Photo Challenge Week 3: Sports Photography

I have only shot children sport photography, and the photo above happens to my third time shooting sports. I would like to say shooting sports is an easy job. However, with my experience, it is not! While I was shooting this soccer game, I noticed what sports photographers endures. They must know the game, be quick with capturing the moment, and be prepared for any type of environment.

To be honest, I am not familiar with most sports. I have played before, however all i know is ball, goal, and points! It is best to know the sports you are shooting. The reason is because you can predict the next move, 'the ball is here, so the player will be there, and the defense is going to hit strong at this time'. Once that thought is processed, compose the shot before the that thought plays out. Another good reason to know the sport is to know where to stand. In baseball, players usually slide to home plate. Therefore, you know where to capture that moment (keep in mind that you want to compose the photo to the point where you can see the face). When I went out to shoot this soccer game, I just followed the ball. I mostly watched the game through my camera. I figured that most of the action on the field is going to be around the ball.

Being quick to capture the moment is the most important tip that I learned for sports photography. With sports photography, it is not a shoot where I can tell the teams 'Hey! Do that again, I didn't quite capture that'. You must know when to click that button. On the other hand, you can do what I did and just shoot continuously. I just followed the ball through my camera, made sure it was in focus, then I clicked the button shooting every 1/100 of a second. The downside of my method, there was just too many photos to look through!

When I went out to shoot the soccer game, it was important I was prepared for anything. When I arrived to the field, I was only allowed on one side of the field. I could not walk around due to the other games that was going on. Gratefully, I had my zoom lens with me. Therefore, I can be standing anywhere on that one side, and get enough information in my photo. Also, with the clouds out that day, I shot with the white balance of cloudy, and saturated the colors on my camera. By doing this, I turned the gloomy day into a bright day.

Shooting sports photography is definitely something I did not think I would be doing. Then once I went out there and shot it, I enjoyed it. And along the way, I learned a few tips!