ACTION AND PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPHY

These notes are written to complement the material presented in the Nikon School of
Photography “Action and People Photography” class.

Helpful websites:
Nikon USA
Nikon Learn and Explore
Videos explaining the features of Nikon cameras
Manuals for Nikon products

Learning to shoot action is one of the most important skills any photographer can acquire.
Successfully capturing action means being able to anticipate moments, and knowing how
to control the camera to catch those moments, in focus, without blur and with a good
exposure. Not surprisingly, most good people photographers are good action
photographers. And by “people” photographers we don't mean portraitists. We mean
photographers who catch moments, because that means anticipation and being prepared.

Goals for the Day

In this class our goal is to improve our action and people photography skills. Becoming a
better action photographer will also make you a better people photographer. The best
people pictures are about moments, and capturing them involves timing. People
photography and action also both involve exposure, for stopping action and controlling
background.

Our class will cover these two primary topics, and be broken down into two sections:
1 – How to Shoot Action
2 – Photographing People

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Section 1 – How to Shoot Action
Light
While light is essential for any type of photography, it’s even more important when
shooting action. That’s because high shutter speeds are necessary if you want to stop
action, and the single most important factor in getting those speeds is quantity of light.

Exposure
High shutter speeds allow us to freeze action, and that’s what makes photography of this
type so interesting. Being able to freeze a moment in time and study it as long as you like
is one of the unique aspects of photography.

There are three variables at work in exposure: ISO, aperture and shutter speed. ISO
controls the sensitivity of the camera to light, and aperture and shutter speed are the two
controls that can be changed to let in the correct amount of light. Since raising ISO affects
quality (lower ISOs result in less noise and better color), we generally try to keep it low. ____
By opening or closing the aperture we control not just the amount of light it passes, but
also how much or little depth of field results. And the general rule on shutter speed is to ____
keep it high enough to avoid blur, unless we’re trying for creative blur.
____
When shooting action, however, ISO and aperture take a backseat to shutter speed. Most
of the time stopping action is the priority, so you set a goal of a high enough shutter speed ____
and get that by changing ISO and aperture, even if the image quality will suffer slightly.
____
Since ISO is now supporting shutter speed, rather than the opposite, there’s a special
feature you can use to help that. All of Nikon’s current DSLRs have a setting in the ____
Shooting Menu under ISO sensitivity settings called “Auto ISO”. Auto ISO lets you
choose an ISO range to stay within and the shutter speed you don’t want the camera to go ____
below. (Auto ISO works best in exposure modes P – Program and A – Aperture priority).
____
If you’re in this class, you’re probably going to use an exposure mode other than “Auto”
and that means Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Program. Manual means just ____
that, where you’re responsible for setting both shutter speed and aperture. Most people are
probably better served in one of the three automatic exposure modes. ____

Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes all do the same thing – try to help
you get a “proper’ exposure by automatically changing one or both of the other exposure
variables. It would seem to make sense, then, that Shutter Priority would be the best
choice when shooting action. And it can be, if there’s plenty of light.
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Remember that in Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority, you set the shutter speed or
aperture you would like to be using and the camera then chooses the best aperture or
shutter speed (respectively) to achieve a proper exposure. But what if the camera is unable
to make that match?

Let’s say you’re using Shutter Priority because you’re shooting action, and set the camera
at 1/1000. The camera now has to try to find an aperture that results in the correct amount
of light for a good exposure at the set ISO. Which means it’s limited by the aperture range
of the lens. If there’s not much light, it will open the lens to its widest aperture, but what if
that still isn’t enough light? The result will be an underexposed (dark) picture, because the
maximum aperture of the lens isn’t wide enough to let the right amount of light in.

One solution to this would be to use a “faster” (wider aperture) lens. One reason fast
aperture lenses are preferred by action photographers is because they can let in more light,
resulting in faster shutter speeds. ____

Aside from changing lenses, another solution would be to increase the sensitivity of your ____
camera by raising the ISO. At a chosen shutter speed, raising the ISO one stop will reduce
the amount of underexposure by one stop, thus getting you closer to a good exposure. ____
Raising your ISO to control exposure is a delicate dance and should be done as a last
resort. First, make sure your shutter speed is set just above what is needed to stop the
____
subject’s motion, and not excessively high. (As mentioned earlier choosing a very high
____
ISO may result in “noise” in the final image similar to film grain.)
____
Aperture Priority is another automatic exposure mode, where you choose the aperture and
the camera chooses a shutter speed. Aperture Priority can be a great exposure mode when ____
shooting action. The difference is the range of exposure the camera can choose from.
Instead of being limited to 5-7 stops of aperture, it has 17-18 stops of shutter speed (30- ____
seconds to 1/4000 or 1/8000). If you want a fast shutter speed, choose a wide aperture. If it
still isn’t fast enough, then raise the ISO. ____

