I’ve been a sports photographer for greater than ten years.  The excitement I get from taking  great shots has been match with joy from helping up-and-comers learn the craft. There’s a surprising pattern among less experienced photographers: they don’t make enough mistakes. 

In anything that we do, we become better by doing two things: learning good fundamentals, and practicing those fundamentals. 

Only a handful of books have been written on the fundamentals of sport photography.  One of the best is my own, The Addiction of Sports Photography: The Ultimate Guide.  Fundamentals includes an understanding theseelements:

• Light Management (Shutter Speed,Aperture, and Light Sensitivity)
• Camera Capabilities
• Lens Capabilities
• Rules and Tactics of Individual Sports
• Post-game Production

None of these matters unless you practice.  And if you practice, you will make more mistakes, but you will eventually take better photographs.

I’ll use myself as an example.  I photograph about 150 games a year.  I routinely sit or stand beside photographers from the Associated Press, USA Today, Getty Images, and regional  newspapers. My images are as good, or better than, theirs.  I know because I check. 

I publish a larger number of higher quality action image now than I did five or ten years ago, about 15,000 a year.  I also average 50% more shutter clicks than I did back then.  What does this mean? I make more mistakes. 

Making more mistakes, or taking more images, does not mean going crazy with long shutter bursts. Taking an extended burst of photographs is the exception, not the rule.  This article is about making the right kind of mistakes.

Photograph More Games

Photograph as many games as your schedule, and your personal obligations, permit. 

Every sports photographer would like to shoot professional or Division 1 college games.  But you must work your way up to that.  Start small, like local youth sports leagues, high school teams and Division II and III college sports team.  Get permission to photograph the games by offering edited images in exchange for access.  Teams at this level never have enough images. 

Once you mastered the fundamental at this level,  raise the level of difficulty by requesting access to Division I Group of Five conference teams and lower-level minor League professional sports.  Again, offer edited images in exchange for access.

Photograph More Sports

No two sports photograph alike.  Each sport has different rules, different tactics, and different arena shapes and must be approached differently.  Practice by photographing as many different sports as you can. 

My personal portfolio comprises 42 different sports, but five sports make up 80% of my work. Switching from sport to sport is not easy.  It takes me about one game at the beginning of each season to adjust to the sport.  But I become a better photographer by shooting as many different types of sports that I can.

More Shutter Clicks

Regardless of the sport or its caliber, here are some tips to take more images and make more mistakes:   

Keep your head on a swivel - There is a ton of activity going on during a game away from the main action.  Be aware of what’s going on away from the field of play. 

Shoot both sides of the ball – Take images of both offense and defense, or both the home team and the visiting team.

Change locations – Don’t camp out in one location.  Move around the field of play.  Each location will produce a different type of shot.  Most important:don’t get in the way of the play or the fans. 

Different angles – Change your vertical perspective by getting low to the ground and shoot upward.  Take a few images by getting high and shooting downward, but don’t overdo it. Avoid shooting from the stands unless is incorporates both fans and players in the composition.

Immediately after the action – Stay focused on an action shot after the play has ended. Interesting things often occur.  This is when you get unique reactions from the players. 

Celebratory shots – Any celebration, either on or off the field, makes for a great shot

Candid shots – Get shots of personal moments like players talking amongst themselves or with coaches.  Avoid awkward personal moments that would embarrass the player. 

Fan and crowd shots – Teams love shots of the fans enjoying themselves and wide-angle shots of crowded stands.  You can make the stands appear fuller bytaking the shot an acute side angle, not head-on.  Avoid shooting empty stands. 

Vary your focal length – We tend to fall into a pattern when taking photographs, opting for the zoomed-in shots.  Vary the mix by including wide-angle and super-tight images. 

What Not To Do

Don’t let your desire for great shots get you thrown out of the arena or incur the wrath of fans.  Never go anywhere without permission.  Never step on to the playing field during play. And never get in the way fans. Fans pay to watch the game.  Ask permission to sit in front of a fan: they’ll usually say yes. 

Don’t waste time at the computer going through images that are not keepers.  Read my article Workflow:What Problem Are You Trying to Solve? for some great tips. 

In closing, I’m reminded of a quote by the hockey great Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” 

I encourage to take 100% of the shots and make more mistakes. 

About the Author

Andy Nietupski founded TTL Sport Media in 2015 after a corporate career of business start-ups and turn-arounds.  TTL Sports Media helps sports organizations optimize their business results using the latest digital sales and marketing techniques.  TTL Sports Media publishes thousands of pieces of content annually and curates a catalog of more than 160,000 items on behalf of its client interests. 

Copyright 2024 Andy Nietupski and TTL Sports Media