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The Sport of Photography
By Jeff Cable
www.jeffcable.com
Photographing sports, whether it is a professional team or your child's local team, can be a lot of fun and yield some great
results. But, it helps to know some tips in order to get the best pictures.
Different types of sports require different camera settings and shooting techniques.
The first thing that you want to determine is whether you want to freeze the action or whether you want to show some motion in your images.
Typically when I photograph a sport like swimming, I want to freeze the action of the swimmer and also freeze the splash of water surrounding
the swimmer. In order to do this, I set my camera to shutter priority and, depending on my lighting conditions, set my shutter speed to a
minimum speed of 1/750 sec. If I have a lot of light I may shoot at a faster speed (approx. 1/1500). Remember that the higher the shutter
speed the lower the aperture which means that you will have less of a chance to capture all of the subject in focus. Ideally you can shoot
at a fast shutter speed and still have an aperture of f5.6 or better. I typically shoot on a Lexar Professional UDMA 300x 8GB CF card so
that I can shoot lots of RAW images without having to stop and change cards.
Not all sports and not all images require a fast shutter speed. The disadvantage of a fast capture is that the motion of the action may be lost.
In this case, it may be in your best interest to capture the action at a slower shutter speed to show the motion of your subject. This usually
requires that you experiment with different shutter speeds in order to achieve the results you're looking for.
When photographing any type of auto racing, it is usually a good idea to slow the shutter to the point where you get some blurring and motion in
the tires and the background. If you freeze the action in an auto race it may look like the car is parked on the track. This does not create any
excitement in the image.
When photographing moving objects it is also a good idea to try panning with your subject. The trick is to slow your shutter down
(also known as dragging the shutter) and move your camera at the same speed as your subject. This will keep the slower moving areas of
the subject in focus while the faster moving objects will show more motion. This is demonstrated in the following image. The legs of the
horses show motion but the faces of the subjects are still clear and recognizable.
As with most photography, there is not one exact way to photograph sports. You should experiment with your shutter speeds, your camera angles, your
focal lengths and your creative ideas. Have fun with your camera and you will come home, download your Lexar memory card, and end up with some real
winning shots.
Articles by Jeff Cable:
- Take a closer look - The fun of macro photography
- Shooting Fast - The Rule of Numbers
- What is the difference between a $300 lens and a $2000 lens?
- Shooting Underwater Photography on a Budget.
- Hurry up…It's time to slow down
Visit www.jeffcable.com
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