This is a more serious photographer
type article, but a lot of amateur photographers are
into taking pictures at sports games too, especially
those with children. Sport photography is not the
easiest medium of photography to master. With fast
action and a lot going on an inexperienced photographer
will produce unsatisfactory blurry images or just
boring ones with too much grass and no colors and
no emphasis on action. This article is designed to
give expert tips to the more experienced and a basic
outline for the amateur. I will be covering the different
techniques, lighting, lenses and camera settings.
Techniques
Close shots are important, sport is very physical
and pictures should reflect that, if you are photographing
a contact sport try and get a shot of an intense
moment like a tackle or intercept. There is a lot
of emotion involved in sport as well, the exhilaration
of scoring a goal, the pain and sadness of a loss.
Try to emphasize these by capturing expressions
and body language and linking them together. There
are limited colors on a sport field so try in include
grass, sky and players uniforms which are almost
always contrasting colors. Sport is fast and action
packed, so show that through your pictures, try
panning your camera with a moving player or ball,
with a bit of practice you can achieve a shot in
which the player or ball is completely in focus
and the background is blurred.
Lighting
Not much to speak of here, try to keep the sun
behind you to light the players well, because fast
pictures need lots of light. A flash can be useful
for freezing action but can give an undesirable
effect. Also, if you are photographing a night game
be sure to set your white balance or else your shots
will look alien and tungsten. This also applies
to using the correct film in a film camera.
Lenses
Close shots are important, especially on players
faces and there intense actions. A zoomed in lens
or a telephoto is best, especially a telephoto since
you can adjust the zoom while shooting.
Camera Settings
These vary widely, but the main rule is to try
and get a clear shot, this relies on two factors:
aperture and shutter speed, achieving a balance
between the two is important. With an aperture that
is to wide, some of the picture will be blurry,
which is not commonly desired. However, the wider
the aperture, the faster you can set the shutter
speed, if the shutter speed is too slow then your
subjects will be blurred and unclear.
Now you have no more excuses, so get out there
and take some sports photos.
About the Author:
Visit Giles Thompson at http://photographertips.net
