Sports Photography — Using pro techniques when your kids are on
the field
by Steve Johnson

tell a friend about this Sports Photography Nikonians Guide

What if ...

1. "…my shots are too dark?" You'll need to bump up the ISO, use longer shutter speeds, or apply some positive EV compensation. Perhaps a combination of the three. If you're already using a fast lens then you're just at the mercy of the lighting conditions. Strobes can be a big help, and they generally won't disrupt the event. Flash can help if it's strong enough, you're close enough, and it's allowed. Don't forget to ask before using flash. Various techniques can be applied in post processing, both with film and digital.
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• Camera movement
• Improper focus
• Insufficient shutter speed

Is your shutter speed too slow? Are you smoothly and accurately panning with the action? Are your hands shaking? Did you drink too much coffee? Are you shaking from the cold? Are you practicing good handheld technique? Have you tried a monopod?

4. "…none of my shots look as good as the ones in the sports forum?" Ask questions. No one started out taking great pictures. If you're a silver member or above you can post images (in accordance with the Terms of Use) and get advice. We all have tricks we use in certain situations, but they often apply to specific situations, and there's often more than one way to accomplish your goal.

OK. Go out there and take some shots. Let us know how it goes.

Technical Background

Now, as promised, here's some background that may be of help to our SLR users who want to take advantage of their wide assortment of available features:

As with all photography, there are three things that can greatly help the quality of your photos:

1. Light
2. Knowledge of your subject
3. Knowledge of your camera and lens(es)

Light More light means three things, all of which are good when shooting fast moving objects: 1. Your camera/lens combination can focus faster 2. You can use faster shutter speeds to freeze the action 3. You can use shallower depth of field to isolate your subject

Less light means three things, all of which are bad:

1. Your camera/lens combination will take longer to focus
2. You may have to use slower shutter speeds
3. You just plain might not have enough light to get good pictures

In order to continue, I'm going to have to digress at this point into a discussion of aperture.

Aperture

The lens apertures (referred to as f-stops) are the result of dividing the focal length over the actual diameter of the lens aperture, therefore a useful reference to the amount of light hitting your film or image sensor. Newcomers to photography will find some confusion when they realize that "better" lenses have "lower" f numbers. As long as we're talking sports, let's just compare this to the game of golf. The winner is the golfer who posts the lowest score.

You will often hear lenses referred to as "fast" or "slow." So-called "fast lenses" have apertures like f/2 and f/2.8. "Slow lenses" will have apertures of f/4 or f/5.6. If you want to shoot sports or action, especially in low light, fast lenses are your friends. They are, however, more expensive than their slower brethren. Ferraris cost more than Volkswagens, and there's a reason for it.

Further explanation of apertures and f-numbers are beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say that the larger number (e.g. f/5.6) lets in less light than the smaller number (e.g. f/2.8) in a given amount of time. For sports and action, smaller numbers are generally your friend.

But, beware —what appears to be plenty of light to the human eye can be woefully inadequate to your camera/lens combo. This is true both indoors and outdoors.
This inevitably brings me to an associated point, namely autofocus.

Autofocus

Cameras are either manual or autofocus. Some cameras have autofocus but can be used in a manual focus manner. For some types of photography this is desirable but for sports and action autofocus is generally your friend. There are, however, a somewhat befuddling array of autofocus types, modules, and implementations.

If a camera has an autofocus module it will help, but you'll still need to understand how to use it, and what its limitations are.

For instance, Nikon's Multi-CAM 900 autofocus module (found in the F/N80, D100, and D70, among others) is good. The D2H, D2Hs, and D2X each have the Multi-CAM 2000 autofocus module, which is much better. Nevertheless, the Multi-CAM 900 module can help you take great pictures. I know — I've done it. (Well, at least I think they're good pictures).


So what happens after the camera finally gets enough light to decide what it needs to tell the lens to do in order to correctly focus?

Ah, good question, and just at the right time.

There are two ways in which a lens can be autofocused: screw-driven and Silent Wave Motor (SWM). In the screw-driven scenario there's a tiny little screwdriver that protrudes from the camera's lens mount into the flange of the lens. The camera turns this screw in order to focus the lens. A powerful motor to turn the screw can accomplish the job faster, which is important when your kid is running all over the field. Less powerful motors will take longer.

Then there's SWM. In this case the camera sends an electrical signal via the contacts between the camera and lens in order to focus the lens. Since electricity travels faster than anything can turn a screw, this is faster than screw-driven autofocus.

A related acronym is AF-S. AF simply means autofocus, and S stands for SWM, which stands for Silent Wave Motor (tired of acronyms yet? Confused? Try this).
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A fast lens like the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor looks like an alphabet soup of descriptors but it sports (no pun intended) the features that make it a joy for use in action photography and many other subjects as well. An alternative is something like the 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF. It's considered slow for two reasons – small variable apertures and it's screw-driven. Nevertheless, the 70-300mm Nikkor can produce fine pictures of sports and action subjects in good light (I used it with a Nikon N80). It's also a fine choice for other types of photography and much smaller, much lighter, and much less expensive.

Hey, what was that about "small variable apertures?" I notice that the 70-200mm has a single f number, but the 70-300mm has a range. Is that the same thing? What does that mean?

Well, it means that the 70-200mm has a maximum f number (aperture) of 2.8 over all of its focal lengths (70-200mm). The 70-300mm has a maximum of f/4 at 70mm, but by the time you get to 300mm the maximum aperture is only f/5.6. The 70-200mm is "fast" everywhere (can collect more light in a given period of time), whereas the 70-300mm is somewhat slower, and gets even slower as you zoom in.

Cost being a major factor, many people opt for something like the 70-300mm rather than the 70-200mm for field sports. Children are expensive in and of themselves. Buying special photographic equipment to take pictures of them can break your budget. Be reasonable with both your budget and your photographic expectations.

And, don't forget that when you are shooting children in a sport environment, parents are just as thrilled to see strong close-ups of their child with very little "motion" such as sitting on the bench, as they are with the action shots. Those "slower" lenses will be more than up to that task.

Photography, alas, is not an inexpensive hobby.
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Single servo and continuous servo autofocus Single servo autofocus will only allow you to take a shot when it's in focus. This may sound like a good thing, but many wildlife and sports photographers use continuous servo autofocus priority for the following reason – the camera will constantly update the focus after it's been acquired if you hold the shutter button halfway down. Thus, as your subject moves closer and further away, focus will be maintained. This is usually set by a small switch on the front of the camera near the lens mount. Look for a switch with "C", "S" and "M" options.

Film

If you're shooting film this may help

The voice of a great veteran

Listen to the Nikonians Behind the Lens podcast -live interview- Jason Odell (of Image Doctors) did with Rich Clarkson, the internationally recognized sports photographer.

Rich Clarkson's 50 year career as a sports photographer has resulted in some of the most memorable and recognizable images to appear as covers on Sports Illustrated and he has the enviable credentials of having held the title of photography director and senior assistant editor for the National Geographic Society.

The interview includes Clarkson's version of having been in the right place —at the right time — for a sports story that eventually became the topic of a critically acclaimed motion picture "Glory Road."

The podcast link is this, and while you download it (10.6MB) you may want to see a gallery of Rich Clarkson's work here.

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