How do you get the “shot”? Saliva came out when a boxer delivered a decisive knockout. Desperate sprinters leaned forward to take the winning inch as they crossed the finish line. The water surfaced on swimmers’ faces as they panted. Sports events happen so fast, and even if you make the most of your camera’s impressive continuous shooting speed, it takes even longer to perfect your sports shots. These are the three pillars that I have always relied on to create the sporty barbaric image.
1. Angle
Angles are everything. Side angles can make someone look strong, isolated, sexy, and everything in between. If you’ve ever been surprised by a blind date, you know all about how some people can use angles to their advantage! To photograph athletes, I like to lower the ground and make the ground part of my composition, shooting up the athlete.
Sometimes, I’m even under an athlete: a skateboarder doing a kickflip or an OCR racer flying over bars. It benefits your viewers with a new perspective. Shooting from such a remarkably low angle makes the athlete look larger than life and creates a majestic perspective. You can also try other angles: climb on something and watch a bird. Always shooting at human eye level is no fun. We’ve all seen the world that way. Change it up. Show a new perspective.
2. Ingredients
I could copy and paste a fancy definition of composition here (I just did, then deleted it), but composition essentially means being conscious of what’s in your photo and what elements are in it. elements you take from there to create a good photo.
The most obvious principle used in sports photography is movement. With the new camera’s maximum continuous shooting speed, stopping motion becomes even easier at the pinnacle. I’m not on the “spray and pray” team, because I know there’s a post-processing phase for my footage when I get home. However, I tracked the subject as they moved, took a series of shots through it, then released.
I use continuous autofocus for tracking. This uses the camera’s AI to work with you as you track movement. I use AI Servo with back button focus for the technical talkers. In addition, I try to not only notice the athlete’s movements, but also observe other things that represent movement in the story, such as the water wrapping around the body or the hair moving in interesting lines. Attention to details. They create thought-provoking photographs.
Framing is another major work of art that gives plenty of time for composition. Your photos don’t always have to be informative. Try to think about providing informational images. Layering an image by shooting through something or inserting an element in the foreground can really increase the size and interest of an image.
3. Emotions
Last, but perhaps most important of all, are emotions. As I write this, I’ve been sitting and thinking, “But how do I really capture the emotion?” When I try to fake the emotion, it often doesn’t come true and the image fails. I remember shooting a famous MMA fighter. I lay on the ground and instruct her to turn her body towards the camera and attempt to appear fierce or aggressive. After much faltering, I reviewed the images, and they felt unconvincing. I had to stop and create another more realistic scenario. Only then did I get the terrifying direct hit I had envisioned. Emotions must be real. The answer to how I capture emotion is that I wait for it. I usually sit on the ground with my knees up or even on my stomach (for that heroic point of view) when I follow someone. I didn’t look with my eyes and tried to bring the camera up in front of me to catch the shot. I watched through my viewfinder, ready for that instant.
If I were producing a sports portrait, I would try to talk to the athlete to steer them aside from the stereotypical space of the shoot and really get into the space they would have if they were competition. What people think in their heads shows on their faces. I asked them to repeat the movements and capture them from different angles.
As I was about to write this article, I asked a few people: “If you were interviewing a sports photographer, what would you ask them?” I have some interesting questions. “How do you prepare to shoot a sporting event?” “Does a photographer’s fitness affect their ability to take pictures?” “What’s in your tool bag?” However, the most common questions are variations of the same question: “How do you capture?” If I were to shorten my answer to the shortest phrase, it would be: burst shooting, use artistic elements in your composition, and emotional tracking.
I would love to hear from you now! Your valuable participation has always been one of my favorite things about writing for Fstoppers. If you are a sports photographer, what is important in your work? What are some basic concepts that you rely on to get the footage? If you are in the early stages of your career, do you still have questions? Drop a comment below. Have a great time this week!
