Photographing action sports
Photographing action sports is probably one of the most difficult fields in all of photography. Not only do you need the right equipment but you must also know your sport thoroughly. If you are able to get close to the action, you can have great success with only using a normal or medium telephoto lens. In most sports such as football and baseball the action will be taking place at a distance so that the use of a long telephoto lens is also necessary. A fast telephoto lens is necessary in order to blur out the background and keep the subject in focus without the need to boost the ISO. The higher the ISO the grainier the resulting photograph will appear. Good photographs, though, can be obtained with an inexpensive long telephoto lens.
If you are shooting fast action from a distance it may become necessary to pre-focus on an area of the field where you know there will be action. An example would be to pre-focus on home plate when you are pretty certain that a runner on third base will try to steal home plate or there will be a similar close play at home as perhaps one of the base runners will be sliding into home plate. Pre-focusing eliminates the need to have to do camera adjustments rapidly as the action is taking place.
Always remember set your camera on "continuous" so that a sequence of rapid shots can be made in order to capture the peak of the action. Most photographers covering professional sports carry two cameras. One camera is equipped with a telephoto lens while the other camera has a normal lens attached to it. Using the cameras in this manner is necessary so as not to miss any of the action-whether at a distance or at close range. Also, remember the old adage, "shoot", "shoot", "shoot". In our age of digital photographer there is not the expense of buying film and developing the film as was the case in the past. Memory cards can hold thousands of pictures so there is no excuse not to take a multitude of shots in order to obtain a few great shots.
In order to get close to the action it is often a good idea to try to obtain a press credential. Before the event you need to find out who is in charge of media relations with the venue where the event will be held. While most credentials are given out primarily to news organizations and magazines, it is often possible that a freelance photographer can request and obtain a credential just by indicating that he or she is a student of photography and is trying to get experience photographing professional sports.
If you are shooting fast action from a distance it may become necessary to pre-focus on an area of the field where you know there will be action. An example would be to pre-focus on home plate when you are pretty certain that a runner on third base will try to steal home plate or there will be a similar close play at home as perhaps one of the base runners will be sliding into home plate. Pre-focusing eliminates the need to have to do camera adjustments rapidly as the action is taking place.
Always remember set your camera on "continuous" so that a sequence of rapid shots can be made in order to capture the peak of the action. Most photographers covering professional sports carry two cameras. One camera is equipped with a telephoto lens while the other camera has a normal lens attached to it. Using the cameras in this manner is necessary so as not to miss any of the action-whether at a distance or at close range. Also, remember the old adage, "shoot", "shoot", "shoot". In our age of digital photographer there is not the expense of buying film and developing the film as was the case in the past. Memory cards can hold thousands of pictures so there is no excuse not to take a multitude of shots in order to obtain a few great shots.
In order to get close to the action it is often a good idea to try to obtain a press credential. Before the event you need to find out who is in charge of media relations with the venue where the event will be held. While most credentials are given out primarily to news organizations and magazines, it is often possible that a freelance photographer can request and obtain a credential just by indicating that he or she is a student of photography and is trying to get experience photographing professional sports.
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