Sports Photography

Before you start shooting: 

  1. Make sure the first shot you take is of your face or your ID so we can identify who took the photos.
  2. It’s also a good idea to take a photo of the printed program and the roster. This will help you identify the game and the players when you write your captions.

Camera Settings

Mode: TV  – LEAVE IT on TV! DO NOT CHANGE THIS (even if your photos are  a little dark.) If you put it on Auto, the camera will slow down the shutter speed to get more light. This will make your pictures blurry. If they are a little dark, we can lighten them, but if they are blurry, we can’t un-blur them.

Shutter Speed: At least 250 (that’s 1/250th of a second). Higher is better if you have enough light. The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the image will be. Make sure that your photos aren’t too dark, though. It’s a good idea to experiment with some practice shots before the game starts.

ISO: Set the ISO to Auto. If your photos are dark, try increasing the ISO. The higher the number, the lighter thee photos will be, BUT, they will also be a little grainy, so try to keep it as low as possible.

Flash: The flash won’t do you much good in sports photos. You’ll be too far away for the light to reach the players. Leave it off.

Zoom: DON’T zoom in too much. You don’t want to cut parts of the players out of frame. Stay zoomed out, and we can crop in Photoshop.

Framing: DON’T shoot diagonally! We have to crop the photo, and we loose most of the image (more on this when we talk about Composition).

Information: Take pictures of the Scoreboard at quarters, half, and at the end of the game. Also remember to take a photo of the program to get the date, time, and opponent.

***LOOK AT YOUR IMAGES!!! Push the play button on the camera to see your photos. Make sure they are not too dark. Zoom in to make sure they are in focus. Do this often.

Where Do I Stand?
DON’T SHOOT FROM THE STANDS! GET CLOSE!
DON’T SHOOT THROUGH THE FENCE! Ever. Get inside (tennis) or get to a place where there is a gap in the fence (baseball and softball). 

FootballWhereToSTand VolleyballWhereToStand TennisWhereToStand

softball

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