Archive for the ‘Sports Photography General’ Category

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Three Keys to Shooting Soccer

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Are you enjoying the World Cup?  It’s a frenzy at our house, trying to watch 3-4 games a day, rooting for our favorite players, teams and countries.  It’s hard to fit in everything else in life while all this great soccer is going on.  It seems appropriate to share some keys to shooting great soccer action while we’re in the middle of World Cup.
Shooting soccer on a full sized field isn’t easy, but very possible.  If you’re trying to get action shots of a single player then it’s much easier than trying to get the entire team.  We’ll focus this blog post on how to shoot an individual player and I will try to follow up in the coming weeks on shooting the entire team, the goalie and posed photos.

Key #1 Equipment
Soccer fields are large as you know so this is a case where the bigger the lens the better.  A large lens can be very expensive, but on a sunny day even a f4.5 lens can get you great action shots.  I’ve had great luck with a sigma 50-500mm lens on sunny days and it’s even affordable.  If you position yourself properly and are willing to move more frequently even an 80-200mm can work.

Key #2 Where to Position Yourself
Let’s assume it’s a nice sunny day for soccer (not that my children had any sunny days this Spring) and you’re in place for the entire game.  The sun is your friend as well as your challenge.  You want your players face to be toward the sun so that it’s lit up and bright.  So, when only needing photos of one player I would probably shoot photos for just half the game.  The half when your player is primarily facing the sun which means the opposing goalie’s back is toward the sun, and your back as well will be toward the sun.

Key #3 Frame a Great Photo
The “beautiful game” certainly has lots of action both on and off the ball.  How do you catch the right action to ensure a great photo.  Be sure to capture the face and the ball in the frame.  Yes, that’s not easy, but your photos are always better with those two things.  The player without the ball just isn’t that interesting and if you can see the ball and not the player’s face your photo won’t be as interesting either.  Of the thousands of soccer photos we’ve sold 99%+ of them have included the players face and the ball.

See you on the pitch!

Scott

Posted in Articles, Equipment, Outdoor Sports, Sports Photography General | 1 Comment »

Sports Photography Preparation is the Key

Monday, April 5th, 2010

 

It doesn’t matter if you are going to shoot your child’s baseball game or the High School state championship football game,  you will most likely get better sports photos if you are prepared. There are a couple of things that you should take into account when getting ready for a sports photo shoot.

Get your gear ready

This might be the most important. You don’t want to get to your destination, have everything setup to find that your battery is nearly dead. This and many other mishaps can be avoided by simply getting all the equipment together the night before the big event. This includes blank memory cards, charged batteries, lenses and camera. Depending on whether you will be indoors or outdoors and the weather you may have additional accessories that are required.

Whatever the equipment requirements are it is always a good idea to get them all ready and packed so when you are ready to go and can just grab your gear and be on your way, confident that you have what you need. You may even want to make a list of what you need for different sporting events so it’s easy to bring out that specific list when you are planning on a shoot.

Scout out the location

Obviously you aren’t going to be able to check out a location before hand if it’s out of state or country, but when possible it’s a great idea to check out the location you plan on photographing at beforehand. A great time for this may be something as simple taking a family member practicing at the facility or location.  You should definitely check out the location, walk around and find great spots that will make a great photo.

You don’t necessarily have to check out the location a day or two early. If it’s a sporting event like volleyball, you can get there a half hour early so you get the perfect spot in the stands. If it’s something like a soccer game, it may not be too important as you may be moving to different positions on the side lines as the game progresses, but you may actually miss some shots of the kids practicing (that’s right, you can get some great shots before the game actually starts).

Remember these tips and you won’t have to worry if you forgot your flash card at home, or worrying about getting a great spot to shoot from.

Posted in Articles, Equipment, Indoor Sports, Outdoor Sports, Sports Photography General | 2 Comments »

Meta Data for Sports Photography – Part 2

Monday, March 8th, 2010

This is a continuing discussion of meta data, the additional information that a camera attaches to each photo you take, and how that can assist you in becoming a better sports photographer. Since Picasa is free and currently my favorite photo application let’s review the meta data it provides and what that data means. Below I have displayed the meta data for a photo which I obtained by right clicking on the photo and selecting properties.

