Burst mode

Most cameras have a burst or continuous shooting mode that can take a sequence of photos in quick succession as long as you hold down the shutter release button. This increases the chance of capturing the heat of the action.

For digital point-and-shoot cameras that do not allow manual control of most settings, there is a sports or action scene mode (above). This automatically sets a high shutter speed, continuous autofocus and, for some models, even burst mode.

Pre-focus

For much faster action, such as Formula One racing, predict where the action is and pre-focus manually. For compact digital cameras that do not allow manual focusing, pick an object at the location of the action, such as a lamp post, and half-press the shutter release button to focus on the lamp post.

Maintain the half-press to lock the pre-focus and press down fully when the subject reaches the lamp post.

Practise on a camera that you will use on the actual day so you know its ins and outs and know when exactly to press the shutter release before the subject reaches the scene.

Once you have mastered these basic techniques for capturing action, you can go on to explore more advanced techniques such as panning and introducing selective blurs by deliberately using slow shutter speeds.

John Tan is a freelance writer

This is part eight of a 10-part series.

Capturing the right moment: Starting with a shutter speed of 1/2000 second (above, from left) and moving from 1/60 second to 1/8 second, as the shutter speed got slower, the taxi became more and more blurred until it almost "disappears". One way of shooting a moving taxi is to pan the camera so that the taxi is kept in sharp focus while the background is blurred (left). Here, a long shutter speed of 1/60 second was used.

On the move: The photographer can also be the one who moves. Here, the photo was taken (shutter speed at 1/30 seconds) from the front passenger seat of a moving car.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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