Capturing great action photos of sports may seem like an impossible task. Therefore, we have created a list of tips that will help you to improve your sports photography skills and take the in-action photos that you desire.
Tip 1 – Ensure you have a clean background
This involves framing and lining up your shots to avoid as many distractions as possible in the background. Examples of common distractions may be advertisement boards, busy crowds, clusters of people, or even buildings behind the target of your shot. The sports photos that will have the most impact are the ones that place the focus on the subject/athlete. Therefore, the background should complement the photo rather than distract viewers from the subject.
Tip 2 – Utilise the settings on your camera
When photographing sports there are some simple camera settings tips that we can provide that will help you capture high-quality images. In general, you will want your shutter speed to be as high as possible, your ISO as low as possible, and your aperture as wide-open as possible on your digital camera. Applying these settings will help you to take photos that blur out the background while clearly capturing your subject in high definition.
Tip 3- Learn how to crop effectively
Aside from the actual taking of the photos, cropping is a critical aspect of the process. When cropping sports photos, you want to make sure that your athlete/subject is the prominent point of the image. To do this we suggest two main tips. Firstly, never crop out any part of the athlete’s body- whether it be a foot or a hand – as it makes the photo seem incomplete. Secondly, decide whether you wish to crop a full-body shot or an upper-torso shot, and never pick anything in between.
Tip 4 – Make sure you consider the horizon lines
By ensuring that your horizon lines are straight in the background of your shots. This may be difficult when capturing high-speed sports, but you can go back later when editing to straighten things up. Straightening up your horizon lines will help you to produce a more aesthetically pleasing image and will bolster the quality of your shots.
Tip 5 – Take a variety of shots
By completing a simple search for ‘sports photography’ you will find that the majority of shots focus on the main actions in a game. Whether it is shooting, running, catching, or throwing – the majority all focus on the key actions that occur. Therefore, we recommend that you take a variety of shots. There are so many aspects of sports that you can capture from the atmosphere that fans create, to a stadium in all its glory (empty or full!). Even capturing some more unique photos during a game such as the emotions of the coaches or the concentration of the referee could make a great, powerful image.
Photographing sports can be difficult but we hope that these 5 tips will help you to improve your portfolio. Take the photos that you believe will make the best, powerful shots and tell a story to any viewers. Sport, in general, involves a lot of passion and emotion so if you are able to capture images that show this, then you are on the right track.
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