At the top of the box you see a number of meta data information that we are used to looking at such as filename, location, size and date The additional meta data which we don’t often look at but which can be helpful in improving your sports photography comes next. I will explain each item:

Dimension = 3456 x 2304 pixels

This particular photo is 3,456 pixels wide (horizontal) by 2,304 pixels high (vertical). Read the article on pixels to better understand, but essentially the photo is made up of little dots and this represents how many little dots there are.

Camera Make = Canon

I took this photo with a camera made by Canon

Camera Model = Canon EOS-1D Mark III

This is the model of the Canon camera I used which is an EOS-1D Mark III (sweet camera)

Camera Date = 2009-12-03 18:20:11

I took the photo on December 12th 2009 at 6:20pm.

Resolution = 3456 x 2304

Notice this is the same as the “dimension” representing how many pixels or little dots make up the picture.

Orientation = Normal

This field stores the orientation of the photo. Newer cameras will detect if the photo was taken horizontally or vertically. Actually 8 different positions are supported and more and more photo software supports this field which helps to ensure that whenever you are viewing your photo you are viewing it right-side up.

Flash = Not Used

I did not use a flash for this photo

Focal Length = 135.0mm

I was using a 70-200mm lens and this number represents the focal length the lens was set at. The larger this number the greater is the magnification of distant objects. The lower this number the wider the angle of view.

35mm equivalent = 173mm

Because the CCD of this digital camera (and most are the same), is smaller than the sensitive area of 35mm film, this number represent the equivalent magnification for a 35mm camera. In other words it would have been the same as shooting 35mm film with the lens set at 173mm.

 

image

In my next blog I will finish describing the rest of the fields.

Scott

Posted in Sports Photography General | No Comments »

Meta Data for Sports Photography (Exif) – Part 1

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

 

One of the beautiful things about digital photography is that with each photo you take the camera records all kinds of information about your camera settings. Information that if you know how to view and understand can help you take better photos the next time. This information or data is often referred to as EXIF data or Meta data. Simply put it’s additional data or information that is included in the file with your photo. My next few posts will explain this meta data, how to view it, use it, change it and improve your photography with it.

This information can’t be seen as you look at the photo, but most photo viewers are able to display this data. A couple of pieces of meta data we are all familiar with is the file name and date. Those pieces of information are attached to your photo and is information you see and use regularly. You can of course change the file name, and it’s also possible to change and add other meta data with the right photo viewer or editor.

Did you know though that beyond just the simple file name and date you can also see information about the settings of your camera at the time you took the photo. This includes aperture setting, the shutter speed, focal length, quality, resolution and much more. Imagine how useful this information is once your get home and want to see which photos turned out best and why! Looking at this additional data is a great way to improve your photography.

Pretty much any photo viewing and editing software will provide you a view of this information. Programs from Adobe including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements provide this data as well as free products such as Picasa will also provide you with this information. In addition to photo editing programs your operating system, such as Windows 7 will also provide you with a quick view of some of the basic meta data such as ISO and aperture settings. Below you will see three examples of metadata displayed, the first is a screen shot from Picasa the second from Exif Pilot and the third is Windows default information.

clip_image002

clip_image004

meta data

Posted in Articles, Photo Management, Sports Photography General | No Comments »

9 Challenges

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Sports photography is the most difficult photography to master.  You are faced with a myriad of challenges.  As with any challenge those that overcome the greatest obstacle gain the greatest reward and thus it is with sports photography.  Read our list of top nine sports photography challenges:

Where Venue/Location
Sports photography does not let you choose the location of your shoot.  You don’t get a choice on where the competition or event will be held.   You are stuck with where the event is being held whether it’s an old musty school gym, an outdoor field with next to the freeway or a performance halls.  You as the sports photographer will have to adapt to the venue and figure a way to make it work.

When
As a sports photographer you will not be able to choose the time of day that you take your photos.  You must shoot the competition when it’s being held which means you may be shooting at 6:00am in the morning or 11:00pm at night or anytime in between.  It’s not always a time when it’s convenient for you, but the only way to capture those great photos is to be there.

