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Action and sports photography tips

Scope out the area to find where the action is. Getting a great action shot is being at the right place at the right time. Before you break out your camera and start shooting, take some time to look around to see what’s going on.

Stay out of the way! Be sure you’re not getting into anybody’s way. It can be dangerous for you and the person doing the activity. Also, when shooting a sporting event, don’t touch the ball! While

shooting a baseball tournament, a foul ball rolled to my foot and I instinctively knocked it away. It cost the team a run. The coach was NOT happy with me. Luckily, they were up 14 to 1, so it wasn’t a big deal, but I’ll never touch another ball again!

Practice makes perfect. Action photography is not easy. Be prepared to shoot a lot of images.

After you get comfortable with the type of event you’re shooting, you learn to anticipate where the action will be and you’ll start getting better shots.

Animal and Pet

Photography

Photographing pets is something every pet owner likes to do. I’ve got enough pictures of my dog to fill a three hundred gig hard drive. The most difficult aspect about pet photography is getting the animal to sit still.

Whether you’re doing an animal portrait or just taking some snapshots of your pet playing, your Speedlight is a handy tool.

If your pet is fairly calm and well trained, photographing them in a studio setting is entirely possible. For example, my cat, Charlie Murphy, is a pretty relaxed character who doesn’t mind sitting for me on occasion.

Inspiration

Animals and pets are an inspiration in and of themselves. If you don’t have pets your-

self, go visit a friend or relative who has one. Zoos are also a good place to find unusual animals to photograph.

Animal and pet photography tips

Be patient! Animals aren’t always the best subjects; they can be unpredictable and uncooperative. Have patience and shoot plenty of pictures, you never know what you’re going to get.

Bring some treats. Sometimes animals can be compelled to do things with a little bribe.

Get low. Because we’re used to looking down at most animals, we tend to shoot down at them. Get down low and shoot from the animal’s perspective.

Shoot wide open. If you’re at a zoo and the animal is within a cage, sometimes getting close to the cage and shooting with a wide aperture can cause the cage wire to be so far out of focus that it’s hardly noticeable. Using a wide aperture can also blur out distracting elements.

Keep an eye on the background.

When photographing animals at a zoo keep an eye out for cages and other things that look manmade — and avoid them. It’s best to try to make the animal look like it’s in the wild by finding an angle that shows foliage and other natural features.

Concert

Photography

Doing concert photography can be both frustrating and rewarding. Sometimes to get “the” shot, you have to get in and fight a crowd, blowing your eardrums out in the process and getting drinks spilled all over your gear. Of course, if you’re the type of person who likes to get into the fray, this is great fun.

At larger venues, photographers usually are granted a spot up front from which to shoot, but usually these spots are reserved for pros on assignment and getting a media pass for these events can be next to impossible. A lot of large venues won’t let the fans bring cameras in, but if you are allowed, bring a telephoto lens to get close-up shots without having to get close-up.

Some photographers are staunchly against using flash at concerts preferring to shoot with the available light. I for one prefer to use some flash as I find that sometimes the stage lights can over-saturate the performer

resulting in the loss of detail. Another downside to shooting with available light is the high ISO settings you need to use in order to get a shutter speed fast enough to stop action. Typically you need to shoot anywhere from ISO 800 to 1600 resulting in noisy images and loss of image detail.

When photographing a band or performer, you’re usually in a low-light situation. Although the stage lights are bright, they’re often not as bright as you need. Even when using a Speedlight, getting a fast lens in order to capture as much light as possible is best.

Lenses with faster apertures, lenses that are f/2.8 or wider, also focus faster in low-light than do slower lens or lenses that are f/3.5 or smaller. When you use a faster lens, your flash can fire at a lower power, thereby lengthening your battery life. I also recommend setting your camera at or near ISO 400. This setting also helps keep the battery consumption down while not producing an overly noisy image.

Inspiration

A good way to get your feet wet with concert photography is to find out when your favorite band or performer is playing and bring your camera. Smaller clubs are usually better places to take good close-up photos.

The key is to take pictures of what you like. Most local bands, performers, and regional touring acts don’t mind having their photos taken. Offer to e-mail them some images for them to use on their Web site. This is beneficial for both them and you, as lots of people are able to see your images.