Chapter 20 — Quiz

Twenty-six self-check questions covering the shutter decision, continuous autofocus, panning, reach and the wildlife approach, anticipating the peak, and the burst-and-cull workflow. A few are seeing questions — you diagnose a described frame. Answer before checking the key; the explanations matter more than the score.

Multiple choice

1. In action photography, which control is usually "the boss" — set first, with the others serving it? a) Aperture b) Shutter speed c) ISO d) White balance

2. You want to freeze a competitive cyclist crossing your frame. The best starting shutter speed is roughly: a) 1/60 s b) 1/125 s c) 1/1000 s d) 1/4 s

3. A runner crossing your frame needs 1/1000 s to freeze cleanly. The same runner sprinting straight toward you at the same speed can be frozen at: a) A much faster shutter b) The same shutter only c) A slower shutter than 1/1000 s d) No shutter will freeze a toward-you subject

4. Which focus mode keeps re-measuring and adjusting focus on a moving subject for as long as you hold the button? a) Single AF (AF-S / one-shot) b) Continuous AF (AF-C / servo) c) Manual focus d) Hyperfocal focus

5. Panning produces: a) A blurred subject against a sharp background b) A sharp subject against a streaked background c) Everything sharp d) Everything blurred

6. A good starting shutter speed for panning a cyclist or car is about: a) 1/2000 s b) 1/500 s c) 1/30 s d) 5 s

7. The "follow-through" in panning means: a) Reviewing the shot immediately b) Continuing to sweep the camera smoothly through and after the shutter press c) Holding the camera perfectly still at the click d) Firing a second burst

8. Beyond making a distant subject bigger, a long telephoto lens also: a) Widens the angle of view b) Increases depth of field dramatically c) Compresses the scene, rendering a clean, soft, distant background d) Slows the shutter automatically

9. The peak of action is best described as: a) The fastest instant of a movement b) The instant a movement hangs at full extension, briefly almost still c) The moment just after the subject leaves the frame d) Whenever the burst happens to fire

10. Why can't you reliably catch the peak by pressing the shutter when you see it? a) The camera's shutter is too fast b) Reaction time plus camera lag (~¼ s) means you fire after the peak has passed c) The buffer is always full d) Autofocus won't lock in time

11. The buffer is: a) The memory card itself b) A protective lens hood c) Fast temporary memory where frames queue before being written to the card d) The continuous-AF prediction system

12. "Spray and pray" — holding the shutter down through a whole event — typically fails because: a) It uses too little of the card b) It fills the buffer (stalling at the worst moment) and buries the keepers in near-duplicates c) It's too slow to catch action d) It disables continuous AF

13. For a phone-only photographer who wants frame-filling wildlife shots, the right strategy is to: a) Use maximum digital zoom b) Get genuinely close to approachable subjects c) Buy a teleconverter for the phone d) Always shoot at 1/4000 s

14. The single most important camera setting change when action begins is to switch: a) From JPEG to RAW b) From single AF to continuous AF c) From matrix to spot metering d) From aperture to shutter priority

15. To make a waterfall's water silky while the rocks stay sharp, you use: a) A fast shutter, hand-held b) A slow shutter on a tripod c) Panning d) A long telephoto lens

True / False — justify each in one sentence

16. Freezing every action at the fastest shutter your camera allows always makes the strongest photograph.

17. A subject moving across your frame is harder to freeze than the same subject moving straight toward you.

18. In a pan, the subject is sharp because it is effectively still relative to your sensor while you track it.

19. Cropping a high-resolution file is a perfectly free way to gain unlimited telephoto reach.

20. A higher frame rate (fps) increases the chance that the peak of action lands inside a burst.

Short answer

21. Name the three levers (from Figure 20.1) that together decide whether a moving subject freezes or blurs.

22. Describe, in three or four steps, the physical technique of a clean pan (from foot stance to shutter).

23. State the golden rule of the wildlife approach in one sentence, and give one practical sign that tells you you've broken it.

24. Explain why "acquire the subject early" matters for continuous autofocus (what is the camera doing with that early data?).

Seeing questions — what's wrong, and how would you fix it?

25. A reader shows you this frame and asks why it disappoints them:

text "Daughter's relay race" [described] A teenage runner crosses left-to-right at full sprint. The chain-link fence and the spectators BEHIND her are tack-sharp and perfectly exposed. The runner herself is a soft, smeared blur. Shot in bright daylight; the photographer says they used the same single-focus setting they use for portraits and pressed the shutter when she ran past. Name the two distinct errors and the specific fix for each.

26. Diagnose this one:

text "Panned road cyclist" [described] A cyclist crosses the frame. The cyclist is reasonably sharp. But the background is ALSO sharp — the shopfronts and parked cars behind are crisp and readable, and the photo just looks like an ordinary daylight snapshot of a bike, with no sense of speed at all. The photographer panned smoothly and followed through. They were shooting at 1/640 s in bright sun. The technique was right but one setting defeated it. Name it and the fix.

Answer Key

Topics to review by question