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Capturing The Action

I am doing my Media Arts Degree at Wintec majoring in photography. For an assignment I am researching action photography, and the different techniques, shutter speeds and lenses that are used to get quality photographs. I saw your photos on the AIPA website. Would you share with me some of the techniques and lenses that you use. Can you please tell me what lens you used, the shutter speed and any other techniques (eg lighting) used to capture the action in this photo?
Thanks for your time, Briar Hill

Hi Briar and thanks for your question.

This image of Christchurch downhill and BMX guru Daniel Franks is shot using artificial light (3 x Canon 550EX Speedlights in sync with IR). There is a flash off to my right at 1/2 power to illuminate the rider's helmet, goggles and handlebars (in a tree – getting them off the ground improves the light and reduces hot spots on the bottom of the image) and this is balanced with a master flash on my camera at 1/2 power and a third flash at 1/2 power is used to backlight the rider and pop them from the background.

This was shot at about 1/60th at f6.3. The blur is created by panning with the subject and letting the flash do the freezing of the action. This works here because the background is dark, but you can see the excess ambient light has left some blur on the helmet.

Using 1/2 power on the Canon 550EX Speedlight reduces the flash length and so the image is sharper than 1/1 power. At 1/32 power the flash duration would be very short and therefore create a super-sharp image, but not as much light as I needed in the trees here.

I used my trusty Canon EF 28-70mm f2.8L (at 60mm) lens for this shot, which has since been upgraded to the Canon EF24-70mm f2.8L lens – another must have for Canon users.

I hope this helps. I often use Pocket Wizards, too – these let you hide them behind trees, rocks walls etc, so there is less chance of seeing them in the final shots.

Which lens?

I am ready to buy my first pro-series lens, but I can't decide between the 24-70mm 2.8L and the 70-200mm 2.8L. I like to take photographs of my mates surfing and also my kids. I'm not sure which one I would get the most out of – what would you recommend? I have a 7D and a cheaper wide-angle zoom lens. Josh

Hi Josh, This is a great question and one that many budding photographers struggle with. The Canon EF24-70mm f2.8L USM is a beautiful lens and very, very sharp right through the range. I had its predecessor the EF28-70mm f2.8L for almost 14 years, before upgrading – these are my staple lenses. However, if you are new to photography, and since you already have a basic wide-zoom lens, then you will find the Canon EF70-200mm f2.8L USM (or the IS if your budget will allow), will fuel your passion for photography further. You will be able to shoot with a small depth of field and create beautiful out of focus backgrounds with your kids and be able to get close enough to the surfing action to make some nice images. Then save up for the Canon EF24-70mm f2.8L USM to complete your kit.