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If you ever wondered, if it is better to shoot active sports / fast motion with the burst mode or a single shot – this episode is for you. New York based photographer David Bergman explains his technique of shooting sports, based on vast previous experience.
Mr. Bergman shares: “I spent many years covering sports events like the Olympics World Series in Super Bowl, and there’s nothing to compare us to the sound of the mirror slapping up and down as you shoot with a fast motor drive. This Canon 1dx mark 2 shoots 14 frames a second.”
“That’s fast enough to capture most sports action with Marissa running straight at me. It’s cool to have a big burst of images, so I can choose the one photo where everything is just perfect from her leg position to her hair flying and even her facial expression. If I just shoot a single frame, all those things probably wouldn’t have fallen together just right.”
” But shooting sports isn’t always about choosing for multiple frames. Let’s take tennis for example. One of the images I really want to get is when the ball is right on the racket. Even at 14 frames a second I probably won’t get that perfect ball on racket shot. I might get one right before the ball hits the racket and one right after it comes off but my odds are slim of getting the shot I want.”
“So what’s the answer? Turn off that motor drive and shoot single frames. This is when the skill of anticipating action really comes into play. Now what I’ll do is watch her swing and then just shoot one frame when I think the ball is right there of course. Having a camera like this one with no shutter lag will increase my odds since it will fire as soon as I push the button I also have the focus function on the back button and not on my shutter. I’ll learn Marissa’s tennis motion and can anticipate when the ball will be right where I want this single frame technique. It also works great on other sports like baseball when you’re trying to get the ball on bat picture or with anything that has peak action like a dancer at the top of their leap.”
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One of our upcoming workshops is Sweet Valentine’s Beauty Photography Masterclass that will happen on February 9th, 1pm – 4:30pm in Downtown Los Angeles.
Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: