Hi Everyone

As the outdoor sports and event photography season is in full swing, as a professional event and corporate photographer from Edinburgh, who is regularly involved in event and sports photography around Scotland, I am going to use this blog to provide some general tips on sports photography.  Whilst every sport has its own set of tips, there are some general rules and stipulations and here they are below:

1. Make sure you are in as good a position as you can get, this is the most important tip of the lot. if you are standing in the wrong place, you will get the wrong shot

2. Don't get in the way of the performers ie no flash. in golf don't click until the ball has been struck

3. You will need a long lens, but not as long as you may think ie up to 300mm or 400mm is ok for most sports

4. Try and tell a story, ie it is not always about action shots.  This will often involve using a shorter focal length, so its not always about long lenses.  One of my best sports shots involves the fans - see attached photo

5. Keep trying new angles, kneel down, tilt your camera etc

6. In most cases you will need to use a fast shutter speed, as least 500th, sometimes up to 2000th for fast action

7  Just to contradict this, try panning at a slower speed, for a creative blurred background and some motion effects

8. Learn the sport inside out, this will help your photography and positioning

9. Always prepare for bad weather

10. Take back up gear, but don't over burden yourself with equipment, especially if you are moving about

Hope that helps.

Anyway, until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin Wright

https://www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk/

https://edinburghphotographer.com/