Can we talk sports?

Many photographers, who are sports minded, consider shooting sporting events such as football, basketball and more, a dream job. I myself started shooting sports while in high school. After I graduated from high school I worked for a small weekly newspaper and was paid $5.00 per published photo to cover my former high school team.

Years later I had the chance to cover all of the major high school sports in the region for two local weekly newspapers for one full season. Even at that level it was a dream job to me that ended too soon.

How do I start? There is no easy or simple way to get started in your “dream job”. One must simply have to start at the beginning, learn your craft, pay your dues, find your own level of talent, and work your way up.

Go to little league games and practice with what equipment you have currently. In addition, go to the local high school games (you may need to have permission from the school to be allowed on the field for some sports).
However, many of the JV level sports are often open for parents and boosters to roam the sidelines and shoot photos.

Look for action and feature shots on the sidelines as well; fan reaction or the coach popping a vein in his neck after a bungled play and more.

Your knowledge of the game is necessary, and how good your anticipation and reflexes are too are valuable skills to cultivate. Of course, luck plays in to sports photography but your knowledge of the game is invaluable and better than the luck factor...usually.

Lastly, after you've had some practice begin to build up a portfolio that shows what you can do. Then, once you feel confident enough with your work, contact your local weekly newspaper and show them your portfolio and ask if they need anyone to shoot the local high school games.

A few practical quick tips and general rules of thumb:

In football always move 10-15 yards ahead of the line of scrimmage and wait (hopefully) for the action to come to you. Don’t forget to move out of the way, as the defensive players’ drive a running back or receiver out of bounds right at you. Of course, you want to stay in there until the last moment, but a great shot doesn’t look as good from a hospital bed.

Baseball is generally safer. Shooting from behind the backstop is a good spot as well as the first base side. Pre focus on first base and then wait for the runner and the throw to first and shoot. Runner’s on all of the bases, pre focus on home plate.