____

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Autofocus
Today’s Nikon autofocus systems have made getting in-focus pictures much easier. But ____
not all autofocus systems are the same, and there are some things you can do to make them
perform better. ____

Light is a key factor not just in exposure, but in autofocus too. The more (brighter) light, ____
the better the autofocus will perform. That’s another advantage to “fast” lenses. Since they
can let in more light than a “slower” lens, they’ll help the camera focus faster. ____

In addition to light, autofocus systems need contrast and detail. For example, if you point ____
the camera at a featureless blue sky, it will likely “hunt” for focus. In situations where
____
there’s a lack of detail or light (during night photography, for instance), turning off the
autofocus and manually focusing can be the best solution.
____

____
Autofocus Modes
This setting determines how the camera’s autofocus works. This is how that breaks down: ____

AF-S – called “Single-servo,” the AF system will find focus when you activate it (usually
____
by pressing down half-way on the shutter button), and once it does, “lock” that focus at
that distance as long as you maintain pressure on the shutter button. Once you push down
all the way to take the picture, or release pressure, the AF is released.

AF-C – This is “Continuous-servo” autofocus, and the one most people shooting any kind
of action will use. The camera starts focusing the same as above, but never locks. To keep
your subject in focus it is very important that you keep the active AF point on the subject.
This means panning with your subject if they move through the frame. Because the AF
never locks it will remain very responsive and continue to focus on whatever is in the
active AF bracket.

AF-A – This is what the camera uses in full Auto, or what we might call point-and-shoot
mode. Based on the situation the camera chooses between AF-S and AF-C for you.

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AF-Area Modes

These modes determine where the camera focuses, which sensor(s) it uses to control
autofocus. ____

Single – The camera uses one point and only one point. Wherever that point is, that’s ____
where the camera will try to maintain focus.
____
Dynamic-area – This is a great choice for moving subjects and only available when the
____
camera is set for AF-C. You can choose how many surrounding points will help in
maintaining focus. With Dynamic, you can usually choose to use 9-points, 21, 39 or 51, or
____
some combination of those, depending on your camera. Also, the latest high-end cameras
offer a “Group” option, which uses five points. ____

Auto-area – Once referred to as “closest subject,” this is again what the camera would be ____
using in “point-and-shoot” mode, where it chooses where to focus without your input,
using the array of sensors available to it. ____

As with exposure, a photographer’s goal should be control over the autofocus system. That ____
control entails not only how to set it up, but when it operates. Most Nikon cameras have a
button on the back of the body, labeled “AE-L/AF-L”. That stands for Auto Exposure- ____
Lock and Autofocus-Lock. When pressed in and held, the focus and exposure are locked
at their current settings. This lets you put the focus wherever you want it in the frame and
keep it there.

Some photographers prefer to shoot action using “back button focus”, thus changing the
behavior of the camera so it no longer focuses when the shutter button is pressed. Instead,
it will focus when either that AE-L/AF-L button is pressed, or on some cameras, when the
AF-ON button on the backside of the camera body is pressed. This allows you to focus on
and track your subject continuously when the AE-L/AF-L or AF-ON button is pressed.
The shutter can be triggered during peak action without having to reacquire autofocus. (To
activate this “back button” feature and remove autofocus from the shutter button, the AF
activation must be set to “AF-ON only” in the Custom Setting Menu.)

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Timing
While some of today’s Nikon cameras can shoot up to ten frames per second or faster, ____
timing is still a very important part of photography. Relying on a fast frame rate to capture
the decisive moment sometimes works, but not always. That’s why anticipation is so ____
important. Expecting the action, “that” moment, and trying to time your shooting to
capture it. ____

____
Firmware/Cards
Shooting bursts of images is sometimes necessary to catch the right moment, and all ____
cameras have what’s called a “buffer” of internal memory to allow them to shoot and
record at their fastest rate. However, that buffer’s always limited. Not surprisingly, more ____
expensive cameras have larger buffers and faster writing abilities, allowing them to shoot
longer continuous bursts before having to write those images to the card. But all cameras ____
have to write to the card at some point, and that’s where high-speed, quality cards play a
____
role. If the buffer fills during the burst, before being able to write data to the card, the
camera will either stop shooting or slow down until there’s room for more images. The
____
speed rating on a card (usually in MB/s, like SanDisk uses, though a few companies use X
as a rating) shows how fast it can take that data. Faster cards will usually allow longer ____
bursts, and tend to be more expensive (memory that can record faster costs more money).

