Digital Sports Photography: Take Winning Shots Every Time

Chapter 1. The Wide World of Sports Photography

Sports fans and photographers are, individually, two of the most passionate groups of people you'll ever find Combine these two, and you've got a recipe for obsession — a lifetime of getting close to the action, capturing life at its most dramatic, and sharing it with the world.

For a sports photographer focused on shooting an event, there's nothing else in the world that matters more than what he or she is seeing and experiencing at that moment. For the professional photographer, sometimes it means shooting a sport you don't necessarily know well. For example, professional photographers at the Olympic Games often get assigned to two or three different sports every day and must quickly learn the key things to see and shoot, whether it's kayaking, equestrian jumping, javelin throwing, or ski jumping. However, while these photographers may not have a driving passion for some of the individual sports they shoot, they typically became sports photographers because of their passion for sports overall.

Let's look at digital sports photography overall: what it means to shoot sports events, how sports photographers (whether amateur or pro) integrate with an event, and the importance of knowing the sport you're documenting. In addition, this chapter looks at the types of equipment you may be using or will need to use for best results, and it reviews ...