooting things on the move. One thing to keep in mind is shutter speed--you'll remember from a prior lesson that by adjusting shutter speed we can elect to either freeze or blur action. However, sometimes when we're shooting in places like gyms or football fields, it just isn't possible to adjust the shutter speed the way that we want due to light.

In those circumstances, there are a few options:

Embrace the Blur--when you're shooting a moving object, the fact is that it's....moving. So sometimes it's nice to show a bit of that blur. For example, here's a football picture that's blurred out to the extreme. I didn't intend for it to be blurred (I was messing with settings on my camera), and even though it's a technically "bad" picture, I kinda like it. If I titled my photos, I would title it "Speedy Gonzalez"

But let's be honest...even though I think it's a funny picture and can't bring myself to delete it because I laugh every time I see it, it's not a great photo. And when we're talking about embracing blur, a happy medium is usually the best option:

Ouch.

Another option is to go with a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. Some of the football players don't like it when I freeze the action because it points out when they're using bad form. Or carrying the ball incorrectly. Or that no, the other team wasn't actually holding. However, this is often the type of shot that newspapers use, or that a student might use to send to a college recruiting them for sports.

I find that the same principles apply to shooting kids. Sometimes, you want to see their motion and movement. Sometimes, you want more of a portrait shot. The key to it all is to have a good enough understanding of your camera that you can take the type of shot that you want, and not just be happy with whatever auto gives you!

Also, when it comes to shooting sports, don't forget to turn your camera to the crowd every once in awhile. I love this shot that I got: