Freezing the action

Some of the most important factors to keep in mind if you intend to freeze the action

Fast shutter speed

Flash /strobes

Predict the peak moment

You need to release the shutter just before the peak moment. If you have seen the right moment through the viewfinder, it means you have released the shutter just before or later. With a little practice and understanding of the subject in action, one can calculate the exact moment, though it may not always work.

Fast reflexes

Make sure that you know your equipment very well and have a good control over the dials and buttons of your camera just in case you need to change anything. Knowing the moves of your subject is also very important, be it an athlete, dancer or a sportsperson.

Continuos or single shot ?

Different photographers have different preferences. i would say, single shot but a faster shooting so that you are releasing the shutter by choice at the right moment and not by luck. With continuos option, the release of the shutter certainly would be fast but may not be always at the right split second. fast but may still miss the peak moment, you so much desired to capture.

Camera settings- Exposure - aperture and ISO besides shutter speed

Its not just the higher shutter speed that will freeze the action. To get the desired higher shutter speed you may depending upon the available or artificial lighting situations open up the aperture or / and increase the ISO. So in certain circumstances to freeze the action or to be able to freeze it as much as possible, you may have to go for a shallow depth of field by opening the aperture or go for noise in the image by increasing the ISO. Remember, that using the tripod or Image stabilisation systems only help control or reduce the camera shake and not the subject movement. That can only be frozen by the faster shutter speed or a high speed strobe ( which effectively means that the exposure is very brief)

photo -Gautam pyarimohan photo -Gautam pyarimohan