Getting Started in Sports Photography
With all the sports photography that I have been doing and writing about, the question may naturally arise: how did I get involved in sports photography? I've talked about techniques and in camera approaches, but how do you actually get into the sporting events? If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be: PRACTICE.
As much as it would be nice, you can't just roll up to a professional sporting event, or even college, with a camera and expect to get great shots and a spot on the sideline (or rinkside, or courtside, or whatever the case may be). To start with, shoot low level events that you can get in for free and without any requirment for accreditation. Use whatever gear you have, and just shoot what you can. For me, that was other youth hockey teams when I was at showcases and tournaments.
The very first sports picture saved in my lightroom. Not the greatest, is it? (taken with a nikon d5100 & nikon 55-200 mm f/4-5.6)
Even though my pictures might not have been great, the pressure was extremely low. At levels like this, most athletes are happy to have any pictures at all that are taken on something other than a phone. As I took more and more pictures, I began to gain a better understanding of shutter speeds, apertures, how to position myself, what lenses and focal lengths to use, etc., and how that all applied to sports (particularly the hockey that I was shooting). As such, my pictures began to get better and better. Coupled with the other genres of photography that I was shooting, I gained valuable and leveragable photography skills that I still lean on today.
I also learned the importance of editing. Particularly with indoor sports like hockey, lighting can be a huge challenge. Editing and retouching pictures is a huge help in this regard.
Big wins in high school hockey call for big celebrations! (taken with a nikon d5100 & nikon 55-200 f/4-5.6 @ 65 mm, 1/640 sec, f/4.2)
I wanted to get a shot with a flexing stick since I started doing hockey photography. This is the first good One I captured (taken with a nikon d5100 & nikon 55-200 f/4-5.6 @ 55 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/4)
This may still be the best hockey celebration photo I've taken (Taken with a nikon d5100 & nikon 55-200 f/4-5.6 @ 100 mm, 1/640, f/4.5)
Only once I had built up a portfolio that I felt somewhat confident in did I even think about trying to shoot at higher levels. Finally being college age and having the opportunity of being relatively close to a big school like Michigan State certainly helped, but I would have never even thought about asking to shoot sports if I didn't have a sizeable portfolio. Once I decided that I wanted to look into taking pictures for MSU, I asked a hockey player friend that plays there about photos, and found out that the people to get in touch with were the athletic communications office. Every school may have a slightly different name for it, and smaller schools' media may go straight through the athletic director, but at MSU the athletic communications office coordinates media for the sports. Once I knew this, I simply reached out, explained my situation and what I was looking for, included my portfolio (which was actually just a link to this website), and low and behold, they said I could take pictures!
One of my favorites from my time working with MSU (taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 70-200 f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/2.8)
My journey is certainly not over, though. I hope to someday work some professional games and events, and I have yet to be paid as a photographer for college sports. However, I feel like I am well on my way to acheiving those goals. Now that I feel confident enough in my skills, a lot of continuing to progress in sports photography is making connections with people in the right places. Being a good human being can go a long way in making meaningful connections. Never forget that there's a lot of good photographers, so who you are as a person can also impact your opportunities.
That's all for now. As always, let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. Until next week!
