It lasts for an instant, just an instant. And if you manage to capture it, you get a fantastic shot where the athlete’s body displays athleticism beyond human limits, where emotions have reached their peak and are etched onto their face. That’s the power of sports photography.

Beyond the Lens

Sports photography is a sport in itself, where you compete with time and space, and most importantly, with yourself. Here, you need a deep understanding of what you’re shooting; it’s simply impossible to get a good shot if you don’t fully grasp the rules of the game. In a way, you also need to predict the future—understand where the ball or the athlete will be in an instant, and prepare for that precise moment.

In some respects, sports photography is similar to wildlife photography. Here too, everything happens quickly, and you cannot influence the situation in any way. But there are also a few crucial differences. Firstly, emotion plays a huge role in sports photography. A deeply focused gaze, the disappointment of defeat, and the joy of victory—all of this is what sets sports photography apart from all other genres. Everything here is real: the emotions, the pain, the exertion, and the despair. Sport itself is life; it’s its condensed manifestation. As a photographer, your primary job is to capture that life, to have emotion in the frame.

Anticipation and Gear

Another important difference is the certain predictability of the situation. When a corner kick happens in football, you know that in a second almost everyone in the penalty area will be airborne. You know the trajectory a race car will follow on the track, and you know which way athletes will run after the whistle. All this means that in addition to photographing the immediate moment, you also need to be ready to capture the moment coming a few instants later. And it’s this ability to anticipate that distinguishes a good sports photographer from an ordinary one; it’s this ability that creates shots that take their place in the history of that sport.

As I already mentioned, the technical component is very similar to photographing wildlife, so I won’t dwell on it too long.

Lens selection is crucial

You’ll need a good camera, ideally with stabilization and a modern sensor capable of delivering good results at fairly high ISO values. The autofocus must be fast, and the continuous shooting speed high. The choice of lens is quite limited: a telephoto or super-telephoto lens. If the playing area isn’t very large (e.g., in boxing), then a 70-200mm is ideal. For sports with a wider spatial area, like football or basketball, a longer focal length is needed—200-500mm or something equivalent.

There are also fixed focal length telephoto lenses on the market: 400mm, 600mm, 800mm. Of course, their maximum aperture is wider, even up to f/2.8, and the image quality is higher, but there are drawbacks too. Firstly, they are expensive, more expensive than equivalent variable focal length lenses. Besides, they seriously limit the photographer. Usually, a photographer’s working area is quite narrow; they can only move along the edge of the field or ring, and not even along its entire length. So, for capturing athletes moving away or closer, variable focal length lenses are more suitable.

If the sport you’re photographing is outdoors, you also need to consider poor weather conditions. Be ready to protect both yourself and your camera from sudden rain or strong winds.

Camera settings

There’s nothing new in the settings. Shutter speed is our top priority; we absolutely do not leave its selection to the camera. It can vary depending on the chosen lens, but usually 1/500th of a second or faster will be entirely sufficient to freeze the frame. We raise the ISO within reasonable limits; it’s better to get an image with a little more noise than a blurry or incorrectly exposed shot.

To avoid missing any important moments, set your shooting mode to continuous shooting and your focusing mode to continuous autofocus. Don’t forget that the eyes must be in focus if the athlete’s face is visible in the frame.

Before we summarize, one more important point that isn’t directly related to photography itself. I know that when you’re focused on photographing something, the whole world shrinks for you and centers inside the camera. At such times, we often don’t see what’s happening around us, and in sports photography, that’s not good. A fast-moving ball or athlete can appear in front of you in an instant, hit you, and thus damage both you and your equipment. So, don’t forget about the real world as well, to minimize health and financial losses.

Well, it turned out a bit short, but nevertheless packed with information.

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Key Takeaways for Sports Photography:

• To get a good shot, it’s simply essential to understand the sport or game you are photographing.
• Along with capturing important sporting moments, don’t forget about the athletes’ emotions.
• Try to be one step ahead, pre-aim your camera where an important action is about to happen.
• When choosing a camera, pay special attention to the autofocus speed and the sensor’s performance at high ISO.
• Lens selection depends on the size of the active area; the larger it is, the longer the focal length needed.
• The primary setting is shutter speed; you are responsible for freezing the frame.
• Multiple shots are always preferable to just one in this genre, and to avoid focusing issues, choose continuous autofocus mode.
• Also, pay attention to your surroundings; a high-speed ball or athlete can injure both you and your expensive equipment.