Sports Tips

Ask a Pro is a new Q&A column from professional photographer, writer, and educator Scott Kelby. Scott is here to answer all your photography-related questions, so if you have something you’d like to know, e-mail him at editorial@shutterbug.com (with “For Scott Kelby” as the subject line) and your query could be featured in the next edition of Ask a Pro.

Photographing action is quite challenging, but can also be very rewarding. The keys to success are knowing your camera, knowing your subject...and LOTS of practice. You have to be able to set focus and exposure quickly (or monitor them quickly, if using an automatic camera). In short, you can't be fumbling around trying to figure out how to apply exposure compensation or...

Autofocusing is one of the best things that's ever happened to the SLR camera. I didn't think so while testing early examples when the AF SLR era began back in 1985, but a lot of progress has happened in the ensuing two decades. Today's AF SLR cameras, film and digital, will focus more quickly and accurately than most photographers can. Naturally, the higher-end...

All Photos by Peter McGowan

Taken from the viewpoint of one who clearly loves the outdoors, Peter McGowan's images of water sports draw the viewer in and make you feel the excitement of the open sea.

All Photos © Bryan Lynden

Whether this diverse photographer is shooting sporting events, concerts, nature, fine art, or commercial images, Bryan Linden strives to share his passion for photography with others. And, as one who's worked in the digital medium since 1993, he enjoys helping other photographers make their transition from film to digital capture.

All photos by Walter Iooss

I've been fortunate," Walter Iooss Jr. concedes. "It's been a good life--I'm not going to complain about it." As a photographer for Sports Illustrated for over 40 years, Iooss professes that he'll continue to work for this magazine "till the end." Since the early 1960s, he's shot...

Tips and ideas to improve your action photos

You need two things to get good action photos: some basic action-shooting skills, and some knowledge of the activity you're photographing. The skills include panning, peak action, follow-focusing, prefocusing and developing a sense of timing. The...