Action Shots

One of the absolute most exciting challenges in photography is to try to capture action shots.

I like to photograph sports, which requires fast shutter speeds and a healthy number of frames per second. FPS, frames per second, refers to how many shutter releases can be snapped in one second. While this isn’t important for landscape or portrait photography, it is critical for action photography.

My Nikon D70 featured 3 frames per second. This was okay, but earlier this year when I upgraded to the Nikon D300, one of the first things I noticed was the increased FPS. The D300 sports 6 FPS and this is noticeable. For example, when I am photographing a runner caught stealing second base, I now can count on my camera freezing the baseball before it gets to the fielders glove as the base runner is sliding into second base. It is absolutely amazing to witness and hear the speed of the D300!

Baseball action shots, in my humble opinion, should feature the baseball in the photograph whenever possible. I also like to capture the flying dirt as a player is sliding into a base or a catcher putting a tag on a player who attempts a squeeze play.

Action shots require patience and persistence. The challenge this style of photography presents is worth it and I will keep putting myself in places where I can capture the exciting action!