Sports photographers capture events and athletes for publications or teams. They must be proactive in spotting good shots and have an understanding of the sport and athletes. They select appropriate exposure times and shutter speeds and may use different camera bodies and lenses. Aspiring photographers can attend short courses or work as assistants. Access to restricted areas and good relationships with other photographers are important.
A sports photographer is a photographer who focuses on photographing events and athletes. Most are photojournalists, taking pictures for use in publications, although some may also be employed by specific teams as documentarians. Some sports photographers are freelancers, while others are employed by specific publications or photography agencies. This job requires a lot of travel as people must be able to attend sporting events in various locations.
Photographing sporting events presents a number of challenges. Sports photographers can’t set up shots and wait for the perfect moment. Instead, they should be proactive in spotting good shots as they happen. This often requires moving the event around and being careful with placement. This requires an understanding of not just the sport, but also the individual athletes. A sports photographer covering horse racing, for example, needs to know the habits of horses and jockeys in order to capture distinctive moments.
The sports photographer must also select appropriate exposure times and shutter speeds on the fly. To freeze a moment, the photographer would select a fast shutter speed, resulting in a shallow depth of field. For images with more movement and a wider depth of field, the photographer can use a slower shutter speed. Sports photographers can also work with a variety of camera bodies and lenses, and film types in some cases, in order to achieve different photographic effects.
Some sports photographers go to art or photography school to learn the basics of photography before looking for work, while others may start at the bottom of a publication’s photography department and pick up skills on the job. Professional photographers often need assistants, which can be an excellent opportunity for beginners to learn valuable skills that they can eventually use to develop their own professions. Short courses in sports photography can also provide aspiring sports photographers with a grounding in the basics, as well as an opportunity to meet working photographers and begin to network.
Part of being a sports photographer includes securing permission to access restricted areas at events. The photographer can receive assistance with this through a parent organization. As competition is often fierce for good photos at high-profile sporting events, the profession also involves becoming familiar with other sports photographers and developing good working relationships. A sports photographer known for being pushy and rough might find himself pushed away from good field positions by crowds of pushing photographers who remember past oversights.
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