Composing Action Photos/Video

Ever notice that most pro photographs don’t frame the action in the center of the picture? They are following the Rule of Thirds, and it’s very easy to do–some cameras even have a helpful “rule of thirds” tool built into their viewfinder. Imagine a tic tac toe grid in your viewfinder. The action center should be where two of the lines intersect. When the action is a vertical or horizontal column, it should lie on one of the lines.

For surfing shots, make sure to capture the context of the shot in the frame. If you shot a closeup of someone at Jaws the entire reason for the shot would be lost if you didn’t show that wave. The rule of thirds even makes that easier–you might frame the shot of the surfer in the bottom right intersection with the wave piling up to the left.

If you’re using autofocus, make sure you know what point your focus is taken from. You can often get better shots with manual focus, because autofocus is frequently the center of the frame in less expensive camera, and that means you’ll have to frame your action dead center to focus. Also if you have a crisp wave and surfer at the base of it, where would you want the focus? on the arcing spray of the wave, or on the surfer? Maybe the wave would be a better choice.

Exposure is another tricky issue. Contrast tends to be high with beach shots–The whitewater is bright, the wave dark, and the surfer can be darker still. If you’re using a point-and-shoot it’s why your pictures are good but not great. If you’re using an SLR, then you might want to take the camera off auto and play around some.

Finally there’s that nasty horizon. If the waves are small, the horizon may be obvious. Try to make sure you keep the horizon parallel to the frame. An angled horizon screws up the balance.

Some of this stuff can be fixed in editing and cropping, but it’s best to start with a well composed picture with good exposure, well-chosen focus and a horizon line that doesn’t make viewers seasick.