How Did You Get That Shot?

Photographing moving subjects is where most beginners hit a wall, and the fix isn’t what most people think. It’s not the camera. It’s not even the settings. It’s what you do before you raise the camera.

The Moment

A few years back I was mentoring a high school newspaper photographer at a full dress rehearsal. One chance to shoot, performance night was locked down by contract, no cameras allowed. So dress rehearsal was it.

There was a scene where three dancers ran across the stage, jumped, hit a full split in the air, and landed. One shot. One moment. Gone in about two seconds. She missed it. Soft focus, wrong framing, the whole thing. When we debriefed afterward she looked at my shots and asked me flat out, “How did you get that?”

I told her two things. And neither one of them was about camera settings.

The Miss

The problem wasn’t her shutter speed. The problem was she showed up cold.

She walked into dress rehearsal and tried to figure it out as it happened. The jump surprised her. By the time she reacted, framed, and fired, the moment was already on the floor.

This is the most common mistake beginners make with any moving subject. They show up and react. Photographers show up and anticipate.

Anticipation beats reaction. The best photos happen before the shutter clicks.

The Photo Lab

The Fix — Two Things

Fix one had nothing to do with the camera.

The night before dress rehearsal I went to a partial run-through. Not the whole show, just enough to see the jump. I knew it was coming. I knew roughly where on the stage it happened. I knew how high they went and how long it lasted. When dress rehearsal came I was already in position, already framed, already waiting. The moment didn’t surprise me because I’d already seen it.

That’s scouting. And it applies everywhere. Youth sports, school plays, a toddler who always runs toward the dog. You already know what’s coming. Use it.

Fix two was one setting decision.

A split in the air at full extension lasts maybe a half second. To freeze that cleanly I needed to be at roughly 1/1250. That’s faster than I’d normally shoot in a stage environment, which meant I had to bump the ISO and live with a little noise.

I told her: “Crank the ISO. Live a little.” A sharp photo with some grain beats a soft photo every single time.

Those were the two fixes. Scouting solved the anticipation problem. Shutter speed solved the motion problem. ISO bought me the shutter speed I needed.

Settings solve a problem. This was a shutter speed problem.

The Photo Lab

Try This

Pick a moving subject you shoot regularly. Kids at practice, a pet, a sport you watch every weekend. Before you shoot, watch first. One session where you don’t raise the camera at all. Just watch. Where does the moment happen? When does it peak? Where do you need to be standing?

Then show up the next time with that knowledge already loaded. Set your shutter speed to at least 1/1000 for fast action, be ready to bump the ISO until the camera gives you that speed, and wait for the moment you already know is coming.

You’ll get the shot. Because you already saw it.

The Decision

Moving subjects aren’t a camera problem. They’re a preparation problem with one setting attached. Scout first. Set your shutter speed second. Let the ISO do its job.

How you looked while you were waiting, standing in a theater the night before, crouched on a sideline, laying on the floor at a birthday party, doesn’t matter. Nobody sees that when they look at the image.

Unit 4 is where you take everything you’ve built and use it somewhere real. This is lesson one. Welcome to situational photography.

Got a moving subject situation giving you trouble? Send it to tips@zoomwithourfeet.com. The best ones become lessons.

Trust it. Trust yourself!

—TMac. #shooton