Sports Photography

When outlets can fill galleries with “credit-only” submissions, quality drops, prices crater, and working shooters quietly burn out. I’ve been part of the problem. Here’s why I’m done working for free—and how I’m building paid alternatives that serious shooters can copy without burning bridges.

For years, a favorite working lens as a community photojournalist was the Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR.

By the time I pack up my monopod and walk off the field on a Saturday, my memory cards are loaded with a thousand frames. By Sunday morning, parents are already texting to ask when the gallery goes up. That’s the job: move fast, stay consistent, and tell the story of the game without spending the rest of the week dragging sliders. That’s why I shoot JPEG—on purpose, not by accident, not because I don’t know what Raw can do, but because the work I do doesn’t require me to excavate shadows five stops deep. It requires timing, clear color, and a fast delivery.

The first time the R7 choked on a third-and-short, I felt it in my chest. I was on the sideline, ten yards ahead of the play, finger down, trusting the tiny motor under my thumb to keep up with a world that had just gone from strolling to sprinting. Five… six… seven frames in and the picture flow hiccupped—the stream turned to a stutter—and my running back chose that half-second to change direction and break a tackle. I have a folder full of the prelude and not the punchline. With my old 6D, the pace was honest and simple: a handful of frames per second and an optical viewfinder that never lied. The R7 is a hummingbird by comparison—faster, sharper, with extra reach that feels like cheating—until it teaches you that speed without rhythm is just noise.

Tell most sports shooters you’re covering a football game with a 100mm macro and they’ll smile politely, the way you smile at someone who swears by decaf. But youth football isn’t the NFL. The field is smaller, the pace is choppier, and the best stories live within arm’s length of the sideline. In that environment—under sun, not stadium lamps—the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro on a Canon 6D is a secret weapon.

Anyone who’s ever dropped a lens knows the sound—the crunch of glass, the instant nausea, the sinking thought of money disappearing in shards. But what happened in Cleveland during today’s Wild Card matchup takes that familiar dread and multiplies it by six figures.

Eleven years ago, I bought the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L (non-IS). It wasn’t the lens most people in sports photography recommended. It didn’t have the aura of the f/2.8 — the sideline king, the badge of seriousness, the one that whispers “pro” when you sling it over your shoulder.

The best baseball photographs don’t always happen when the crowd is standing and the lights buzz a little hotter. Sometimes the picture you keep is the one that smells like rosin and bubblegum—the quiet breath between pitches when the game is thinking about what it wants to be next.

In a recent video for B&H’s On Deck: Sports and Storytelling series, one of my favorite sports photographers and Sony Artisan of Imagery Jean Fruth shares how she consistently captures dynamic baseball images.

The opening round of the 2025 US Open was supposed to be a routine night of tennis. Instead, it turned into one of the wildest scenes the sport has witnessed in years, complete with a photographer on the court, a furious Daniil Medvedev berating the chair umpire, and Benjamin Bonzi somehow surviving the chaos to win in five sets.

With every new generation of camera producing larger files and higher bitrates, the demand for faster transfer speeds is relentless. Now, with Apple's M4 Pro and M4 Max chips ushering in the new Thunderbolt 5 standard, the goalposts have moved once again. Can the OWC Envoy Ultra deliver the next step-change in portable drive speeds?

Kevin Jairaj has been the Official Photographer for the College Football Playoff National Championship since its inception in 2015 and has become sought after for sports, weddings, and events in London; Trinidad and Tobago; the Bahamas; the USA; and, especially, his home state of Texas. Kevin has covered multiple Super Bowls and the Olympics. He shares why double exposures aren't artful, why panning skill is essential, and which standard piece of gear is "obsolete."

As Super Bowl LIX approaches, Sony is set to play a major role in capturing the spectacle with an extensive array of cameras and technology.

Get an inside look at what it takes to cover an MLS soccer match at the Seattle Sounders, featuring Sony's flagship a9 III global shutter full frame mirrorless camera, and the PDT-FP1, an all-new portable data transmitter for creators.

The countdown to the Olympic Games is on, and the world shifts focus to the multi-sport event which takes place in Paris this summer. From athletics to equestrian to diving, we explore the best and most versatile lenses for sports photography and crown the best camera body and lens combination for the job.

