I can finally say, “Yes, I’ve shot an NFL game.”

I’ve shot many high school games, a college game, but they don’t compare to the NFL Experience.   To those who shoot the NFL regularly, it’s probably old hat for you, but for me it was like getting to fly first class after riding in coach all my life.

The first thing that really surprised me was how big these guys are.  Not sure where these guys hang out all week, but I’ve never seen people this enormous at the grocery store or mall.

Photographing the game is pretty much the same — except the players move so much faster, and passes get to their intended receivers (or defensive players) in a blink of an eye.

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From my observations, I see many folks whip out their pocket camera or digital SLR and just snap away when “Little Johnny” hits the field,  most likely capturing many pictures of his back, or becoming unrecognizable because he is so far away and just shows up as a blip on the picture.

With some planning and keeping in mind some of my tips below, you can transform yourself from a sideline snapshooter into a quality sportsshooter, and create photographs worth looking at over and over again.   Creating better images will not only make you proud of yourself, you will have cherished images to complement your memories.

Of course, if I were to write down everything I know about shooting sports from equipment to technique, I would end up with a book.  However, if you can keep in mind these 10 general tips, you can be well on your way to capturing better sports images.  This list should work well for anyone shooting sports outdoors.  Indoors brings about a whole new batch of problems — which I will discuss in the future.

1. The Eyes Have It

Having the face and eyes of your subject in the shot are key ingredients to taking a good sports image. Seeing the back of a player is not going to win many awards, and typically ends up in the delete pile. Being able to see the eyes of your subject is what really will connect with the viewer of the picture.  How do we read emotion from others?  By looking at their face.

Not only should you be watching the action, and waiting for a potential moment for a picture, but be equally aware of when your subject is facing in your general direction. You’ll be surprised how much better with using this tip alone will produce more pleasing images.

2. Location, Location, Location

Just as in real estate, a good sports photograph starts with the location from which you are shooting.  Granted, getting onto or near the field of a professional sports event is nearly impossible without proper credentials, many high school and almost all youth sports allow you to get much closer to the action.    You may enjoy sitting in the bleachers, or in one location with your personal lawn chair, with your family and friends to visit during lulls in the action, but trying to take pictures from there, rarely produces good results.

If at all possible, get as close to the sidelines, or playing field area as permitted, and in a position that you feel much of the action of the player(s) you want to photograph will be happening.   You can visit with your friends after the game.

3. Be a Snake in the Grass

Don’t be afraid to get on your belly to take pictures. Your subjects look larger than life when you shoot from a lower point of view. Standing up, and shooting down on little ones is not as flattering.   Most adults view things in life from between 4 and 6 feet.  To create more interesting images, you need to shoot from outside that zone, to give the viewer a different perspective than they normally would see.

If possible, try to shoot from below your subjects eye level.  You’ll be surprised the difference this makes in your photographs.

4. Predict the Future (without your crystal ball)

Idon’t mean like being able to predict the lottery numbers for next week, but rather knowing enough about the sport or event to have a good bit of confidence when something is going to happen.  For example, if you are wanting to capture a soccer goalie in action, you know darn well when the ball is on the other end of the field, you don’t have to be poised and ready to shoot that player.

Anticipating when action will take place is a huge benefit to sports photography.   If you are at a baseball game and there is a runner on first base, there is a good chance there will action at first base in the form of a pickoff attempt, or a play at second base by either a steal attempt, or a double play attempt.  So, if you can be located on the first base side, near the first base bag and somewhat in line of second base, you are in great position to capture some peak action.

Each sport has it’s subtleties that if you know the sport well, can give you an advantage in knowing what to look for before it happens.

To those with point & shoot cameras with a long delay between the time you press the shutter and the camera actually taking the picture (shutter lag), many situations allow you to pre-focus on an area by pressing your shutter down halfway.   By doing this you can eliminate much of the delay, so that when the action is happening, all you have to do it now depress the shutter fully and the camera will fire much faster.

