Become a Sports Photographer

A distinct area of photojournalism, a sports photographer needs to have a sound understanding of the sports being photographed in order to know where to find the best angles and shots.

Steps

1. Love sport. There is little point wanting to enter this field if your sole reason is financial. A sports-enthused photographer will find it much easier to capture the real essence of the sporting moment because your natural instincts will help to prime you for recognizing vital moments worth shooting.
2. Prepare to be ambitious. Sports photography is competitive and you'll need to have both excellent photography skills and excellent people skills, in order to work with the people who can get you the positions you need for taking the best shots.
   • Improve your Photography skills. If you're a beginner, take courses that will teach you as many technical elements and special techniques as possible. If you can find a sports specialty course, so much the better. Read wikiHow's article on photographing sports to help you get focused.
   • Improve your people skills. The best location for seeing the action in professional sports will often be where they've placed the best seating or VIP boxes. If allowed there, you'll need to be very professional, unobtrusive, and courteous with the people around you.
3. Practice your sports shooting skills by photographing amateur games in anything. From ice hockey to football, swimming to Improve Your Horse Riding, give as many sports as possible a try so that your skills are broad and well tried out.
   • Start with an easier sport and work your way up to harder sports. For example, a sport with less movement is easier to begin with than one that has lots of speed and quick movements. It is easier to capture a rower than a goalie, for example.
4. Ensure that you're using the right equipment. Invest in quality cameras and lenses. A lot of sports photography requires having a fast telephoto lenses (gets you close in), with fast autofocus (movement). A wide aperture is important for isolating the subject and not focusing on the surroundings, fast-moving responsiveness, and having fast shutter speeds allow you to freeze the action.
5. Create a portfolio from your very best photos across a range of sports. Consider making both a hard copy portfolio and an online one. Always choose the very best and discard the rest, even those you're fond of (you can look at the latter after work!) Show your skills off to their best advantage. Try to show the following:
   • Your skill at capturing movement
   • Your skill at capturing speed
   • Your skill at recognizing a moment worth capturing, such as the agony on a goalie's face when he misses the save, or the pain of a cyclist contorted under her fallen bike, or the sheer exhilaration of the swimmer as he places his hand on the wall and wins.
   • Your skill at using backdrops or other elements to provide an overall feel
   • Your skill at capturing the mood of the crowd.
6. Apply for a position as a photographer at a relevant newspaper, local journal, website, etc., and specify your particular interest in sports photography.
   • It may take some time before you're shifted into the photo job of your dreams. If you have to do time running around as an assistant, be grateful for the experience and tips. You'll get there, with patience and skill.
   • Read wikiHow's article on becoming a professional photographer.

Tips

• Have cards printed up with your name, your sports photography skill, and a link to your online website.
• A good sports photographer will be comfortable with both indoor and outdoor sports, and night and day photography.
• In some cases knowing how to play the sport, or even being able to participate in it, will benefit you. Being adventurous can also help - it might be easier to film a camel race, for example, if you're willing to sit on one too!
• It's always helpful to belong to a local photography club when first starting out in photojournalism as a career. You will make good contacts, learn a lot, and have many opportunities to display your photos and have them critiqued.

Warnings

• Sports photography is hard technical work. Simplistic point and shoot will not result in excellent photography in the sports field – you must be across all the finer technical points of photography and know how to really work your camera.
• If you practice photographing kids, check with the coach that it's permissible to do so. While their games are always easily accessible, don't invade their privacy by uploading photos without asking for permission first. In some countries, doing so might constitute a breach of privacy.

Things You'll Need

• Good camera equipment
• Technical manuals and photography tutorial books
• Local sports matches (amateur rank), or any professional ones prepared to "give you a try"

Related Articles

• Photograph Sports
• Photograph Motor Racing
• Become a Professional Photographer
• Get a Job As a Photographer for a Newspaper
• Become a Nature Photographer

Sources and Citations

See also

• Photograph Motor Racing
• Photograph Sports
• Purchase a Camera for Sports Photography

What links here

• Be a Great Photographer