In my opinion, sports photography is definitely one of the most challenging subjects to capture well.  Anyone can get a DSLR with a fast enough burst rate and machine gun fire away, but that definitely doesn’t guarantee you a good end result.  All at the same time you’re going to have to keep composition in mind, hope and pray your servo mode autofocus doesn’t fail on any of the focus points, and be sure you’re getting a fast or slow enough shutter speed for the style of photo you’re after.  Whether you want to take better photos of your kids playing soccer or little league baseball, or you’re shooting stock photography, these 10 tips should point you in the right direction. I’ve picked up these 10 main points in my past sports shoots:

#1.  Burst
The paparazzi know how to burst – because they don’t want to miss a split second.  You don’t either – you can’t get back anything in sports.  If you missed the moment, you lost the opportunity.  I’ve learned to burst just because of the simple fact that my Canon 40D’s AI Servo focus mode isn’t perfect – I generally miss focus on at least half of the images, while I’m shooting a moving subject.  Certain movements are easier for the camera to track than others, lateral, vertical, forward/backward, diagonal all result much differently…  It’s no 1D series camera.  If you’re really serious about sports, you’re going to want to invest in one of those.  The newer 7D is supposed to be much improved in the AF department, but I haven’t had an opportunity to comment on that yet.  You still don’t need a fancy camera to shoot amazing sports photography – you’ll still nail some amazing captures with even your base level DSLR or pocket point and shoot, with time, patience and persistence.

#2.  Use Servo Mode Autofocus
If you’re unsure of how to change this setting, refer to your camera’s user manual.  On Canon, there is a button that says “AF-Drive”.  Push it, and then spin the finger wheel (just behind the shutter button) until it changes from “One Shot” to “AI Servo” on the top LCD.  You might have okay results with “AI Focus” mode, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  “AI Focus” mode is the same as “One Shot” mode, only it changes to AI Servo mode when it detects movement.  From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty useless and might only work properly when you’re dealing with a slower moving subject; maybe like a parade or something.  If you’re used to shooting with just your center focus point in your viewfinder, you’re going to want to be sure not to forget to make all of the other focus points live, so it gives your camera the ability to spot the most action that is happening in the frame.  If you have your moving subject in one third of the frame, you have a chance that the camera isn’t even going to recognize the movement, if you’re only using your center focus point.

#3.  Crank the ISO
If you can’t get a fast enough shutter speed, you’re going to end up with a mess when you pull the files from the CF card into post processing. I shot hockey once, and I was pretty much pinned at ISO 800 or 1600 the entire time.  If you’re going for quality, trying to stick to ISO100 or 200 indoors at a hockey rink, you’re going to be very disappointed, even with fast primes.

#4.  Chimp Frequently
If you don’t check your results frequently to verify you’ve got all of your settings right, then you might end up with an amazing set of photos on your camera’s LCD screen; and a huge disappointment when you get back to the computer.  Remember, this is the beauty and instant gratification of digital.  No dark room or developing is required anymore, in order to see the results.  Zoom in on your first shots with your LCD, and look at your settings.  The info button on the back of your camera is your friend.  Be sure you are getting good results before you go filling up three or four CF cards worth of garbage shots.  Just be sure not to chimp after every single shot, or you might miss too much of the action.

#5.  Use a Monopod
Monopods are great for panning movement.  They allow you the freedom to pan or turn easily, while preventing any vertical movement.  The results of this panning technique can be a lot of fun, especially if you nail just the right shutter speed.  A basic monopod is just around $10 USD.  Remember: IS (image stabilized/ image stabilization) lenses only usually help with non-moving subjects.  Some higher end lenses do have certain IS modes that will actually assist you in panning.

#6. Get Low, Get High – Change Your Perspective
Any soccer mom can shoot from standing height.  Don’t forget to change up your perspective to give your photography that “oh snap, look at that right there” effect.  It really does make the world of a difference.  Don’t wear super nice clothes, either – when I shoot sports, I’m usually in a regular old t-shirt and jeans.  Being prepared like this doesn’t stop me from getting creative with my angles.  I’m usually crawling around on the ground more than an infant at my skateboarding shoots.

