How do I photograph children, pets and other moving subjects?

Moving subjects fail in two independent ways: the shutter is too slow to freeze them, and the focus system is set up for something that stays still. Both need changing, and changing only one does not help.

Step by step

1. Switch to shutter priority.Set the shutter speed yourself and let the camera work out the aperture. Movement is the constraint here, so it should be the thing you control.
2. Start at 1/500 second.Enough for children and dogs at normal speed. Running, jumping and sport want 1/1000 or faster; a hand gesture or a walking pace can be fine at 1/250.
3. Turn on Auto ISO with a ceiling.It lets the camera keep your shutter speed indoors without you constantly adjusting. Set a maximum you find acceptable rather than leaving it unlimited.
4. Switch autofocus to continuous.Marked AF-C or AI Servo. It tracks the subject as it moves instead of locking once. Single-shot autofocus on a moving subject focuses where they were.
5. Use a small cluster of focus points, not all of them.A zone or a small group over the subject tracks reliably. Every point active means the camera latches onto whatever is nearest, which is often not the subject.
6. Shoot in short bursts.Three or four frames around the moment. Expressions and limb positions change between frames, and one of them will be the one.
7. Pre-focus where the action will be.For a predictable path — a child running to a spot, a dog fetching — focus there and wait. It removes the autofocus from the equation entirely.
8. Anticipate rather than react.Press the shutter just before the peak of the moment. Human reaction time means pressing when you see it produces the frame afterwards.
9. Get down to their level.Kneeling or lying down transforms photographs of children and animals, because it puts you in their world rather than looking down on it.
10. Try panning for a sense of speed.A slower shutter, around 1/60, following the subject smoothly as it passes. The subject stays sharp and the background streaks. It takes practice and the failures are cheap.
11. Give up depth of field before sharpness.A wider aperture buys shutter speed. A slightly softer background is a much better trade than a blurred subject.

Tips

• Continuous autofocus and 1/500 second are the two changes that matter most.
• Pre-focus on a spot and wait for the subject to arrive there.
• Press just before the moment, not when you see it.

Common mistakes

• Leaving autofocus on single shot — It locks focus once when you half press, so by the time the shutter fires the subject has moved out of that plane. Continuous mode keeps adjusting until the moment of exposure.
• Holding the ISO down to keep the image clean — It forces a shutter speed too slow to freeze the subject, so the picture is clean and blurred. Grain is a texture; blur is a failure.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask