Don McPeak

Sports & Action Photography For Beginners: Part 1

Hello Jacqueline! This is one of those situations where perhaps the entire picture didn't load. The player's head and part of the ball look like they have been cut off. Regardless... You are among friends and have taken an important step in your journey. you have asked for advice / feedback from your teacher. Most people don't do that. So bravo to you. You have the right idea. You positioned yourself in a location to get a good shot of the action. It looks a bit under exposed, but that could be a limitation of your equipment.  The good news here is you have an idea what to shoot! That is the basic starting point for all action photography. Even with the head cropped off, it is clear you knew how to frame the photo to show the player's face, the ball, other players, and give us a sense of what was happening. If possible, I would open up the aperture a little more. Also, consider getting a little lower to the ground. But, overall, I would say you are off to a good start. I would love to see others from the game, or from something else you have shot. Keep at it. You are doing great! This isn't easy, but you have a good sense of how to keep your subject in the right place in the frame. Thank you for sharing. I hope you will, again.

Ok, I will send others pictures. I have a d3400 with the lense that came with it which is a 70-300

Ahhh.... The D3400. That is a very nice camera. It has the ability to go to some fairly high ISO values and still produce nice photos. It is hard to tell from your photos, how you are using your camera. As a beginner, you should know that when asking for critique and advice, it is helpful to give some information around the settings you used.

I am only guessing, but my thinking is that you may be using a program mode in the camera and the meter is setting the aperture and / or shutter speeds. It appears the photos were taken in the daytime. Perhaps on a cloudy day. This is actually the ideal time for sports photos.

My initial feedback is that the overall photo is a little dark. In my course, I encourage my students to use 'Manual' mode and select your own settings. Since we like to take sports photos at 1/1000 of a second minimum, and your lens is probably at f/5.6 or f/6.3 at 300mm, you will want to select an ISO value that produces photos that are a little brighter.

With that camera, you can go all the way up to ISO 6400 and beyond with good results. Even on a cloudy day, that would be sufficient to brighten up the photos. Soccer uniforms are typically bright and vibrant. Let that show through with more light.

You are doing great! One thing you appear to be doing is getting right up to the action. Many new sports photographers hang back from the sidelines and remove themselves from the game. Your photos look to me like you stepped right up to the edge of the field to get a good view. 

Understanding what to shoot is critical. My advice to you when trying to learn is concentrate on one thing at a time. For now, maybe just try to get photos of the player with the ball, facing you so you can see his / her face, as well as including the ball in the shot. 

Think of nothing else. (Of course, if something really amazing happens, try to get a shot of that) But, take one aspect of the game and try to develop some level of mastery around that.

So, if you follow that notion, and we decide to concentrate on one player at a time, with the ball, facing you, it helps you to not be distracted and pulled in different directions. You are trying to tell a story with pictures: with your camera. What story will the viewer see when they look at your photos? Will they just see a few players on a field with a ball, or will they see a focused athlete; his / her facial expressions giving us insights into the ferocity of the contest? Can we see the flexing muscles of a highly trained athlete? etc...

This is the very essence of sports photography. Your photos from the entire game is your novel. Each picture is a chapter in that book. What photo best represents the chapter on the drama of intense competition? 

It is your story to tell and only you can decide how you will tell it. Don't let the camera tell you how to take the photo. You imagine the shots you want to take and then tell the camera how you intend to take it.

Many of these issues will be addressed in detail in these three short courses.

Keep with it. From your pictures I can tell you know what you want. Now, you just need to acquire some more knowledge and practice to capture in photos what your mind has already envisioned.

That, my dear, is the secret to how you do this... :-)

Ok, I will change the settings. Thank you I appreciate it.

I&rsquo;m a beginner with photography. I&rsquo;ve been taking pictures of a soccer team here in Cap-Haitian, Haiti. This is my start.

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