Photo Tip of The Week: How To Take Better Sports Pics (Part Two)

In the final part of our series on sports photography, Robert Keeley delves into the technical issues you need to consider when shooting fast-moving action.

As much as it’s useful to have high quality gear if you want to shoot good quality sports images, it’s also vital to have a thorough understanding of what your gear can actually do. You can learn this by reading your camera's manual and practising regularly. After that, you need to develop a good knowledge of the particular sport you plan to cover. Learn the patterns of play, when the peaks of any action will occur, and the positions of the field or arena which will offer you the best chance of shooting great action pics. From there, as with most genres of photography, continual practice is the real key to success.

01 LEARN YOUR GEAR'S LIMITATIONS

Most sports photography requires at least a telephoto lens. But the real key to the equipment you use for shooting sports lies in understanding the limitations of your camera and lens combination. Most pro sports images are taken with high-powered telephoto lenses, but there have also been many dramatic sports images taken with short telephotos, and even wide-angle lenses. Pro photographers can achieve these results because they know the movements and patterns of the sports they shoot, but also because they appreciate the limitations of their gear. They may simply wait for extended periods with a wide-angle lens until they can get close to the action, or it comes very close to them. They often set up two cameras, one with a telephoto lens, and the other with a wide angle. If you only own one body, make your choice, and stick with it. Learn where the players or participants will move to, pick your spot, and wait as long as necessary. Some days you may go home without one decent image – but that’s sports photography! Your time won’t be wasted if you concentrate on the patterns of movement and peaks in the action.


Learn to spot the key moments when the action is most dynamic. You will miss many at the beginning, but practice will substantially improve your percentage of 'keepers'. Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, 70-200mm lens + 1.4x extender @ 180mm, 1/1000s @ f/8, ISO 800, -1/3EV.

02 TECHNICAL ISSUES

A telephoto lens will give you a head start with sports photography, but many consumer level telephotos have variable maximum apertures, which will mean the images taken with them can lose quality at the longest telephoto settings. At indoor venues, especially, this can mean many shots end up ‘throw aways’. To some extent you can counteract this by increasing the ISO setting if your camera allows for this. Then you can use a higher shutter speed to capture sharper images. Generally, a 200mm telephoto lens would be the minimum you’d want to start with, though 300mm can be very useful. Tele-converters (either 1.4x or 2x) can add to the telephoto power of your lens (if it’s designed for them), though you’ll reduce your maximum aperture using them.

Using a long telephoto lens will mean the depth of field in your image will become more shallow. Long lenses also become more sensitive to vibration, which can blur images. Pro shooters use monopods to steady their kit. You’ll find when they do so they’re often shooting with 400 to 600mm lenses. Monopods are good because they’ll steady your camera, and you can re-position them easily.
But you can also work without them by keeping up a high shutter speed (a minimum of 1/250s is a good starting point, though you can increase shutter speeds significantly from there, remembering the rule of thumb that the minimum shutter speed should be at least the inverse of the focal length being used - or even more with a less than full-frame sensor), and also by cranking up the ISO setting.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, but remember that fast shutter speeds are essential to freeze any action. This puts the priority more on shutter speed than aperture, which tends to result in a shallower depth of field. This can be effective because it blurs any background distractions. Auto-focus can be really useful, but note that ‘spot’ metering might not be best option for every action shot, as you may miss the key action in a scene. Once again, experiment with other options.

Aim to use the lowest ISO setting you can get away with (though as discussed, gloomy light will require a higher ISO setting). In bright light begin with ISO 100 as it will offer the least amount of noise in your image, but always remember that to freeze fast action you'll need relatively fast shutter speeds. If your image is too dark when you're using a faster shutter speed, try increasing the ISO step by step (100, 200, 400...).

It’s also worth keeping in mind that some very dramatic shots can be taken using a wide-angle lens (and shutter speeds don’t have to quite as fast). However, you’ll probably get far fewer opportunities to shoot because the action won’t often get that close to you. As stated, it’s a matter of weighing up your priorities, and learning to be patient. Some cameras have a ‘multiple shot’ mode, and this can be really important for capturing the peak of any action, but it can actually work best if you start shooting in ‘single shot’ mode. While this is harder, it will teach you to really search for the best moment to shoot an image and to anticipate when to press the shutter. You’ll learn how hard that can be, but you’ll also hone your photographic skill to a fine level.


Aim to capture the facial expressions of the competitors when you can. In this shot I also waited until this yacht hit a wave  to accentuate the action. Canon EOS 40D, 70-200mm lens  @ 145mm, 1/500s @ f/3.2, ISO 100.

03 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Finally, just as you’ve tried to analyse why the images of the professionals work so well, you need to apply the same critical assessment to your own images. Unless a shot you’ve taken is a complete mistake, never delete it until you have the time to look at it on a big screen. When you do so, once again use your assessment skills to work out why your shot does (or doesn’t) work. Can you see the strained faces of the participants? Is the image soft in the wrong spot, did you miss the critical peak of the action, or is the shutter speed simply too slow? Some consumer gear may not be able to capture really fast action because the auto-focus isn’t up to it, but your problem may really lie with your own anticipation. Try to work out that problem, because this will improve your photographic knowledge, and your shots will get better as a result.




You must really study your chosen sport to find the peak moments, then position yourself to try to shoot them. But be patient - you simply won't get them all! Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, 300mm lens @ 300mm, 1/1000s @ f/10, ISO 800, -1/3EV.


If you're lucky enough to get really close to the action, shoot with a wide-angle lens, and look for something different. Here I lowered my SLR to the ground, positioned it where I wanted it, and simply shot a series of images. Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, 16-35mm lens @ 16mm, 1/500s @ f/10, ISO 200. Lightened in Photoshop.


Here is an entirely experimental shot. I was shooting a night training session for a football team. After some standard images, I fitted a wide-angle lens, and ran with the players in low light as they trained while I used a slower shutter speed. Blur didn't worry me here because I wanted an impressionistic image. I was pleased with this unusual result. Canon EOS 40D, 17-35mm lens @ 17mm, 1/40s @ f/2.8, ISO 3200. No flash.

Click here for a look back at part one of this series "How To Take Better Sports Pics".