Tips for Action- and Sports Photography
One of the most rewarding types of photography has to be the genre of action and sports photography. It’s surely also one of the most demanding and really hard to get THE shot! There are no re-dos, there is often no planned shoot, there is a lot of improvisation. We’ve come up with 7 great tips to improve your action shots!
Use the right equipment!
A good action shot begins with the use of the right equipment! You need the right camera, lenses and of course settings. Your camera should be able to handle high-ISO, especially for indoor sports. Check out our guide for choosing a lens for indoor sports and the best indoor sports lenses on a budget. You can use the same lenses for outdoor sports, of course, but those often need longer reach, meaning a longer focal length.
Most important for the lens is a small aperture to get good background separation and low amounts of grain in your images.
For more unique angles you can use action cams: They can offer you a unique perspective - either for photos or video - like the action from the point of view of the athlete or extremely close to the action: Think the net in tennis or volleyball or the goal in soccer.
We’re currently working on a guide for the best sports cameras on a budget in 2023, but be sure to check back regularly.
If you’ve got the right camera your pictures have to be stored somewhere, so make sure you’ve got a fast memory card so you don’t miss any shots waiting for previous images to be saved. Check out this link for a good collection of memory cards that should fit into most current cameras.
Show movement
In sports an action photography there are no set rules as to which shutter speeds you should use: You can work with slower shutter speeds as seen with the cyclist or fast speeds just like with the motorist. Both have their place and show motion very differently. Make sure you are intentional with your use of shutter speed and learn how to use them. When using slow shutter speeds make sure to move with the subject to separate it from the background!
High and low positions
When photographing the action the most dramatic or awesome shot probably won’t come from eye level: That’s the way we are used to seeing things, so a shout from nearly the ground or from above can have a great impact.
Especially shots from below can make your subject look like a hero - that’s essentially what you’re after!
Adapt to the circumstances and know your sport
When photographing action and a sport it’s essential that you know as well as possible what’s coming next: You need to know the sport you are photographing so you can anticipate where the action is going to be. It also helps in deciding the peak action moment - meaning the moment when the action is the most dramatic: A header in football, a tennis player hitting the ball, a golfer striking the ball. If you know your sport you can anticipate THE moment and pre-frame it before it happens. You’ll have a lot of misfires but your keeper rate will be so much higher if you know where the action is going to be.
Watch your environment
An athletes close-up might be a cool shot; but you can only take so many close-up shots before it gets repetitive. Showing the environment along the athletes or players can add immersion and transport a vibe: Think spectators clapping or fixated on the action!
If you’re in a less… photogenic venue, use lenses with large apertures to blur out the background to show as little as possible. Check out the following article for a good overview over large aperture lenses that don’t break the bank.
Show faces and emotion
Showing peak action is only one component of action photography. Another and maybe even more important part is capturing the emotions of athletes and players: Show passion, despair, defeat, winning, every phase of emotions in the sport!
Emotions are truly universal and can easily transport a feeling to the viewer of your images.
The emotional moments can be celebrations, agony after defeat but also those crucial moments of concentration if a match is on the line. Everything is more intense if something is about to be decided and this will really show up in images: Just think about the differences between warm-ups where everyone is going through the motions and goofing around versus close to the end of a tight match: Night and day differences, so use this knowledge to your advantage!
Practice, practice, practice!
My father used to say “Es ist noch nie ein Meister vom Himmel gefallen” - No master has ever dropped from the heavens. Which is probably true, but this also means that you can only get better through practice and shooting a lot of images, looking at them, grading them, seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Go out to shoot, have fun with it, share your images and get feedback from the players or athletes.