5. What’s That in the Background?

An important issue that most amateur photographers miss is being aware of the background in the area they have positioned themselves.  Photographers many times are so fixated on the action, they totally ignore what’s behind the action.

When scouting for locations, be aware of porta-potties, parking lots, trashcans, and the like.  Sometimes, just moving a couple feet one way or the other makes a world of difference.  It’s only after you’ve gotten home and downloaded your images to your computer do you realize the faux pas you made.

Be aware, that with many of today’s youth fields, finding a background that is clean is nearly impossible, so don’t always expect to succeed in this area.

6. Shoot Tight

Don’t be afraid of chopping off body parts in the frame.  Having the full body of your subject is not always needed.  The viewer has the ability to fill in that information without it being shown, which allows you, the photographer to zoom in tight and focus in on the face.  Looking at the photo to the right, the photo tells the whole story with just the upper half of the running back in the photo.  Through your experience, you know that the player is running past defenders with ball in hand.   Being tight on the subject shows the intensity in his eyes that would have been lost if this photograph was shot from a wider angle.

7. Action not Required

Sometimes the best shots are taken away from the main action.  Some potential shots can be found on the sidelines with players not in the game, as they are talking with each other, getting a drink or being chewed out by the coach.   On the field during timeouts, or other lulls in the action also can tell a story.

Don’t always follow the ball.   When a placekicker attempts a field goal, all eyes are on the ball as it flies through the air.   A picture of the ball in mid-air is not that exciting, so stay focused on the kicker himself — he will either give you a jube shot as it passes through the uprights, or the “agony of defeat” as it misses the target.

Always be on the lookout for other photo opportunities.

8. Expect the Unexpected

Always keep your camera ready, and your eye on the event.   Just because the player you are wanting to photograph is not involved in the action, or is on the sidelines, don’t be caught with your head in the clouds.  Something may happen that you don’t want to say, “Oh man, I should of gotten a picture of that?” Granted, it’s easy to lose concentration when you feel nothing is going on that needs your attention, but when something does happen and you capture it — it’s an exhilarating feeling.

9. Take Control of Your Life Camera

This is a subject that a couple chapters in a book would cover, but you will have greater success if you can take control of your camera rather than letting the camera make all the decisions.  Setting your camera to the “running man” (sports mode) is not taking control.  I highly recommend you sit down with your owner’s manual and learn how to use aperture priority (Av on Canon), shutter priority (Tv on Canon) and yes, even manual mode of your camera.

For sports, I suggest aperture priority, and set your camera to open up to the widest aperture available to you (that means the smallest f-stop number on your camera).  This will allow your camera to let in the most light and give you the highest shutter speed to stop the action.   What this also does is give you a smaller depth-of-field (DOF), to blur the background and isolate your subject much better.

Sometimes, you may want to get a bit artsy to give show movement.  This can be done by panning.   Set your camera to shutter priority somewhere around 1/40 of a second (experiment with what works best for what you are photographing).  Now, as your subject is moving past you, keep focused on your subject and press the shutter.   Keep as steady as possible and keep your subject tracked in your frame throughout the entire opening of the shutter.   You should end up with your main subject pretty well in focus, and everything else with that movement sort of blur.  To the left is a photo I took of a bowling ball coming down the alley.

If you want complete control of the exposure — use manual mode.  This takes all the thinking away from the camera as far as exposure is concerned.  With cameras, they can be easily fooled by it’s surroundings.  Dark jerseys, white jerseys, bright sky in the background, etc.   Unless the clouds are moving in front of the sun often, the light is consistent, so you can set this manually in your camera, which now allows your camera to have less shutter lag, for determining exposure is one less step it has to perform before firing the shot.

10. Post-Game: Learn From Your Mistakes

Take a bunch of pictures, look at them on your computer at home and see your results.   You will learn a great deal through critiquing your own work.  You will see what works and what doesn’t and each time you go out and shoot, you will improve from the last.