5 Expert Tips for Capturing Sports Photos with Budget Cameras
How to photograph action-packed sports moments with limited equipment, featuring pre-game, in-game, and post-game strategies.
Why cameras matter
My camera sucks.
A nice camera is important for sports photography. An amateur with a nice camera shooting on automatic can get better photos than a seasoned vet with a bad camera.
Still … I want to photograph sports. This post will provide tips on getting the most out of your experience. It is separated into three parts; pre, during, and post.
Why should you trust me?
I was a photographer for the №1 college newspaper in the country — The Daily Bruin. I know what I’m doing and I know how easy the job is when you have the proper equipment.
Pre-Game
Temper your expectations. Don’t expect to shoot Instagram-worthy content. Use this as an opportunity to improve your skills and enjoy it for what it’s worth. I love watching basketball so just being in the stadium is a win-win.
During
Photograph emotion.
Capturing the action can be difficult because it happens so quick. If you’re struggling to capture player movements, look to the emotional aspects like bench reactions, player celebrations, etc.
Move around.
The stadium is lit differently depending on where you’re sitting / standing. Sometimes, sitting further away from the action is better if it means that the composition of the photo is going to turn out nicer.
Choose clear backgrounds.
Strategically angling the camera to capture clear backgrounds places more emphasis on the players movements and limits distraction.
Post-Game
Reflect.
Understand why your photos are bad. Don’t just blame the camera.
There are two types of mistakes: human, mechanical.
A human example could be a blurry photo that could be corrected by changing my camera’s shutter speed which is in my control. See below.
The above photo would be bad regardless of the quality of the equipment. I should have increased my shutter and adjusted the focus of the camera.
An example of a mechanical error is a stylistically great photo but there’s noise in the background. A normal correction would be to lower my camera’s aperture. If there’s still noise and the aperture is at the lowest possible, then I’m blaming the camera.
I think this photo is solid. It captures the action well and it’s a pretty unique angle of a player shooting a basketball. It could be better especially with the crowd and the ref being so visible, which is why I think I can blame the camera for the pitfalls of this flick.
Get good at editing.
Editing is part of the process. If you have a fancy editing software like Photoshop, you’d be surprised at what you can correct.
Conclusion
Photography is all about growth. Regardless of the gear you have, get out there and take pics that you like. You will improve and that process is very fun.