#7.  Fast Prime Lenses FTW
If you have a trusty faithful and true prime lens in your kit, whether it’s a basic 50mm or your favorite 85mm lens, use it wide open to blow out your background and to allow for the fastest shutter speeds.

#8.  Shoot with External Flash
If you have the pleasure of shooting with strobes, it definitely helps a lot – but on camera flash isn’t always going to be the most flattering in most situations, or the most effective for that matter, depending on your distance from the subject. On camera flash is okay for a little pop of fill light once in a while, but in most circumstances it’s not a good idea.  If you have a way of triggering your speedlight remotely, get it onto a stand and try and plan out your shots, so that you can get some added styling from the strobe(s).  In some cases when you’re not controlling the shot, like at a sports event, be sure to be respectful to the players.  They might get a bit distracted if you’re blasting them with a bunch of strobes all at once as they drive to the hoop or are about to perform an amazing trick.  If you back-light or rim-light your subject, you can create some pretty fun effects right in camera, complete with lens flares and all.  Your other alternative is to strategically get your subject between you and the sun, and use the sun as your main rear light source.

#9.  The Finish Doesn’t Always Matter
Remember, if you’re working with an athlete that might not be the most skilled, it doesn’t really matter.  Nobody’s going to really know if your subject ended up making the shot, scoring the goal, or landing the jump; because this isn’t video!  That’s the beauty of it.  Capturing and freezing the action at the beginning or middle of the execution still comes out looking great.

#10. When All Else Fails, Fake It
You probably never would have guessed that I snapped this car photo with my 70-200 as we were driving down the street one day (I was in the passenger seat, camera in hand ready for anything interesting).  It was actually sitting at a stop sign.  I thought to myself, man… what could I do with this?  It’s the type of car (Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera) that just looks fast, even when it’s standing still.  I had to spend hours in Adobe Photoshop to get it this way, and it’s definitely not the most cost or time-effective way of capturing a speeding car, but it is an option.  You can also do this with people and athletes that are moving at some rate.  Maybe you froze too much action, and wished you could have panned the shot with a slower shutter speed.  When all else fails, just fake it in Photoshop!  Here I had to isolate the car, zoom blur the background, and also do a radial spin blur on the wheels to make them look like they were rolling.  A bit of selective color was added, removing the greens from the trees in the background, and the speeding car really did come alive.

To sum things up, sports is a really challenging subject to shoot – but I think that’s also the most gratifying part of it.  When you capture an amazing image, it gives you all the more reason to be proud of yourself.  It’s not as controlled as other photography subjects, as there are a lot more variables.  Give it a try sometime, no matter what level you are at as an amateur or professional photographer.  I hope at least a few of these tips were helpful.  We’d love to see your results!  Be sure to post some links to them in the comments box below. All of the photos in this post are Arena Creative stock photos, available for licensing at ArenaCreative.com – as you can probably already tell, skateboarding has become a favorite sports subject of mine.

I got a huge kick out of this funny photoshopped image of a large telephoto Canon L lens mounted to what looks like an M-16 military issue machine gun – it was recently posted by Adorama on their company facebook page wall.  In photography, we know that sometimes the machine gun method (automatic bursting) will pan out for you, especially when shooting moving subjects.  Also a lot of times as photographers, talking to our friends, might say, “Yeah, I actually am shooting a baby later today” or “I’m planning on shooting some engaged couple later”, only to get a confused reaction from them.  Then you have to explain yourself, “Not with a gun, silly… I’m photographing them”.  Talking amongst fellow photographers, you don’t get that reaction.  It still sounds funny sometimes.  I think later I’m going to go shoot my two dogs.  LOL with a camera!

