Sports Photography Helpful Tips and Tricks
Understand Your SubjectBecause of the critical impact timing has on action photography, it is important that you understand what you are shooting. If you take football as an example, you can"t get a good shot of a touchdown if you"re not in the end zone. Take the time before your shoot to learn about how the activity you are documenting works so that you"ll be able to anticipate what happens next and position yourself accordingly.
Get the Subject in Action
Try and capture your subject at the absolute peak moment of whatever that activity is. For example if you"re photographing snowboarders jumping off a ramp, know what type of shot you want. Do you want the launch, the landing or the highest part in the jump? Action photography is very striking when you are able to grab the most interesting part of the action, so make sure you"re thinking about that before you shoot.
Focus Early
Many professional photographers will focus their cameras on an empty space where they expect something to happen. This is an easy thing to do if you know the activity you"re shooting, and will save you valuable time when someone is flying through the air in your frame and you have milliseconds to react.
Pan with the Subject
It is important in action photography that you convey motion in the final print. While some subjects will have very predictable and obvious motion like a basketball player dunking a basket, other actions may require a lot more work like panning. Panning is moving the camera with your subject as they pass by. This will give you an image with a blurry backkground and the subject in focus.
Film and Flash
High-speed film (800 or above) is usually best for action photography. It will allow you to use faster shutter speeds in more light situations, helping you to freeze action as it happens. For ultra fast movements, a flash can also be helpful however most consumer level camera flashes won"t work well beyond 10 feet.
Frame the Image for Action
If possible, try to avoid stopping the action of a subject in your picture. While freezing an action in progress is a good goal for an action shot, allow the viewer room to follow the action to a possible conclusion. For example if you have someone jumping down some stairs, position the subject near the top of the picture and have some stairs below so it"s easier to understood the outcome of the action.
Go with Digital
Action photography takes an enormous amount of patience and practice, and up until recently also required an enormous amount of film. Thanks to digital technology, now you can practice shooting without going through a lot of film and spending a lot of money refining your skill. And even better, many digital SLRs have continuous shooting modes that allow you to shoot 10-50 images in rapid succession so you can have more opportunities for the perfect shot.
Anytime your shooting action photography safety needs to come first you so can avoid injuring yourself or the subject in motion. You never want to get in a position where you could put yourself or someone else in harms way so try to only shoot in areas where photographers are expected and allowed. Beyond that, the more you shoot, the better you"ll get!