In photography, some of the most compelling images are the ones that freeze motion, especially fast moving, dynamic motion. Whether it’s the graceful leap of a dancer, the splash of water mid-air, or the raw energy of a sporting event, freezing motion brings these fleeting moments to life with clarity. In this guide, we’ll explore two powerful techniques for freezing motion in your photography: using flash and using high shutter speeds.
How to Freeze Motion Using Off-Camera Flash
In this video, Pye demonstrates how to capture stunning dance portraits, using flash to freeze the model’s dynamic movements.
What You’ll Need to Freeze Motion
- A high-resolution camera. A 30-45mp camera like the Canon EOS R5 will work great.
- A wide angle lens such as the RF 28-70mm f/2L.
- Off-camera flashes. I’ll be using two Westcott FJ400‘s with the beauty dish and umbrella.
- Any regular colored fabric from your local fabric store.
Before we jump in, give our dancer, Sabrina, a follow on Instagram here!
Steps to Freezing Motion with Flash
Let’s walk through the steps to freezing motion with flash.
Step 1: Determine the Composition
My composition is very wide to make sure all the movement gets captured in the frame. You might get objects around the frame, however, this can be fixed in post. A high resolution camera is useful here as we have more flexibility when cropping to our desired composition later.
Step 2: Determine the Amount of Ambient Light
To freeze motion, I want to nix all the ambient light in the studio. The shutter speed is important here because a slower shutter speed may cause “ghosting.” This is when the ambient light mixes with flash and creates unwanted blur. I maxed out my flash shutter speed at 1/200 seconds, f/7.1, at ISO 800.
Step 3: Modify/Add Light
My key light is the FJ400 on camera left. I attached a shoot thru umbrella to create a large bounce from the umbrella but the white wall behind it as well. I placed the second FJ400 on the other side with a beauty dish. This light will add a little kick on Sabrina.
Step 4: Photograph Your Images
Tips When Freezing Motion with Flash
Here are a couple tips when using flash to freeze motion:
The higher the power of a flash, the longer the “Flash Duration” will be. Even though the flash is still incredibly fast, it can still cause some unwanted blur. A lower power has a much shorter flash duration, guaranteeing tack sharp action images.
One of the benefits of a high powered flash is the ability to power down. Powering down reduces the “recycle time.” At high power and high frame rate, the flash can’t keep up. When I reduce it, its able to give me consistent light with each frame.
How to Freeze Motion with a High Shutter Speed
Freezing motion with a high shutter speed is a straightforward technique. The faster your shutter speed, the sharper you can capture even the quickest actions. However, as explained in our Exposure Guide, increasing the shutter speed affects your exposure, requiring adjustments to either the aperture or ISO to maintain balance. In some situations, your aperture and ISO settings may limit how high your shutter speed can go.
To ensure you can effectively freeze motion, it’s important to understand the minimum shutter speed required for your subject. Below, we’ll explore the three key factors that influence your options for setting an effective minimum shutter speed:
Factor 1: Speed and direction of the moving subject
The most influential factor when it comes to freezing motion is the speed and direction of the moving subject. If the motion is slow, like someone waving his hand, you probably can freeze that motion with a 1/100th second shutter speed. But if the speed of the motion is fast, like someone swinging a baseball bat, you may need 1/1000th second to freeze the action.
When it comes to direction, a subject that is moving towards you or away from you can be frozen with a slower shutter speed than a subject that is moving in a side-to-side direction. So, if you want to freeze a dog running towards you, you can probably freeze it with 1/500th second shutter speed, whereas if the dog is running right to left, you may have to increase the shutter speed to 1/800th second. This is because the motion is more pronounced when the subject is moving across the frame as opposed to towards or away from you.
Factor 2: The distance between you and the subject
When the subject is close to you, the range of motion across the frame is much larger than when the subject is farther away from you. As a result, when you are shooting a moving subject up close, your shutter speed needs to be higher than when you are shooting the same subject moving the same speed a lot farther away.
Factor 3: Focal Length of Lens
The lens focal length that you are shooting with and how much of the frame your subject is occupying also affects how fast of a shutter speed that you will need. A wide angle lens requires less of a shutter speed to freeze motion as opposed to a telephoto lens. Just like shooting a subject that is up close, when you zoom in with your lens or use a telephoto lens, the subject’s size and motion in the frame becomes more pronounced.
If you are shooting a soccer match with a wide angle lens, each player is moving through a small space of the frame. If you zoom in or use a telephoto lens, you will need a faster shutter speed in comparison to when you are using a wide angle lens.