Who
You obviously can select "who" you want to take photos of, but you don’t have control over the team they are competing against, when that individual participates, and where in the even they participate.  The quality of the event is often determined by the skill of the competition, some athletes may not participate the entire event and may be in the back or a position that makes them difficult to photograph.

Lighting
You’ve got to love those old school gyms with lousy lighting.  School gyms are typically quite dim, never with sufficient light and often have a harsh yellow tone from wonderful florescent lights.  Your challenge, capture photos that are bright enough, without blur or unnatural colors.

Weather
Sorry, they won’t reschedule that championship match for the weather to improve.  You will be at the mercy of whatever weather is occurring.  You will be dealing with wind, dust, rain, mud, snow, cold and heat.

Obstacles
Have you ever bought "obstructed" view seats?  They don’t make for good photos.  As a Sports Photographer you will want the best position possible to take photos, but that’s not always easy to come by.  There may be physical obstructions hindering you including people and depending on the event there may be rules that will prohibit you from the ideal positions.

Equipment
All cameras are not created equal, those point and shoot cameras are just not going to get the job done when shooting sports photography.  In fact, many cameras will not work well for shooting sports and you will need special lenses to assist you.  In addition to quality lenses and camera bodies there are many other accessories you will need.

Framing
Framing your photos for sports photography is not easy!  Unlike portrait photography you don’t get a chance to pose your subjects.  You don’t get a to tell the athlete’s to STOP, do that again when I’m ready.  Not only that but your subjects are moving and not remaining in once place so you have to anticipate when and where the action will be. 

Timing
Once you see the great sports moment it’s too lake to capture it.  Sports photographers must be ready at every moment and even anticipate the action and great moment to have a chance at capturing it.

There are many challenges to being a sports photographer, but they are all worth it when you capture those great sports moments.  You can learn to do it like the pros by following guidelines and techniques found on this site.

ProPix Photography
The Sports Photographers

Posted in Articles, Sports Photography General | No Comments »

Shutter Lag

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Shutter Lag
Even if you don’t know what the words mean, shutter lag, you’ve probably experienced it.  You have your camera at the ready, you’ve composed the shot, the athlete is now in position and you press the shutter button at the exact moment you want to capture the perfect picture…………….but the camera doesn’t take the photo, it waits for what’s seems an eternity and then fires.  You find the resultant photo is not the one you had prepared for, the athlete is not framed properly or they are now in an awkward looking position, or it’s out of focus all because the camera delayed in taking the photo. 

This is what is known as shutter lag.  Sports photographers need cameras that shoot with minimal shutter lag and shoot quickly. You the sports photographer can also take steps to reduce this lag and not miss photo opportunities or poorly capture them. 

What is it?
Shutter Lag is the delay between pushing the shutter button and the camera recording the picture on the image sensor.  Whereas the shutter lag on a film camera was minimal and primarily a result of the mechanics of the aperture opening and closing, digital cameras have that lag plus the processing of the image.  There are many steps the camera must take prior to and when taking a photo, all of which are not related to the shutter, but practically speaking shutter lag is the time from when you press the shutter button until the time the camera takes the photo.  A lot must happen during this time.  Your camera adjusts the focus, exposure and white balance then it opens the aperture, captures the light on the image sensor, converts the light to a digital representation and writes it to your memory card.  That’s a lot to do in a short amount of time and while electronic circuitry and processing is improving shutter lag continues to be a factor.

What can you do about it?
As a sports photographer there are a number of things you can do about it.  The first and most obvious is to buy a camera with a short shutter lag.  You will find measurements in the specifications and it never hurts to test the camera out on a sport you want to shoot.  Even the best digital cameras still experience shutter lag but there is still more you can do.

Prepare in advance
The work you camera must do can be significantly reduced by preparing your camera in advance.  When you push the shutter button half-way down you are telling your camera to focus and make the proper adjustments.  Continue holding the button down, and then when you press the rest of the way down it will more quickly take the photo.  This is not always possible when shooting sports, but when you can it will help you reduce shutter lag.

Anticipate
This is another trick that can reduce shutter lag.  Anticipating or predicting where the action will be occurring will allow you to shoot the camera a bit ahead of the actual shot you want to get.  By anticipating what will be happening next and shooting the camera just before that moment you will capture the exact moment you want.  The more you shoot a particular sport the better you will become and you will find yourself capturing magnificent photos and not noticing the shutter lag at all.

