sports & action photography in a day for dummies

Chapter 1

Getting the Right GearIn This Chapter▶ Picking the right camera for the job▶ Complementing your camera with accessories

Sports and action photography is like most things in life — if you want to be the best at it, you need to have

the best gear. Luckily for you, lots of options are available when determining the best gear based on your level of experi-ence and expertise.

In this chapter, I help you determine what you’re going to need — including what type of camera and any necessary accessories — based on what you plan on photographing and how comfortable you are behind the lens.

The Internet contains a wealth of information, but nothing beats asking other photographers what they’re using. You can share in their camera jubilation or avoid the same pitfalls that they fell into by purchasing that “bargain” point-and-shoot camera that didn’t turn out to be such a bargain after all.

Choosing the Best Camera for the Job at Hand

Whether you’ll be taking photographs at your daughter’s soccer game or trying to make a career out of sports photography, having the right camera for the situation will make all the difference. In the past, very few affordable cameras could capture action as well as the pro’s gear. However, today’s market is full of completely viable options,

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Sports & Action Photography In A Day For Dummies 4from professional dSLRs (digital single-lens reflex), to compact point-and-shoots that you can take everywhere you go, to smartphones with surprisingly impressive cameras good for the candid shots on the go.

This abundance of quality options presents a different sort of problem. Picking a camera can become an overwhelming experience.That’s why, in the next few sections, I detail each type of camera and exactly what you need it for.

Smartphone camerasCamera phones (see Figure 1-1) are great for one simple reason — they’re incredibly convenient. Almost everyone has one in their pocket every time they leave the house.

Figure 1-1: Smartphones like the iPhone 4S just don’t cut it for shooting sports.

If you’re planning on taking pictures of flowers, sunsets, and family gatherings, the cameras included in smartphones are great. Many smartphones carry cameras that can take 8 megapixel (or even higher) photographs. These are actually really good quality pictures that rival some of the point-and-shoot cameras from not that long ago.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 5However, when it comes to shooting action photography, they’re better left in your pocket.

The main problem with smartphone cameras is that they all have fairly fixed settings. Smartphone cameras don’t have settings like the Sports mode (see Chapter 2) with a fast shutter speed. Even if you can take a high-quality photograph (meaning no pixelation or anything of that sort), your subject will probably be blurry because of a slow shutter speed. The lack of a serious zoom is also a big problem with smartphone cameras because many of the pictures taken with a zoom are shaky and grainy — not quite something you’d want to share with your friends.

So if you find yourself somewhere with the urge to take a picture and the only thing you have with you is your smartphone, try not to zoom in on anything moving too fast. Otherwise, you should be alright just getting a quick snapshot.

Point-and-shoot camerasIf you simply want to try your hand at sports photography as a new hobby, a point-and-shoot camera with a nice zoom on it could be the right camera for you. The compact nature of the camera (see Figure 1-2) and lack of many external accessories might just be appealing enough that you won’t mind having to get a little closer to the action than you would normally.

Figure 1-2: Compact point-and-shoot cameras are great for the hobbyist.


Sports & Action Photography In A Day For Dummies 6

In addition to possibly getting closer to the action, point-and-shoot cameras might also require you to deal with things like slower focusing and a little bit of shutter lag (the time between pressing the shutter and when the image is actually written to the card). Shutter lag isn’t a huge amount of time, but it can affect your ability to capture fast moving objects.

Although you might be sacrificing a little quality for the convenience of using them, a compact point-and-shoot camera can still do a great job. They’re universally much cheaper than a dSLR and are a great choice if you want to pick up photography as a fun new hobby. And like a smartphone, many point-and-shoots are compact enough that you can put it in your pocket and take it with you everywhere. After all, who knows where you’ll see some action you want to freeze forever in a photograph?

dSLR camerasIf you’re truly serious about your photography and are committed to getting the best photos possible, a dSLR camera is far and away your best option. dSLR cameras are much more versatile — maybe not in their size or ease of transport, but rather in their capabilities as a camera — than fixed-lens cameras like your typical point-and-shoot.

The versatility of dSLR cameras gives you the freedom to change lenses, add an external flash, and take advantage of many more accessories. And the professional feeling you get carrying around a big bodied camera with a large lens on it at a sporting event isn’t bad either — let me tell you, people get out of your way so you can get your shot!

Figure 1-3 shows one variation of what professional photographers use — the Canon EOS 7D dSLR camera.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 7

Figure 1-3: A dSLR camera is ideal for shooting action shots.

With some things in life, you can get by purchasing knock-off versions of the brand name items (I mean, who really needs brand name bottle water?). But when it comes to big ticket items like a dSLR camera that you’ll be using for years, look for that brand recognition. Companies like Canon and Nikon have been around forever for a very good reason — they make high-quality cameras and have the customer service to back them up. So as long as you’re spending the money, spend it on a company that’s earned your business.

