4 Quick & Easy Tips for Taking Better Action Photos on your Phone

[Editor’s Note]: For this ArtsNews photography series, exhibiting artists in ArtsWestchester’s recent 2023 Lawrence Salley Photography Award exhibition were asked to write about specific photography topics that our readers can easily implement on their smartphones. Here, Lisa Post explains how to successfully capture action photos on your phone.

Have you ever attended a performance or sporting event, hoping to get a great action shot, only to discover that your photos were lifeless and without much action? In this article, I’ll give you four quick and easy tips to make your photos pop. And it can easily be done on your smartphone, because not everyone has their camera on them when a great photo-opp occurs.

1. Don’t stand directly in front of performers when shooting your photo. Standing below the subject, above, or a bit off to the side creates more depth and allows more of the action to be seen. In my photo of African dancers (photo 1), your focus is on the main dancers, but the angle allows you to see the drummers and crowd behind them, creating layers of depth behind the dancers.

2. Don’t be afraid to edit. Someone might walk right into the edge of your scene when the perfect action occurs. Don’t sweat it! Crop your photo to get rid of anything that detracts from the action. Also, smartphones now have a multitude of options to correct photos, so don’t be afraid to play with the settings. For instance, you can correct the exposure if you were in shadow or bright sunshine. You can adjust saturation to give you a bit brighter color. Have fun with your photos.

3. Try to take the photo as the action is occurring. For example, just as a baseball player strikes the ball and the ball is mid-air, or in this case as the main dancer is a foot off the ground.

4. The timing in Tip #3 isn’t always easy to achieve, but there is a great trick that can help. Most smartphones now have a Live Photo button that takes a quick few-seconds mini video (Androids have a Motion Photo button, depending on the model). This is a great feature that will allow you to get the precise action shot. Here’s the trick: Take the photo with the “Live” setting turned on. Then, hit the Edit button. Press the “Live Photo” icon at the bottom-left of the screen and slide the cursor until you see the exact moment you want (see photo 2). In this case, I wasn’t able to catch the dancer mid-air but I was able to see it on one of the frames of the Live Photo. When you see the exact shot you want, click “Make Key Photo” (Androids have something similar, but may use different wording). And there you go! You now have the dancer mid-air, which creates a much more interesting photo.

Hope these quick tips for action photos on your phone will help you have more fun and capture some better shots along the way.

Follow Lisa Post on Facebook and Instagram at @LisaPostArt.

About Lisa Post

LISA POST is an award winning graphic designer and fine artist. She is a magna cum laude graduate of The New York Institute of Technology, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Design Graphics and winning a Gold Medal in Design Graphics. While working as a graphic designer at a division of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide, her work for clients such as G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and Crown Publishers, had appeared in magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Publisher’s Weekly, Vanity Fair, TV Guide, The Los Angeles Times, Vogue, GQ and numerous other publications. Her freelance clients have included The City of New Rochelle, Family Services of Westchester, New Rochelle Council on the Arts, The City of Yonkers, New York Institute of Technology, Kings Harbor Multicare Center and Lawrence Nursing Care Center. She has also created ads, logos, business cards, journals, posters, and invitations for various private and public clients. She is a member of the New Rochelle Art Association, the New Rochelle Council of the Arts and the Mamaroneck Artist’s Guild. As a fine artist working in several mediums, photographer and digital artist, she exhibits nationally. She has won many awards for her work and has sold several pieces in her few years as an exhibiting artist. Artwork of hers is hanging in the City Hall Office of the Mayor of New Rochelle, a digital art piece was published in the 2008 calendar for the city, and a photo published in the county-wide 2009 Westchester Town Planner calendar. She recently finished a commission by the City of Yonkers for its Waterfront Revitalization project, has two photos in the International Library of Photography, and was a participant in the Tree Project of the International Fiber Collaborative which is on permanent display in the Earlyworks Children’s Museum in Alabama.