Continuous or Burst Mode
Good sports photography cameras will have a continuous mode or burst mode.  When set to this mode, when you press and hold the shutter button, the camera will take a rapid set of photos one right after the other as quickly as it can.  This can make the art of anticipating a bit easier since you can begin before the action and end afterwards.  This will increase your chances of getting that perfect action photo.

Increased Shutter Speed
Another way to reduce shutter lag is to shoot with a faster shutter speed.  You will be doing this often anyway as you attempt to capture sports and freeze the action.  This way you will obtain clear photos without blur.  In low-light conditions if you increase the size of the aperture or opening you will allow more light to reach the sensor in less time allowing you to use a faster shutter speed.  This will help you to freeze motion for sharp clear photos.

Decrease the photo resolution
By lowering the quality and thus the size of the photo you are taking allows your camera to process the information faster, since there is less information to process.  Just common sense really, if your resolution is set to 8 megapixel per photo, the processor in your camera must process all those pixels, convert them to digital numbers and write them to your memory card.  Obviously your camera will take less time to process fewer mega pixels, so shooting at a quality mode that requires 4 mega pixels will process quicker.  Pick a quality mode on your camera that meets your needs, but still helps you reduce the shutter lag. 

And don’t forget to practice and practice and take many photos.  This will improve your timing as well as give you a chance to capture some great sports shots while learning to compensate for shutter lag.

ProPix Photography
The Sports Photographers

Posted in Articles, Equipment, Indoor Sports, Outdoor Sports, Sports Photography General | 1 Comment »

What is Fast Glass or a Fast Lens?

Monday, November 9th, 2009

When you hear sports photographers talk you will often hear them talking about fast glass or fast lenses.  What does that mean and why are they important for sports.

A fast lens refers to the size of the aperture opening.  The larger the opening the more light that is allowed to reach the sensor.  Because more light reaches the sensor more quickly, through the larger opening the shutter does not have to be open as long.  A faster shutter speed is better for freezing or capturing the motion in sports.  Fast glass allows you to shoot with faster shutter speeds which is a good thing when trying to freeze fast action.  It’s also a tremendous help in low-light conditions.  As the light get worse or less bright the longer the shutter must remain open, but since the aperture opening is larger more light is able to reach the sensor.

You can tell the speed of the lens or the speed of the glass by looking at the f-numbers associated with it.  The smaller the f-number the faster the glass.  It can be a bit confusing since what that means is the smaller the number the larger the opening/aperture.  So a f/2.8 lens is considerably faster than a f/5.6 lens.  That means the aperture in the f/2.8 lens can get much larger than the aperture in the f/5.6.  To give you a feel the f/5.6 lens will do well outdoors in good light, but you will need a f/2.8 or faster for low-light indoor sports.

You might be thinking well let’s just make a lens that has a huge aperture.  There are a couple of limits and challenges to that.  The larger the aperture the less depth of field in your photos, or in other words the narrower focus your photos will have.  The other challenge is cost.  The faster the glass the more expensive it is.  So fast lenses are more expensive, the lower the f-number is on the lens you are looking at the more expensive it will be.  So………you will have to make the decision, but there is nothing like the quick focusing beautiful photos a fast lens can help you take.

Low-light sports would be extremely difficult and require very fast glass if not for the improved sensors and their ability to collect light.  In the days of film fast glass was even more important because trying to use a high ISO film would cause a lot of grain.  In this digital age the sensors are much better and higher ISO settings can help compensate in low-light conditions without a significant increase in graininess.

There’s a lot to remember and it can be a bit technical, but for sports photography simply remember that a fast lens or fast glass will give you better shooting options in low light conditions, and that a fast lens has a low f-number.  Fast glass is essential for indoor sports photography where you will often be in  school gyms that have inadequate or poor lighting.  Fast glass is essential for you to catch or freeze the action and still have plenty of light reach the sensor.

The lens does not the sports photographer make, but it is extremely helpful and will make a good photographer better and a great photographer fantastic.

