Lens Extender

Robert's Rules for Sports Photography

Robert Beck is a Sports Illustrated contract photographer.  I recently saw his piece on the Nikon site highlighting a few very good tips for capturing youth sports photgraphs.  He's a Nikon equipment guy like me.  Thus, many of his tips on equipment settings are specific to Nikon cameras (he shoots a D3, D700 and D300). However,  I'm sure that some of those settings are replicated on Canon and other equipment as well.

Try a Different Photographic Perspective for Your Sports Photography

Normally I like to take my sports photos at field or court level from as low of a perspective as possible.  I believe this low perspective makes the athlete appear larger, particularly photos of kids.  While photographing a volleyball tournament recently, I noticed an opportunity to capture the action from a perspective almost directly above the athletes.  So I tried it.  The photographs below are the result of taking advantage of that perspective.  

I must admit.  I like it. I found the higher perspective easier to isolate the intended athlete from other players.  And most importantly I found it easier to capture good action that also included faces an those necessary athletic facial expressions.

Find Interesting Sports Photo Situations

You can find interesting sports subjects in a lot of environments.  This shot was taken during an awful day for soccer played on a water-logged field.  I noticed one player choosing to sit on the bench with the water surrounding her boots.  Truthfully, I didn't notice the boot reflection until after I reviewed the photo on my Mac.  I think the reflection makes the photo even more appealing.

Don't Use AF-On for Volleyball

I'm not sure why, but I seem to get more in-focus volleyball action when I use the shutter release button for auto focus as opposed to the AF-On button and setting on my Nikon D700.  I previously posted that I only use the AF-On setting and button for my sports photography.  Well, I'm fairly sure now that for volleyball at least I get more in-focus shots using the shutter release button for auto-focus, exposure and releasing the shutter.

Auto ISO Isn't Always Necessary

I've posted previously that I use the Auto ISO setting on my Nikon D700 when shooting sports.  While shooting indoor sports, however, I'm not sure Auto ISO is always best (As a reminder, I normally use the Auto ISO setting when I manually set the shutter speed I want to achieve and an appropriate aperture setting (see post here).  On the Nikon D700, an ISO setting as high as 6400 still produces very acceptable photos with very little graininess.  Thus I allow the ISO to automatically adjust from a low of 200 to a high of 6400 to achieve proper exposure at the shutter speed and aperture that I manually set). 

With the past volleyball tournament I shot, I found that I got more properly exposed photos by shooting a few photos using the above Auto ISO technique.  After reviewing the ISO level automatically set by the camera with these photos, I manually set the ISO to that level at the shutter speed and aperture level previously set.  I'm not sure why I achieve more properly exposed photos this way.  My guess is that under some conditions the Auto ISO setting just isn't fast enough to attain a proper exposure all of the time.

Try Sepia and Black & White for Your Sports Photos

There's no rule that says you must post or sell your sports photos in color.  I frequently create sepia and black & white images using Aperture.  I find that high ISO grainy images look better in these formats. Images that are not tack sharp from an in-focus perspective can often look presentable in sepia or black & white. And overcast, rainy days often have a better appearance in black & white specifically.

The Camera Equipment is Important for Capturing Sports Shots

"It's not the fiddle.  It's the fiddler."  While this is mostly true when it comes to capturing good sports shots.  It's not completely true.  Your camera equipment can really help you get more of those very interesting sports photos that I know you crave.  These are my top four equipment capability criteria that help capture cool sports images. 

1. Auto focus speed - Sports like soccer require a camera / lens set up that can quickly focus on a subject AND continue to focus on a moving subject.
2. High frames per second rate - More is better; 8 fps is better than 5 which is better than 3.  I'm sure there's a speed that gets ridiculous.  If it exists, I haven't used it yet.
3. Good low light performance - Not all the action occurs in optimal lighting.  Having a camera that can take photos in the ISO 3200 - 6400 range with well controlled noise levels is key.  But don't forget about big aperture lenses as well.  If the budget can handle it, f/2.8 lenses are better than f/4.0, which is better than f/5.6.  The bigger apertures let you shoot at higher shutter speeds in low light situations.
4. Sharp, in-focus subject with nice blurry background - See number 3 above.  The f/2.8 lenses with long lengths (ie. 300mm) can really help with this.

 

Focusing Behind the Net

I always assumed that photographing soccer behind the net would cause my lens to focus on the net and not the action.  Well that's not the case in all situations.  For this photo, I had my 300mm lens set at f/2.8.  I was positioned about 15 feet behind the net.  As you can see, the striker is in focus, while the net is almost invisible.

 

Shoot with Your Left Eye Open

Most of you probably shoot your sports photos with your left eye closed.  I try to capture action shots with my left eye open. With the camera held to my face and viewfinder against my right eye, I'm able to follow the sports action with my open left eye, then quickly focus on the shot I want to capture in the viewfinder with my right eye.

For this shot, I followed the action with my open left eye that led to seeing the ball in the air for a potential header.  As it became clear there was a good possibility for a header type action shot, I refocused on the action in the viewfinder using my right eye.

 

Capture the Goal Photo

The title of this post seems obvious.  But when capturing soccer shots, actually getting the action that highlights the goal is not as easy as it seems.  What makes a goal photograph a good goal photograph?  One that shows the scorer; the ball, the net; and the keeper if possible.