How to Take Great Action Pictures with a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

The most common camera used today is a point-and-shoot digital camera. These cameras are not meant to take action shots because of the shutter lag. This is the wait between the time you press the shutter release and when the camera actually takes the picture. When pressing the shutter release, the camera has to focus the lens, measure the white balance and perform other functions, such as preparing the sensor to capture the image. If your point-and-shoot digital camera suffers from noticeable lag, there are a few things you can do to minimize the delay when you press the shutter release.

White Balance Control: By manually setting the white balance control the camera doesn't have to measure and calculate the white balance thus saving you some time. Typically white balance settings would be indoor, daylight, sunset, etc.

Manual Focus: You can save additional time by setting your camera to manual focus. If the action shot is some distance away you can just set the focus to infinity and take your picture. Otherwise focus on a stationary object that will be the same distance as your moving object.

ISO Setting: Manually setting your ISO will eliminate your camera from performing this task automatically and thus save further time. ISO=100 is typically used for sunny daytime shots. ISO=400 can be used for cloudy and low light shots. ISO=800 - 1000 are used for night shoots. The downside to increasing the ISO is that you'll have more digital noise in the photo, but it may mean the difference in getting a sharp photo.

Shutter Speed: If you're at a car race, an air show, or a sporting event with lots of fast action, its recommend to set your shutter speed to 1/1000 second or faster.

Panning: Bypivoting your body, as you take the picture, keeps the subject centered in the viewfinder throughout the exposure. You'll end up with a compelling photo in which the background is blurry and the subject is in focus. Taking a picture with this method conveys the impression of speed and excitement. Before panning, make sure that the camera's shutter speed is low enough to blur the background, but not so slow that camera shake ruins the shot. Using a shutter speed of 1/15 or 1/30 of a second should do the trick.

DSLR: If taking action photography is your passion and becomes a serious hobby, then I recommend you invest money in a digital SLR camera.