Sports Photography How To

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Shutterbug Staff  |  Dec 19, 2017  | 

While Shutterbug reader Justin Cale mainly focuses on wildlife photography, he’s recently started adding people in the mix in an effort to expand his photographic horizons. “

Barry Tanenbaum  |  Dec 06, 2017  | 

Of course sports photographer Eric Bakke can capture the peak action moments. He’s team photographer for the Denver Broncos, shoots X Games for ESPN, and contributes sports images to newspapers, magazines, and organizations. Here, though, we want to talk about his pursuit of a different kind of sports image, one that most often pictures a single athlete and aims for art over action.

Maria Piscopo  |  Nov 30, 2017  | 

A graduate from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a degree in commercial photography, Andy Batt is an accomplished photographer and photo educator. The Portland, Oregon-based Batt is well known for his sports photography and his expert ability to create beautifully lit, high-intensity action shots that capture moments of peak performance.

Ron Leach  |  Nov 14, 2017  | 

David Bergman is a top sports photographer, and in this two-minute tutorial he demonstrates how to convey motion in action photos by “panning” with your camera. The technique involves moving the camera at the same speed as your subject, with the goal of keeping the subject sharp while creating a blurred effect in the background. 

Ron Leach  |  Aug 31, 2017  | 

We’ve had a few opportunities to shoot alongside top sports photographer Patrick Murphy-Racey, and on every occasion we gained a wealth of information about capturing action. By watching the 10-minute tutorial below you’ll learn a few of Murpey-Racey’s secrets for shooting spectacular sports images.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Aug 03, 2017  | 

Action, colorful uniforms, human drama and predictable photo opps—baseball and photography go together like hot dogs and beer. 

Barry Tanenbaum  |  Jul 24, 2017  | 

Not long ago, pro sports photographer Brad Mangin wrote a story for the PetaPixel website that was titled, I Earned More From Photo Gigs in 2016 With My iPhone Than My DSLRs!

Ron Leach  |  Jun 15, 2017  | 

Josh Katz is a young photographer with great skills and an ability to teach them to others. In this tutorial he provides eight steps for adding impact to action photos with a simple camera panning technique.

Ron Leach  |  Apr 24, 2017  | 

Fujifilm reimagined the medium format photography game last fall at Photokina with the introduction of their 51-megapixel GFX 50S compact, mirrorless camera and three unique lenses to take advantage of everything this camera can do. In the video below you’ll see what extreme sports photographer Daniel Tengs was able to accomplish with the eminently mobile, large-sensor GFX 50S.

Ron Leach  |  Feb 15, 2017  | 

Everyone loves B&W photography and most shooters appreciate great sports and architectural imagery too. But how often have you seen images like these that combine the best of all three genres?

Ron Leach  |  Jan 17, 2017  | 

Chris Burkard is an adventure photographer who travels the world looking for epic images of our untamed planet. He recently garnered a lot of attention for the once-in-a-lifetime shot above of a surfer in Iceland lit by the Northern Lights, and the video below gives you the backstory.

Staff  |  Dec 30, 2016  | 

Photographer Jaanus Ree visualized this image in his head before he shot it but the idea to use a cat was a last-minute decision borne out of necessity. “After seeing a portrait in a bookstore where I was able to see the photographer’s silhouette against the reflection of an eye, I got the idea to make something similar,” Ree notes.

Joe Farace  |  Dec 16, 2016  | 

Sports photography shares much in common with capturing images of wildlife: You’ve got an active scene captured at a distance requiring specialized equipment and knowledge of the subject’s activities while anticipating what they are going to do next…or not. Sure, you’ll need fast, long focal length lenses but you will also need camera supports and other gear that along with specialized knowledge separates the virtuosos, like Regis Lefebure (regislefebure.com), from the wannabes. Here’s a look at some of our favorite tools of the sports trade.

Barry Tanenbaum  |  Dec 06, 2016  | 

Most of the photographers were set up at the front of the pool for the 100-meter butterfly final, but Jeff Cable decided to try for a different view of Michael Phelps in that event. You wouldn’t know it from the photo, but he was actually 20 rows up in the seats on the opposite side of the starting block.

Staff  |  Nov 29, 2016  | 

Today’s camera gear is faster than ever and much of it is tailor-made for capturing any sort of motion or movement. So then why do so many photographers struggle to shoot compelling images of action? Part of it has to do with timing and part of it has to do with composition. Your camera and lens can only do so much and there’s more to a great action shot than simply capturing the moment and making sure it’s in focus. For this assignment, we were looking for images of anything from basketball to dance to wildlife, just as long as there was some kind of action in the scene. For the winning images, we were looking for great composition, effective use of backgrounds and scenery, and powerful emotion: human, animal, or otherwise. Here are our six favorites.

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