Sometimes you need to be fast to take the right picture; shooting sports, races or sometimes a show requires being quick. You have to be ready and well prepared to take good action shots. Your job will be easier if you have some knowledge about how to act in this kind of situations. You will find some information and tips below;

Preparation;

• If you have a chance, go and see the place before the event to find best positions and angles for shooting the action.
• Determine what kind of pictures you will take; do you want to freeze the movement or do you want viewers to feel motion. Set your shutter speed fast or relatively slow depending on your decision. If you want to use a fast shutter, and there’s not enough light use a fast film like ISO400.
• If you are planning to create motion effect, prapare and bring your tripod with you for better panning.

Shooting

• If you are planning to use a fast shutter speed and freeze the action, direct your camera to expected action point and wait for action.
• Or you can fallow your subject with your camera and take the shot at the best moment. You can either fallow the subject by the camera in your hand or with a tripod
• To not miss the perfect shot half press to your shutter button and wait for the action.
• If you have to be very quick use your camera’s burst mode which takes several shots one after another (as long as you hold the button pressed) If you are using a digital camera be sure that you are using a memory card with a fast writing speed, if it is slow your camera won’t take shots as it’s internal memory gets full (for Canon 350D or Rebel Xt it is 8 pictures)