Firmware is the software that controls the camera. Sometimes there are firmware updates
for cameras that can, among other things, allow higher capacity cards to be used in that
camera. It’s a good idea to occasionally check to see if you have current firmware, and
read what an update addresses. You can see what the current firmware for your camera is
by looking in the “Setup Menu,” “Firmware version.” Then go to www.nikonusa.com and
select the “Nikon Service and Support” tab and click on the “Update your camera’s
firmware” link. If there’s a newer version available it will tell you what that firmware
update addresses, and if you decide you want it, follow the directions to download and
install.

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Section 2 – People Photography
There are a few key things you can do to make better people pictures. Surprisingly, they
have more to do with light and background than the people themselves.

Light

Light has many different qualities such as strength, color and direction. The one that’s
often most important when photographing people, is whether the light is hard or soft.

Direct sunlight is considered “hard” light and so is direct flash, which would make you
think the size of the light source isn’t important, and you’re right, to a point. It’s the size
relative to the subject that’s important, and any light source that is small in relation to the
subject is therefore a hard light, because it creates hard shadows and contrast.

Hard light is dramatic and has a feeling of power. It also means contrast and along with
that, saturated colors. There are times that all of those things will be what you want when
photographing people. But due to the strong shadows and contrast that it creates, hard light ____
can be unflattering. If that’s the case, you want to find a location that offers you soft light,
or change the quality of the light yourself. ____

“Soft” light is created by a large light source. And just like hard lights, that size is relative, ____
depending on the distance to the subject. Which means that an overcast day produces soft
light, as does being in the shade, or using tools like reflectors or diffusers. ____

____

____

____

____

____

____

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Controlling Light

Moving your subject from full sun into open shade, or positioning them differently to the
light source is one way to control the light. Modifying light means you’re taking some
control over the light source and how it illuminates your subject. In some cases that will
mean adding light and a reflector is a simple and inexpensive way to do that. Reflectors
simply bounce light from one place to another.

Diffusers are another way to modify light, but in a different way. They’re placed between
the light source and the subject, essentially creating overcast lighting (a large light source)
where none existed.

If there isn’t enough natural light, or you can’t modify it the way you want, you can
always try adding light with other tools. The less light there is to begin with, the less light
you need to make a difference. A flashlight can be enough light in some situations, to
____
either fill in the area or add emphasis. If you need power (intensity), though, a flash,
sometimes called a Speedlight, is a great solution.
____
Direct flash, of course, is a hard light source because of its small size. That means it will ____
create contrast and shadows, which as we already discussed, can be the wrong look for
people photography. The simplest way to change that is to make it a larger light source, by ____
bouncing it off something. That’s called “fill” flash.
____
There are other ways to turn that small flash into a larger light source. You can shoot it
through a diffuser, bounce it out of an umbrella, through an umbrella, or put it in a ____
softbox. Once you realize the difference between hard and soft light, you’ll be able to use
that knowledge to make better people pictures. ____

____

____

____

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Backgrounds
As we’ve shown, light is one part of the process we can start taking more control over. ____
The other is background.
____
When choosing a background, the decision usually comes down to one of two options:
either a background that’s clean (not distracting in any way) or that adds information ____
(location, event) to the picture. And there are times when the background actually IS the
picture, with the subject playing a minor role. ____

Lens Choice ____

Lens choice, of course, also plays a big role in background. First, the aperture can be used ____
as a control for how much of the background is in focus. But aperture isn’t the only factor
in depth of field. ____

Telephoto lenses offer shallower depth of field than shorter lenses. So combining a longer ____
lens with a wide aperture is one way to create an image with shallow depth of field,
especially when you’re close to the subject. ____

Of course, the opposite of shallow depth of field is great depth of field, where you actually ____
want as much detail in the image as possible. So backing away from the subject and using
small apertures (f/8, f/11, etc.) will give you a great amount of depth of field, to hold as
much detail as possible.

Quality Concerns
Maintaining high quality should always be a priority. If a proper exposure and white
balance are used, JPEG is a good format with a lot of information and capable of very high
quality. Having said that, RAW (NEF for Nikon Electronic Format in Nikon cameras)
offers more flexibility in editing, as well as an uncompressed format with more data.
While it’s not imperative that everyone shoot RAW (NEF) format, it’s worth
experimenting with, and there are times it can make a real difference.