ProPix Photography
The Sports Photography Professionals

Posted in Articles, Equipment, Sports Photography General | No Comments »

What Lens should I buy for my Camera?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

You spent hours upon hours studying which camera you should buy, you spoke to people got feedback you went online and searched reviews and finally made your decision.  Then the next question you ask is what lens should I buy for my camera?  The answer to this question is as important as which camera to buy, has as much or more importance on the quality of your photos and will likely cost more than your camera, and is even a more important question for sports photographers.

One of the benefits of a Digital SLR is that you can exchange the lens.  So to buy just one lens makes no sense you really need more than one.  The right answer is is not which one lens but which lenses should I buy?  Have you noticed how prices on cameras and camera bodies continues to decline but the cost of lenses remains the same.  This tells you something about the importance of a good lens.  I’m amazed at all the discussions about cameras when in reality there should just as much discussion on which lens or lenses to buy.  Even if you’re not an expert photographer you can dramatically improve the quality of your photos by using high quality lenses. 

Low End
At the low end of the lens market are lenses made with plastic mounts, slow aperture and low quality.  These are lenses that you will often find at low-end retail outlets and are often the lenses offered as part of a camera package deal.

Prime Lenses
These are lenses that have no zoom capability.  You must zoom by moving your feet which is to reposition yourself.  Zooming that way will certainly save you money but is not as convenient.  Many purists will say that the sharpest photos for the money will be achieved with a prime lens.

Zoom Lenses
These are lenses that let you zoom closer and further away by simply turning the zoom ring.  This is by far more convenient, but here is where you will pay for that convenience.  If you don’t buy a high quality zoom lens then you most likely will be disappointed in the sharpness of your photos.  So, for convenience there are two lenses that make the most sense for the family photographer or sports photographer and that is a small lens something like 24mm – 70mm and then a larger lens 70mm-200mm.  The 70-200mm is my favorite and the lens I shoot almost all my sports with.  In addition to sports it is the lens for school programs, piano recitals, and performances.  It does well in low light and in many ways it makes an average photographer a great photographer.  The small lens you will find perfect for team photos and close-ups. 

Costs
OK, I admit it these lenses can be very expensive.  The Cannon and Nikon versions which I prefer are spectacular and I believe worth every penny.  There are other brands that will save you $100s and will still give you a good photo especially as you become a better photographer yourself. 

Scott

ProPix Photography

The Sports Photography Professionals
The Practical Photographer

Posted in Articles, Equipment, Sports Photography General | No Comments »

A Quick Look at flickr

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

 view_photo

If you have been taking photos for a while you have most likely heard of flickr. Put simply flickr is an online photo sharing website where users can upload their photos and short videos to share with the rest of the world. Flickr is the largest and most active photo sharing site at this time and is the most accepted by armatures as well as pro photographers.

Uploading your sports photos is fairly strait forward. Once you have logged in you click the down arrow next to the “You” menu item at the top of the screen and then select upload photos and videos from the drop-down menu. Once you are there you click the Choose photo text which brings up a new window of what is on your local computer. Some of the photo organizers such as Windows Live Photo Gallery include a button that enables you to upload your selected photos within that application so you don’t have to login to your flickr account in your browser. Others such as Picasa have third party plug-ins you can install to give similar functionality. I would actually recommend using one of these options over the online offering flickr has built in.

plublish_to_flickr

Flickr offers many of the basic features of most other photo sharing sites such as organization, tags and ordering prints but it also goes beyond this allowing you to do a fair amount of editing of your photos online. You can do your normal crop, rotate, and resize that others might offer but you can also adjust the color, sharpen and fix red-eye. In addition to fixing your photos you can also use their create feature.

In the create tool box you are given a plethora of filters and options you can use to modify and play with your photos. You can add a number of shapes to your photo or add a variety of frames and text. It’s just like having a photo editing program running in your browser.

photo_editing

Unfortunately this editing service is provided by Picnik and not all of the features are free. If you want full access to all of the options you will have to pay a $24.95 a year fee. This also brings up the point that flickr itself has a basic plan which is absolutely free but they also provide a premium plan which costs $24.95 a year note that even though this is the same price as the picnic service it does not include the premium options available through picnic. If you do decide to upgrade your flickr account you get unlimited storage and you can also able to upload videos. If you just want to stick with the free account you are allowed to upload 100 MB worth of photos each month. Keep in mind this is calculated by uploaded data and not storage. For example say you uploaded 50 photos and that used 50 MB of your transfer limit. So if you then delete 25 of your photos off of flickr you do not get 25 MB of your monthly limit back because it is the transfer amount and not the storage amount. If you are just a casual user and don’t want to store your entire photo library on flickr you should be just fine with the free account they provide.