Here’s a list of all the things you need to consider to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck when purchasing a dSLR camera:


Sports & Action Photography In A Day For Dummies 8 ✓ Camera weight: Go to the store and actually hold the

camera for a few minutes just to make sure it feels comfortable in your hands. I personally use a slightly heavier body because that’s just one more thing that differentiates my professional dSLR from a recreational camera. You may find a lighter body preferable, but that’s definitely something you’ll want to know before you make a purchase.

✓ How well the body of the camera is constructed: Some high-end camera bodies are practically invincible whereas others are more susceptible to letting dust and grime get into the cracks, which comes with being constructed with lesser quality plastics. As with most of the things on this list, if you can somehow spring a couple thousand dollars to get a camera with an indestructible body, do it. Otherwise, the decision depends on how much your trust yourself to take care of your equipment and/or whether you’ll shoot in harsh locations.

✓ Mode selections: You want a camera with a full range of modes, or given presets, including one that allows full manual mode (I cover modes in greater detail in Chapter 2). I’m pretty sure that almost any dSLR you find nowadays will offer many specialized modes, so no need to worry too much about this one.

✓ Image quality: Image quality is expressed through megapixels, or MP. It’s almost not worth buying a dSLR with less than 14 MPs as many of them have significantly better image resolution than that. Cameras with 18 or even 24 MPs are becoming more abundant and affordable seemingly every day.

✓ Shutter lag: Shutter lag is the time between when you press the shutter release and your camera actually captures an image. If a shutter delay or lag occurs, how significant is it? Maybe try another model. Ideally, a camera should never have unintentional shutter lag.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 9 ✓ Shutter speed: Shutter speed refers to the amount of time

that your camera’s aperture is open and your sensor is exposed to the light. Especially for shooting sports, a camera that can’t shoot at a speed of at least 1/5000 of a second won’t cut it.

✓ Supported file formats: Good dSLR cameras provide JPEG, Raw, and TIFF file format options. In fact, most dSLRs these days can shoot JPEG and Raw at the same time. I’m not saying that you need to shoot with both of these formats at the same time (one or the other has always worked for me), but some people like the added security of knowing they’ve captured an image using both types of formats.

A JPEG file is a compressed version of the photograph you captured. A JPEG file loses a little bit of quality, but you can store a whole bunch of them on your memory card. Raw files are just that: They’re the raw data from your sensor when you press the shutter-release button. Raw files are huge and are great quality images, but you can store a lot less of them on your memory card. TIFF files are what you can get after editing an image that was shot in Raw. When you’re done editing the Raw file, you have to convert it, so you can either convert to a JPEG (losing some quality) or save it as a TIFF (which is a large file that retains all its quality).

✓ ISO range: The ISO is the sensitivity of your sensor to light when the shutter is open. You normally want to shoot at a low ISO, such as 400 in natural light. However, some situations (such as shooting an event at night) call for you to bump up your ISO to 1200, 1600, even up to 2000. Your ISO setting ultimately depends on how poorly lit the location is. So, even though you may never crank your ISO all the way to 6400, it’s nice to know that you could if you wanted to. Modern dSLR cameras are coming out with some crazy ISO ranges, so it’s not a big enough issue to rule a camera out but it can be a pleasant addition.


Sports & Action Photography In A Day For Dummies 10 ✓ Focus: A dSLR camera with a fast autofocus and an

option for manual focus is ideal. I cover autofocus and manual focus in Chapter 2.

✓ Light meter: An accurate, through-the-lens light meter is a must. After all, a properly exposed photograph is the whole point of owning a camera.

Adding Camera AccessoriesAlthough a camera is completely useless without a capable photographer, it can also become severely limited in its capabilities without the correct accessories.

In the following sections, I discuss a few accessories that you can technically get by without, but after you play around with them, you might think that you can’t . . . and wonder how you ever got by without them in the first place.

Most of these accessories are mainly for dSLR cameras. If you feel that you’ll probably purchase a point-and-shoot camera (or you already own a point-and-shoot), you can skip ahead to the “Odds and ends” section at the end of this chapter.

LensesMany dSLRs come with a lens (dubbed the kit lens), so this section is technically about accessory lenses. If you want to zoom in on the field from your spot in the nosebleed section, you’re going to need more than just your kit lens. For example, Figure 1-4 shows how one photographer brought everything but the kitchen sink in terms of lenses to shoot the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including a 400mm 2.8L IS attached to a monopod, a 600mm f/4L IS, a 24–70mm 2.8L, and a 70–200mm 2.8L attached to a Canon EOS 7D body.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 11

Photo courtesy of Chet Strange

Figure 1-4: An entire arsenal of lenses ready for a day of shooting.

Trust me, you won’t need nearly that many lenses when you go out to shoot, but it’s a good example of what some photographers use to get different types of shots throughout an entire day’s worth of taking photographs.

Lenses come in many different types — including macro, wide-angle, zoom, and telephoto — and maximum apertures, but you can trust the optical quality of most, if not all of them. The lenses are made with computer-designed glass that has been multi-coated to resist warping, light flares (tiny sunspots across your image), and scratching.

