Beginner Guide: Methods for focusing your digital camera on moving objects

Image by T.MoE

Taking good photos of moving objects is not easy. It requires practice and experience. In addition to making sure that the objects are in focus you have to continuously consider the composition, the changing lighting conditions, shutter speed to freeze or capture movement, the changing zoom and more.

Focus Mode

Focusing on static objects is relatively easy either by manually focusing or by using the camera auto focus feature. Focusing is much harder when the objects are constantly moving. There are many techniques used by photographers in order to take in focus sharp photos of moving objects. Here are a few of them:

Infinite focus
When the objects are far enough from the camera focus can be set either manually or automatically to infinite. As long as the moving objects stay within the infinite focus range the photo will be sharp and clear. Although this is applicable in some scenarios it is not useful in many others such as shooting sport events or air shows.
Manually correcting the focus
Using this method the digital camera is put into manual focus mode. Focus corrections are done manually by moving a focus ring n the lens or pressing focus in and out buttons. When the objects move and change their distance from the camera the photographer manually corrects the focus as needed. This is good in some scenarios where the objects are moving relatively slow and their movement is predictable. Manually correcting the focus for objects that move very fast or move unpredictably is not practical.
Single focus mode
When using this method the digital camera is put into single focus mode. The camera will automatically focus on the object when the shutter button is pressed. This method can be combined with the manual focus method. The photographer manually focuses on the object and the camera is executing the final focus fixes when the shutter is pressed and the photo is taken. This method is limited to either slow moving objects or high end fast focusing cameras. Focusing is a mechanical process and takes time. If the camera takes too long to focus by the time it is focused on a fast moving object the object will move and the photo will not be in focus anymore.
Continuous auto focus
In this method the camera is put into continuous focus mode. Once the shutter button is pressed and as long as it is held half way down the camera continuously focuses on the objects in the photo. In this method the camera continuously corrects the focus as the objects distance from the camera changes. This method is very useful. Even if the object is moving fast the camera can track its movement and continuously correct the focus. By holding the shutter button half way down and continuously moving the camera to follow the moving object the camera will continuously keep the object in focus. When you are ready to shoot the photo simply press the shutter button all the way down. One drawback of this method is high power consumption as the camera continuously corrects the focus it uses the power hungry motors in the lens in order to move the optical components.

Shutter Speed

The shutter speed plays an equally important part in controlling sharpness. The lens aperture can control the sharpness with depth, but the shutter speed does the same thing with an entirely different dimension – time.

If you’re photographing an object that’s still, the shutter speed may not be a factor, but most everyday subjects show some kind of movement, and this is where your shutter speed becomes important.

When you’re working out what shutter speed you need, many factors come into play, such as the speed your subject is travelling at, its distance and the angle you’re shooting from.

In the cheat sheet below we’ll show you how to shoot fast moving objects depending on where you’re standing and the angle you’re shooting from.

A lot of novice photographers ask what the proper shutter speed is, given their objective for their photographs. Every situation is unique. One speed doesn’t suit all circumstances. To identify the right shutter speed, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions:

How fast is your subject moving?
How much distance exists between the camera and the subject?
How much motion do you want your photograph to convey to the viewer?

The faster the shutter speed, the more frozen and crisply-defined your subject will be. Most cameras today will allow you to freeze a scene using 1/8000th of a second or faster. That being said, the numbers only serve as a rough guideline. You’ll need to experiment with different shutter speeds in a variety of situations.

Techniques To Capture Motion

The shutter speed that you use while photographing a scene plays a key role in capturing motion in your image. The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the focus on your subject. On the other hand, a slower shutter speed will blur a moving object.

Blurred Subject With Background In Focus
This technique keeps your photograph’s background in sharp focus while the background is subject. You’ll often see this technique used in nighttime photographs with car headlights cutting through the image.
Blurred Background With Subject In Focus
This technique keeps your photograph’s subject in sharp focus while the background is blurred.

Both of these techniques, you need to use a slow shutter speed. However, instead of using a tripod, you’ll be panning your camera along the directional path of your subject.

Besides the 2 main techniques described above, you can also freeze the entire field of vision or blur everything. Freezing the entire scene can give your photographs a unique look, especially if the objects strongly imply movement. You should use a shutter speed of at least 1/1000th of a second for this type of shot.

Blurring everything produces the best results when the scene offers bright, contrasting colors or varying shades on the grayscale. In most cases, capturing motion in this manner is done purely for artistic purposes.

Another effective method for capturing motion within your images is ‘chrono photography’.

Go and practice shooting a lot of moving objects photos. By shooting a lot of photos in different situations you will grow the instincts that will make all these processes and considerations an unconscious automatic process.

Article by: Ziv Haparnas | Darren Rowse | jmeyer

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