In order to capture the peak of the action you must have your timing right. When you’re shooting your kids bouncing around the backyard it’s not easy to capture the moment. Too much random movement. Shooting sports or action events are easier since there are usually repeated actions. Watching and learning these actions will allow you to get the timing down and produce great photos.

I had the opportunity to shoot a horse jumping event yesterday. First time ever doing this. Fortunately, I had a mentor who told me what to shoot and from where. He let me know what types of photos work best and (more importantly) the position of the horse over the jump. This photo is really close to what people look for.

In order to catch this magic moment, I actually had to shoot before it. My brain told my finger to “push the button” just as the horses feet are leaving the ground. The time delay of my camera combined with my reaction time got the shot as the feet are coming across the bar.

There’s the whole point of this. You have to shoot BEFORE the action actually happens. If you shoot just as you see the moment in the viewfinder, you’re too late. By observing and learning the pre-action clues you’ll have better success in capturing perfectly timed pictures.