Sports photography is harder than it looks

 

Owens girls basketball team lines up during the singing of the national anthem. 

During a break away, Demy Whitaker tries to score a basket against

Wayne County Community College’s Carmisha Legion.

  I have always loved watching sports.  Running up and down the court, hitting the ball back and forth across the net, players running down the field was a great site to see. 
  I played sports in high school so of course I thought that I new everything when it came to sports.  Than I tried taking pictures at sporting events and I realized that I did not know as much as I thought.
  Timing is key to catch the fast pace of a sporting event.  Predicting the action will help make great pictures possible. 
  There are different types of techniques that you can use while shooting sports.  Freezing action is a great way to make the reader feel that they are at the sporting event.  Photographers have to use a very fast shutter speed to freeze the action.  Depending on your lighting your camera should be set at 1/1000 of a second or higher.
  Panning is another tool that photojournalist use to make their pictures more interesting.  In a panned picture the subject is very clear and still while the background is streaked or blurred.  Panning is one of the hardest techniques to master as a sports photographer. 


Head Coach Michael Llanas yells at his players.

  Sports photography is not just about the action of the game but about what is going on around the game.  Taking pictures of the reactions of the players makes the story more interesting.  Getting pictures with the fans and coaches expressions can make some very memorable pictures.  Besides trying to anticipate the action, you have to keep in mind what you are focusing on.  When action is happing it is harder to keep your camera focused on one thing.  Some sports photographers use auto focus for that reason.    I attended a home girls basketball game at Owens.  I moved around the sidelines to get the shots that I wanted.  Even though I played basketball for over eight years, it was hard to anticipate where the ball was going to go.  My head was attached to my camera the entire time. 
  I learned a lot from trying to expect what was going to happen next.  I also had to figure out what type of shot that I wanted to take. 
  Taking pictures of the action was fun for me but the best part of the night was trying to find fans to take pictures of.  There was this little boy who was really getting into the game.  In between the periods and at time outs the music would start playing and he would jump up and start dancing.  All of the fans would watch and cheer him on. 

Fan Alan Carlisle cheers for the Owens Express