Flickr comes with a great way of organizing you photos but it can be a little confusing at first. You organize your photos into sets. These are what you would probably think of as folders on your computer. The only difference that I can tell is that you cannot create a new set inside of another set. You can add photos to your sets easily by just dragging and dropping the thumbnails at the bottom of the screen into the big box they provide above.

Another great feature flickr has to offer is called groups. This feature lets you send certain types of photos to the same group as other people. An example might be you and your family members setup a group for the 2008 family reunion. Now everyone with a flickr account can submit photos that they took at the family reunion to that same group. This makes it very easy for everyone to get their photos collected into one location.

Overall flickr is a cool way to share your sports photos with the rest of the photography world. There is a bit of a learning curve to get through at the beginning but once you do surpass it you will be a flickr pro in not time.

Terance

ProPix Photography

The Sports Photography Professionals

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Shooting Indoor Sports

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Indoor Sports
Getting great sports photos indoor can be a real challenge.  While professional sports photographers shoot in arenas that have been designed with them and the television producers in mind, you are shooting in old school gyms, performance halls and other poorly lit facilities.  You will also be using good equipment, but most likely not using pro lenses that can run $8,000+.  The good news is if you will follow the tips below you will still be able to capture great sports photos like the pros.

Location, Location, Location
Just as in real estate where the best location makes for the best pricing and resale, the best location at indoor sports will make for the best photos.  Find a spot right on the floor close to the athletes or an elevated position that is still close enough.  You want to fill the frame with many of your shots and depending on the size of your lens, being close is almost always better.  There not just one best location, you will want to change positions and take shots from a variety of angles and different locations around the competition area.  By doing this you will have unique shots that will give variety to the shots you are taking.  You will also need to be mobile to catch all the athletes since in most sports they will be moving and changing directions.

White Balance
As a sports photographer you will invariably be faced with event locations that have insufficient lighting.  School gyms and performance halls have not been designed for optimum photographic lighting.  In addition, during many sporting and athletic events the lights are dimmed or turned down as part of the event.  In addition to low-light you will have to deal with a variety of different types of lights including florescent. 

Your best solution is to take practice shots and get to the best color you can on your LCD screen.  You will be able to make adjustments post event on your computer, but that takes time and you want to get it the best you can the first time.  So start on automatic and see how well that looks.  Then try some of the other pre-defined white balance settings such as florescent.  The best way is to try a few and then choose the setting that gives you the best visual representation of the scene. 

ISO & Shutter Speed
You have a double challenge, enough light for your photos and freeze the action so your photos are not blurry.  The image sensor on your camera must receive enough light to allow your photo to be bright, yet you can’t leave the shutter open so long that the movement is blurry.  So your shutter speed must be fast enough to capture the action.  Fortunately a good Digital SLRs will help you to do just that.  You have a number of options.  You can leave the camera in programmed mode and increase the ISO.  You may have to increase the ISO to 800, 1250 or even 1600 where I tend to shoot most of my indoor sports held in school gyms. 

In programmed mode the camera will intelligently set the aperture and shutter speed to compensate.  You will find this to often be a good solution, and obviously easy to do since all you do is set the ISO.  If you want to take more control yourself try setting the aperture as wide open as you can (low f/stop number), and let the camera pick the shutter speed.  It might feel a little backwards, but we have found this to work better than to set the shutter speed.  Of course if you want ultimate control go to manual and set both yourself.

Faces
Don’t forget the most important part of the sports photo is the athlete’s face.  Find locations that will allow you capture the faces of the athletes.  Be aware of obstacles and other challenges that may hinder your ability to catch their face.  When you capture the athlete’s face along with the ball, or other elements of the sport or competition you will have sport photos that everyone will love, and the athlete and family even more.

ProPix Photography
The Sports Photographers

Posted in Articles, Outdoor Sports, Sports Photography General | 1 Comment »

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