Some lenses receive a higher-quality coating than others, but the consistency is still there. The main difference between low-end and more expensive lenses comes in the construction of the body of the lens. As with the more expensive camera bodies, high-end lenses are built with better materials to withstand bumps, rain, and dust. Even so, these lenses probably can’t withstand a 90 miles-per-hour fastball any better than the cheaper ones, so just be careful with the lens you have and you’ll be alright.


Sports & Action Photography In A Day For Dummies 12Another big differentiation between lens qualities is the maximum aperture, or f-stop. Aperture refers to the physical size of the hole in the lens. A 300mm lens (a telephoto lens that makes you feel like you’re on the field with the players) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 is much more expensive than a lens a couple f-stops down at f/5.6. This is because sports photographers need to shoot at really fast shutter speeds. To allow enough light to enter the camera, the aperture (which I cover in detail in Chapter 2) needs to be wide open. Professionals refer to these as fast lenses because they let them shoot really fast in low-light situations, such as a basketball arena or an indoor football stadium.

For your personal use, a 70–200mm zoom lens is ideal for getting close to the action. This lens also provides you with a bit of zoom, so you aren’t limited like you are with a telephoto lens that can’t zoom in or out, but simply point at the action. Sometimes it can be tricky to catch the action in the viewfinder before it runs away again.

As I mention earlier in this chapter, Canon and Nikon are the two powerhouses in the industry because they make quality cameras. The same goes for their lenses. Both companies make a wide range of lenses for all kinds of budgets. Nikon’s high-end, top-notch lenses are the NIKKOR series whereas Canon calls its line of super telephoto lenses the L-Series (refer to Figure 1-4).

External flashAlthough it’s nice to have an external flash for your personal use, they’re not very handy when shooting sports. For one, they’re prohibited in many sporting arenas because they can potentially distract the athletes. Another reason they won’t be very helpful is because their actual range (the area in which they’ll actually illuminate) is pretty limited. For example, if you’re using a telephoto lens, a flash that goes 15 feet is going to do absolutely nothing for you.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 13But as with all the accessories I discuss, if you want to go for it, go for it. An external flash will in fact be a nice addition if you wish to take portraits of your own little athlete, or if you’ve received permission to use a flash inside a poorly lit building (an indoor tennis court, for example).

You can purchase an external flash unit like the Canon Speedlite 430EX II in Figure 1-5 for around $150–300. A new external flash is quite an investment, so make sure you’ll use it before you buy one. However, if you can find a good one abnormally cheap, by all means, pick it up. It could come in handy later.

Figure 1-5: The Canon Speedlite 430EX II is a popular external flash unit for Canon dSLRs.



Tripods and monopodsOne of the easiest ways to ruin a good photograph is through camera shake, which occurs when you move just a little bit when you press down the shutter-release button; it ruins the whole shot. You’re most likely to have this occur when you’re shooting with a really long lens, where even a minute movement is a big deal.

Luckily, camera shake is also one of the easiest fixes in all of photography — get yourself a tripod or a monopod. For sports photographers (which includes you now), you’re more likely to use a monopod, which is just one long leg that attaches to the body of your camera and allows you the freedom to move around but still stabilize your camera quickly and in tight quarters.

The monopod also becomes essential when you’re using a longer lens. Longer lenses can get pretty heavy, and no one wants to hold one for hours on end. In these situations, a monopod not only reduces camera shake, but it also helps to reduce the stress on your arms. A simple monopod alleviates all that weight and allows you to think about your next shot, instead of wondering if you can even lift the camera up to your eye.

There are many cheap, lighweight options when it comes to tripods and monopods that are made out of sturdy materials. Shop around and find the best deal for you.

Odds and endsBelieve it or not, there’s always more gear you can acquire. So far in this chapter, I discuss cameras, lenses, external flashes, monopods and tripods, and now I talk about a couple things to go with each of those.


Chapter 1: Getting the Right Gear 15 ✓ Lenses: I mention earlier in this chapter that almost all

lenses have a coating on them to resist flaring in the sunlight. However, sometimes light flares are unavoidable. You can remove reflections, however, with the addition of a polarizing filter onto your lens. Your colors become much more vibrant, and that nasty glare is gone. Some of the light is lost through the filter, though, so be sure to correct the exposure accordingly.

✓ Wireless Trigger Systems: Do you want to use your flash to light something from the side or a few feet away from your camera? A wireless trigger system allows you to place your external flash wherever you feel like, creating dynamic photographs.

✓ Tripods: To get the most out of your tripod, get a cable-release system, or a remote control system, to release the shutter. This virtually eliminates any chance of camera shake by removing your hands from the equation altogether.

✓ Monopods: A ball head can really come in handy. The ball head attaches to the top of the monopod and allows the photographer to pan or achieve different angles much more freely than when his camera body is attached directly to the plate of the monopod. Using a ball head is obviously a matter of preference, so if you feel like you can get by without it, by all means, go right ahead.


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