This simple image got me thinking once again about photo hunting.  Traditional game Hunting and photography can sometimes cross paths, and inter-mingle with one another.  There are a lot of really kind hearted people that will get all suited up to go hunting for deer, go out in the woods, wait patiently with their super-telephoto lenses and DSLRs, and hunt their prey my photographing them, instead of killing them with guns or bows.  Venison is delicious, but I don’t think I could ever kill a deer unless it was a last resort, and my survival depended on it.  They remind me so much of a cross between big cute dogs and little horses.  I’m not knocking hunting, but I’m definitely no country boy.  I’ve lived on a farm for a few weeks in Northern West Virginia with relatives, and I saw how country living was definitely am amazing way of life.  There is no noise, no stress, everyone is friend; but there is definitely a lot of hard work  to be done when you have a farm with any sort of livestock or crops to maintain.  When it comes to hunting, I would definitely prefer the photography method.  Photography hunters say it is just as gratifying to them.  Sure, they don’t get to eat the meat, but they also don’t have to go through the trouble of lugging a bloody animal carcass back home on the roof of their car or in the back of their pickup truck, hanging it to bleed it out, and then butchering the meat.  We live in a part of the world where food is widely available at most supermarkets, even venison or rabbit when it’s in season.  If you’re a hunter, definitely consider trading a couple of your rifles for some higher end camera gear – you might be pleasantly surprised in the similarity of the experience.   Bullets and ammo are not exactly cheap, either.  You digital camera costs nothing more than the electricity it takes to charge up the batteries.  Here is a short youtube clip demonstrating hunting with a camera instead of a gun.  This man in the video below calls the elk using a technique referred to as bugling, and he then captures the animal with his digital camera.  With photo hunting, instead of hanging a taxidermied animal head on your wall, you can hang up a variety of nice prints instead.

I’ve already talked about coming up with stock photo concepts accidentally and also how sometimes facial expressions can create an entirely different mood, theme, or idea in a photo. Here are a few of my happy accidents in digital photography.

Hip shots: walking across the street, unaware of my specific camera settings – just snapping as I walk while trekking it through Providence, RI and NYC, New York.

Here are some other random moments caught at the beach in Connecticut (Westbrook Beach) and Rhode Island (Watch Hill Beach in Westerly) that I didn’t exactly “plan” but spotted at a seconds notice.

I’m sure I have many more accidentals, but I can’t think of them at the moment.  You’re not always going to “catch” a masterpiece, but you just might grab something you wouldn’t mind sharing with others.  I don’t care if what kind of camera you own, whether it’s a DSLR or a basic cell phone camera.  The worst image captured is the one that was even never attempted.  Have fun, and don’t forget to screw around with your camera once in a while – you just might be pleasantly surprised with what comes out.  You just have to be ready!

Do you have some of your own examples you would like to share?  By all means, feel free to post them below in the comments section.

Or, you can learn to paint some “happy little clouds” LOL

Which super stars enjoy photography as a hobby?  Which prefer getting behind the camera it and not just being in front of it all the time?  Here are a list of all the celebrities (who are also photographers) that I could track down.

#1 Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks is not only one of the world’s greatest supermodels and talk show hosts, but she can also handle her own with a Hasselblad!  You can see her on her show America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) frequently shooting some of the contestants.  Now does she know how to set everything up in the camera settings and lighting?  Who knows, and who cares – she probably just has to worry about pointing and shooting.  Being around the modeling  business for so many years, she has probably absorbed so much photographic knowledge that it just comes naturally to her.  Think about it, don’t most actors usually move towards directing later in their careers?  It seems to be a common trend in models and actors.

#2 Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Hudgens told MovieFone in an interview that photography is her favorite hobby. “I think it’s a lot of fun … savoring the moment.  I get to go to all these beautiful places, so it’s nice being able to take pictures of it.”

#3 Drew Carey

Yes sir, Mr. Price is Right himself also shoots sports!  This surprized me a lot.  I’ve always liked Drew Carey as an actor/comedian, now I like him even more.  Drew shoots for the U.S. National soccer team on occasion, and he sells his images under the pseudonym “Brooks Parkenridge”.

