Dave Black: Sporting Chance: Back to Basics

At first glance it seems it should be easy to capture if not a great then certainly a good sports picture. After all, we watch sports events on television and have all the benefits of instant replay and slow motion to help us feel like experts when it comes to analyzing a play or a player. But I've based my freelance photography around sports and action images for more than 27 years, and I can tell you that when you're down on the sidelines the action moves faster than you might think, and making good pictures of athletes is a great challenge even for the best of us.

Here are some thoughts about the basics of the process and the essentials of the equipment that can help you get closer to memorable sports shots.

Freeze Frames
Stopping the action will capture peak moments, and to do that you'll need a fast shutter speed. I try to achieve a shutter speed of at least 1/500 second, but often times the action will require 1/1000 second or even higher. I used 1/1000 to freeze the tennis ball as it connected with the racquet of the high school player. Late afternoon sun provided enough light for me to easily achieve that shutter speed, and it gave my subject a beautiful, sunlit skin tone as well.

Note that I positioned myself so that my composition included a clean background; there are no officials, ball boys, trash cans or advertising signs in sight. This kind of positioning can be difficult, but it's foremost in my mind as I compose a photograph.

Often the best way to get a clean background is by using a long lens. A telephoto or zoom with a focal length of 200, 300, 400 or even 600mm can narrow the field of view and help eliminate objects that distract the viewer from the subject. For the tennis shot I was just off court and used a zoom lens at a focal length of 250mm. The dark fence screen made a clean background that helped make the player easier to focus on.

Great Expectations
Next comes a sports photography basic that's all about the game and the players: anticipation. Simply, anticipating the action is vital to the success of a sports picture. Many sports, like tennis, are repetitive. An athlete will repeat the same action again and again during the course of the competition, so I study my subjects before I take a picture. This high school athlete had a strong backhand and executed it well. I knew—I anticipated—that she would make several backhand volleys and I was ready to press the shutter release at the exact moment the ball left the racquet. If my subject had been AndyRoddick I'd have watched a practice session or earlier match to learn how he hits, moves and reacts. Sports highlights are invaluable when preparing to photograph a sports event. Becoming a keen study of the subjects you're going to photograph will increase your percentages of winners.