Shooting skills and the right equipment are a must. But you must know much more about each sport to capture the images that appeal to the teams and news outlets. Showing up with the right equipment is the first step. Appropriate dress and professional ethics get you to the sidelines. Then your knowledge and preparation kicks in to let you do your job.
- Sports photography is about the action. You must use a fast shutter speed, or you will get blurry, images that are not appealing. Also a fast shutter speed will let you freeze movement, even split-second movements which can be the big story in an important game. Fast lenses are an option but expensive.
- Shoot in RAW file format as a rule. RAW files contain all of the data captured the moment you hit the shutter button and allows post editing. JPEG format is a compressed version of RAW which is lower quality and is not as receptive to post editing.
- Know the in depth rules of the sport that you are shooting. That knowledge allows you to anticipate action based on what is happening in real time. Even the best sports photographers can’t predict every fast and complex movement – so make sure you’re as prepared as possible.
- On a game by game basis learn about the specific teams and players involved. This technique, allows you to determine how a team or player will behave, which gives you a serious advantage. You’ll know exactly what’s going to happen before it does; your photos will practically shoot themselves! That’s a stretch — but once you know the ‘go to’ strategy and players for each team you will be far ahead of the photographers who are just shooting the action.
- Capture the moment. No way to predict it. A turning point score might cause the whole team to catch a spark — to get you a news breaking photo.
- Do not post sports photos from a press assignment on your social media sites. That is a violation of press ethics. You may offer your photos to the teams for their social media sites but be sure to ask for photo credit.
- Submit your photos with complete captions to news outlets for publication. Complete captions tell the who, what when, where and how of each photo. Without a full caption your photo is worthless for publication.
Finally, be sure you understand the rules for the press and adhere to the appropriate dress code for each event. Polo matches vary greatly from the local baseball tournament. The Kentucky Derby is different from a football game. Dress appropriately.