With the school year underway, I decided to step outside of my usually wildlife imagery and challenge you with something different. Therefore, this week’s photo assignment is sports. Here in Texas high school football is in full swing (despite the 95 degree weather) along with girls’ volleyball, soccer, and cross country. Over the past four years I have become the official sports photographer for The Winston School San Antonio and it is always a creative challenge to produce quality sports images. It also has the advantage of keeping my wildlife photography skills in practice as the overlap between sports and wildlife photography is considerable.
Sports photography offers a great opportunity to try your hand at capturing drama, victory, defeat, and good sportsmanship. Sports contain the opportunity to capture both obvious and subtle images. While most photographers will try to catch the quarterback breaking through the line and scoring a touchdown or be prepared for the devastating spike on the volleyball court, many will miss the side-stories that make compelling images in their own right. The cheer that goes up when a touchdown is scored. The high fives that are exchanged following a great tackle. The exhaustion at the end of a hard won game. The coach pushing her players to never give up. Sports offer drama on many levels and it is your job to capture that drama on film.
On the technical side, sports involve action, so fast shutter speeds are important. Modern camera can do amazing things at high ISO settings, so don’t be afraid to crank it up. Also, a good zoom lens can be very helpful in framing as the players move around. Good luck.
(click on the images to see larger versions)
