SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

March 31, 2021

Sports photography

Sports photography refers to the genre of photography that covers all types of sports.

In the majority of cases, professional sports photography is a branch of photojournalism, while amateur sports photography, such as photos of children playing association football, is a branch of vernacular photography.

The main application of professional sports photography is for editorial purposes; dedicated sports photographers usually work for newspapers, major wire agencies or dedicated sports magazines. However, sports photography is also used for advertising purposes both to build a brand and as well as to promote a sport in a way that cannot be accomplished by editorial means.

Equipment

Equipment typically used for sports photography includes a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera or Mirrorless Camera with high continuous shooting speeds and interchangeable lenses ranging from 14mm to 400mm or longer in focal length, depending on the type of sport.

The proper lenses are very important as they allow the photographer to reach closer or farther as quickly as possible to keep up with the game play. Essential accessories include a monopod or tripod for stability and extra batteries.

Longer focal length lenses are typically used to photograph action in sports such as football, while wide angle lenses can be used for sideline and close-up athlete photos.

Camera bodies

The preferred camera bodies for modern sports photography have fast autofocus and high burst rates, typically 8 frames per second or faster. The current flagship sports cameras produced by Canon and Nikon are the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and the Nikon D5; these are popular in professional sports photography.

Lenses

Different sports favor different lenses, but sports photography usually requires fast (wide aperture) telephoto lenses, with fast autofocus performance.

Indoor sports photography, as mentioned earlier, can present its own challenges with less distance between the action and photographer and extreme lighting.

For example, competition cheerleading allows for photographers to be up close to the action while looking upwards directly into harsh stage lighting against a black background. A different approach to such a situation is to use the prime lens named a "nifty fifty".

The shutter speed is extremely fast while still setting the aperture to bring in enough light.

Technique

Location is often important for sports photography. At big events, professional photographers often shoot from VIP spots with the best views, usually as close to the action as possible. Most sports require the photographer to frame their images with speed and adjust camera settings spontaneously to prevent blurring or incorrect exposure. Some sports photography is also done from a distance to give the game a unique effect.

Getting to know your subjects is critical in capturing emotion. Effects and editing can only do so much for a photo. Understanding who athletes are by having a conversation with them can change your view on the person, making you a better photographer.

Knowing the game. Predicting what happens next in a sports game is critical in understanding how to compose your shot. The action moves fast so you take the time to prepare yourself before going out and taking photos.

ISO speed is often high (to allow faster shutter speeds) and may be left in auto.

Photos are often taken in burst mode to capture the best moment, sometimes in combination with JPEG rather than RAW shooting (JPEG files being smaller, these allow longer bursts).

Strip photography

While the vast majority of sports photography focuses on capturing a moment, possibly with some blur, the technique of strip photography is sometimes used to instead show motion over time. This is most prominent in a photo finish, but can also be used for other purposes, often yielding unusually distorted images.