#4 Jerry Bruckheimer

We all know Jerry as the fantastic film and tv producer, but he actually started out as a photographer.  His interest in film got him to where he is today, but that’s not to say that the art of photography didn’t help him along on his career path.

#5 Brad Pitt

You might be sick of hearing about Brangelina gossip on shows like TMZ and Extra, but here is an interesting tidbit.  This dude is so much of a photo geek that it has been said that he drives his wife Angelina Jolie insane with it.  Angelina said her hubby Brad Pitt  “has become obsessed with photography and ruminates for hours on how to improve his art”.  Supposedly Brad really geeks out and studies everything about the art and science of photography and imaging.  Hey, I have to give him some credit.  He isn’t pulling the “rich doctor” syndrome.  You know, when highly wealth people buy a Canon 1ds MkIII even though they have no clue what they’re doing with it.  In that case, it’s like they’re walking around with $8000 necklaces.  Brad seems like the type that really geeks out, and for that I have to give him props.  You can read more about his obsession here.

I highly that Ashton was into photography before Nikon decided to use him as their post child.  Hey, I’m not knocking him – I think he’s great as an actor.  Heck, one of my dogs is named after his character on That 70s Show.  I could be wrong, but I can’t find any evidence that he’s a real life photographer aside from his Nikon commercials.

Did I miss anyone?  If you know of any other famous musicians, actors, actresses, athletes, or other celebrities that also love photography, please post them in the comments below! To learn more about top celebs and their other hobbies, check out this great post at NotSoBoringLife

Getting Organized One of the toughest parts about stock photography is all the organization that goes into planning and properly executing a shoot of any given topic.  It’s a lot of work and effort.  Sure, there are times you might wing it and come up with a nice variety of different themes, but if I find that if I’m always trying to “wing it” my time isn’t used the most effectively.  If you’re going to be shooting models, you need to orchestrate the entire shoot with them.  Then, you need to decide on a location, wardrobe (what to tell them to wear) props, ideas and themes to try.  You want to make the shoot effective for the short amount of time you’ll be working together, for me it’s usually 1-2 hours tops.  Making sure you have your model release ready for them to sign, and not forgetting to have them actually sign them is even a chore.  Then there is the scanning and uploading of the releases to each and every agency you’re submitting those images to.

Shooting Subjects That Can’t Talk BackIf you want to shoot food there is the purchasing of the ingredients, the prep and cooking time, the presentation of it all on the plate and table setting.  Food could sometimes be easier to work with than models, depending on the model.  Sometimes models can decide to cancel last minute, then what do you do with your time slot?  It’s very similar to any other business where you have to make appointments for your clientele, such as dentistry or a beauty salon.  There also is no “extra work” later on when shooting subjects other than people.  You don’t even have to edit the entire shoot unless you want to, and there is no mailing of a disk required.  You save on your time and money shipping a disk out to them.  Maybe you’re not interested in food. Well, maybe you could shoot other objects over white. Please don’t bother with apples, unless it’s done in a truly creative way.  Stock sites’ reviewers have seen enough of those and they’re be extra eager to slap that “reject” button as quick and hard as they possibly can.

Motivation This is the part where you come in. If you can’t get yourself motivated, nothing creative is ever going to happen.  Working from home, and being your own boss, can especially be challenging.  Maybe there isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder, and asking you whether or not you’re going to make the deadline.  You need to make your own deadlines for yourself.  Without having weekly, daily, even hourly goals, your time is going to be wasted.  I’m living it right now – some days I spend way too much time doing social networking on twitter or facebook.  Other days I spend too much time editing older, similar images that probably should have just been backed up and tucked away.  If you are having a rough time staying on task, don’t think you’re the only one.  Stay tuned, as one of my future posts here will address this topic.  There are things you can do to minimize distractions, and stick to your workflow.  Speaking of which, I think it’s time for me to stop blogging and start keywording my images!