When photographing people, making sure skin color is correct, or at least pleasing, is
important. Color is controlled by white balance, so understanding the white balance
controls is key to good color.
Auto white balance has gotten very good in the last 10 years, and if you’re happy with its
results, great. But there will likely be times, particularly under artificial lighting, where
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you might be able to get better color by using something other than Auto. The first step
then would be to set the white balance control in the camera to the light you’re working in.
There’s also the ability to change, or shift the color, afterwards in editing software. If
shooting in RAW (NEF), then there’s no trouble or loss of quality doing that. If in JPEG,
there will be limits.

Approaching color with the goal of accurate color is usually what photographers strive for,
but there are also times where they intentionally want to shift the color, or increase it. The
white balance controls can be used for that as well, and of course, those changes can be
done afterwards in software too.

The way Nikon digital cameras process the light they capture, with regards to saturation,
contrast and sharpening is through Picture Control. Like white balance, you have a choice
in that processing, which affects things like saturation, contrast and sharpening. The
default is called “Standard.” But of course, being digital, you have the option to choose
other looks, which on today’s Nikon cameras are Neutral, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape and
____
Monochrome.
____
It’s also important to understand that Picture Control applies to both JPEG and RAW
(NEF) files, but its effect may only be truly visible in JPEGs. That’s because a JPEG is a ____
finished image file, whose settings (and white balance) are applied in-camera to create an
image file. RAW (NEF), on the other hand, is essentially unprocessed data from the ____
sensor, which has not yet been processed into an image. It’s just numbers, with
information about how to start the processing of those numbers. Because of that, the ____
software you use to process your NEF files will determine the look of those images. If
using Nikon software, like Capture NX-D, then the NEF image will look just like a JPEG ____
would, because it’s getting the same processing in the software that the image would have
had in the camera. If using third-party (non-Nikon) software, then a NEF file will look at ____
least slightly different than a JPEG, because that NEF will be processed differently than
the JPEG.
____

Any time you start raising the ISO on a camera, you risk having noise. Noise is most ____
visible in dark areas, and more likely if you underexpose. If that noise is visible, it might
be distracting to the point that you need to try to reduce it. There are various software
____
packages that can help with this, but remember that the more you reduce noise with
software, the more you soften the image. That means it’s always a balancing act, trying to
reduce visible noise without softening the image too much.

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 ____
Also, when photographing people, there will probably be times where the subject would
like you to smooth their skin a bit, remove blemishes or simply make them look a bit
____
better. Again, various software packages offer tools that can do a nice job of removing
pimples or blemishes, and even smooth out wrinkles. And there are also some programs ____
designed specifically for retouching, that can not just remove blemishes but smooth skin,
change or enhance eye color, re-shape facial features and more. ____

Finally, any time we talk about quality and photography, the heavy use of smartphones ____
deserves a mention. While it’s great to have a camera inside a small device you almost
always have with you, it’s important to remember the sacrifices in quality that go with that ____
convenience. If you’re shooting an important event, and sharing those photos immediately
is important to you, then consider using a Nikon camera with Wi-Fi® technology. More ____
and more of Nikon’s DSLR’s, Nikon 1 and COOLPIX digital cameras have this built in,
____
which allows you to quickly and easily see the photos on your camera from your
smartphone (iOS and Android™ supported), then pull that photo to the camera (no wires
____
needed) so it can be posted right away. And there are even inexpensive adapters – the
Nikon WU-1a and Nikon WU-1b – that add that ability to some of Nikon’s other cameras. ____

Nikon has many excellent social media and web resources that you can use to get more
information or simply fresh ideas. Some of them are:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikonusa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikonusa
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nikonusa
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nikonusa
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+nikonusa
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/groups/nikondigitallearningcent
er
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/groups/nikonusa

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In Closing
____
Photographers have always worked to grow and improve their creative abilities, and
today’s cameras, lenses, flashes and accessories make that easier than ever before. But
____
more important is how well the photographer learns to use those tools. Photography
____
always comes back to light and exposure, and taking control of the situation when possible
to make the best picture. In both action and people photography, a big part of that is the ____
moment, when the photographer presses the shutter button. Solving all the technical
issues, making sure lighting, white balance, exposure and other settings are where they ____
need to be means the photographer can concentrate on capturing that moment. And that
means you’ll make better pictures. Good luck! ____

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