As a photographer who most often photographs children, I'd love to tell you that my clients are perfectly well behaved all the time ... but if you've ever photographed kids at all, you know I can't do that and be truthful.

Kids are always on the move! And I love my clients, wiggles and all!

There's no need to beg your clients' kids to sit still. Instead, make movement a part of the session. Use your camera to capture them in action.

I want to share with you some ways to freeze time before it's gone forever!

Select the Right Tools

If a large gear purchase is in your immediate future, do your research before investing in any new camera bodies or lenses. Reading reviews, or even renting gear to give it a test run, is a great way to make sure you choose the right items for your needs and style.

For a camera body bought with the intent of capturing movement, you want a camera that has lightning fast shutter speed capability. You'll also want to make sure that the lenses you select are quick, too! A Google search can help you find lenses for your camera that have a reputation for finding focus quickly.

Additionally, think about the lighting environments you most often shoot in. Is your lens able to compensate aperture when your shutter speed is super fast?

Shutter Speed

Put simply, shutter speed is how fast your camera opens and closes its shutter. Obviously, when we're trying to photograph movement, this element of photography is extremely important!

The longer your shutter is open, the longer your subject has to move within the frame. Intentionally or unintentionally, lower shutter speeds are what lead to blur in images. In contrast, if your shutter opens and closes at a faster rate, there is less time available for your subject to move within the frame.

If you're new to photographing action, start by capturing movement in environments that are full of light. This will be helpful to you as you learn within a smaller range of camera settings, before you venture into adjusting lots of other settings.

Go Fast

What do you think will happen if you photograph a child running at you and you leave your shutter open for a whole second? That's a long time when it comes to cameras! The result will be a blur. This is great if it's the effect you're going for, but less so if you're trying to freeze motion. You need to move fast! Or rather, your camera needs to move fast!

If you have a professional quality camera, your shutter speed can likely move at the speed of thousandths of a second! If you can go that fast, do! Practice photographing movement and you will know where you need to start each time.