When you're shooting sports, knowing the game is key. It's about anticipating the action and being ready to capture those peak moments. Timing is everything, and the better you know the sport, the more consistently you'll make great pictures.

Have you ever flipped through an REI catalog with a twinge of despair, or gazed with more questions than answers at the DICK’s Sporting Goods billboard? Perhaps you’ve wondered who shot those jobs and how they got the contract? Standing in the camping section, you suddenly realize why the 20-year-old employee is looking at you oddly. You have been staring at the billboard for who knows how long in a state of perplexed despair. Articles that line your LinkedIn feed extol the value of “networking,” but who to network with and how to gain access to these gatekeepers didn't come attached. You want a shot, but you don’t seem to be able to get your hands on that opportunity. If that description hits home, and if you are a female, you want to read on about the Peak Design & The Roam Collective Photography Scholarship.

Even a lot of the people who purchased the new Leica Q3 might not be aware of a feature this camera has that can greatly expand your creative possibilities for using flash. Within the Q3’s beautiful magnesium alloy body lies a secret hidden in plain sight.

In 2019, I wrote about how I would never quit full-frame DSLRs. Back then, I complained about mirrorless cameras for wonky bodies and mediocre autofocus. Today, I’m eating crow.

The announcement of the Sony a9 III set the photography world alight with excitement as it became the first camera to feature a global shutter. In this video from Julia Trotti, she puts the camera through its paces in a sports environment. Let's see how she gets on.

There has been constant talk about the new OM System OM-1 Mark II in Micro Four Thirds Facebook groups since it was first announced. So, is this new flagship camera worth the upgrade?

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp experienced a mix of emotions following his team's significant victory in the English Premier League. His elation quickly turned to concern when he realized he had misplaced his wedding ring during the post-match festivities on Monday, buried somewhere in the grass of the massive pitch. 

In the world of sports photography, capturing the perfect moment often comes with its risks, as vividly illustrated during Sunday's NFL game at MetLife Stadium. While the New York Jets and Washington Commanders battled it out on the field, a photographer, engrossed in capturing the intense action, experienced an unexpected hazard of the job.

Nikon’s mirrorless lens lineup is slowly but surely growing, but a good lens selection can’t rely on only first-party offerings. Other manufacturers matter greatly. The new Tamron 150-500mm is a welcome addition to the Z mount, with its long telephoto range, decent aperture, and compact size.

Have you ever walked by a beauty image on the shelf at ULTA or scrolled by a brilliant shot on Instagram and thought: “I want to make images like that”? Or perhaps you are a photographer who saw a picture and thought: “I could have shot that better!” You have the skills, but you don’t know how to break into the commercial market. In this article, I’ll share about how to break into the market and disclose tips and tricks to succeed in the commercial photography space.

Almost all of us have broken a piece of camera gear at some point and felt our hearts sink as we looked at thousands of dollars on the ground. However, I doubt any of us have broken gear as expensive as these shattered lenses. 

When it comes to sports portraits and action photography, employing a bit of artificial light can make a huge difference by giving you the ability to shape the look of the frame and add a lot of drama to the image. If you are ready to get started working with artificial light in your sports action portraiture, check out this excellent video tutorial that will give you a range of helpful tips and advice sure to put you on the right track. 

It takes years of practice to become good at sports photography. Basketball, for example, is fast-paced, with frequent turnovers. When covering a game, you need to be attentive to all of the action happening on the court. But even if you photograph all of the crucial plays, something may be missing from your coverage. This article will help you understand the variety of potential shots at a basketball game and what you need to do to ensure that you capture them properly.

Have you ever seen the camera pan across the photographers during the World Cup and wondered: "How did they get that job? What is that lens they're shooting with?" Well, Fstoppers, I have all the answers for you. I had the privilege to chat with Ammar Hassan, who covered not one, but four World Cup championships, and he was gracious to tell us all about what it's like to photograph the world's most watched sporting event. 

Lens makers these days are coming up with some incredible options that were unheard of just a few short years ago. That continues here, with the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 lens put up against the Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 in a battle for the title of best wildlife lens. You could also make a case for it being an action sports lens shootout too. So, how do they perform, and which comes out on top?

That's what one of the internet's most popular photographers and reviewers said about the rumored specs on the Canon EOS R5 II, due for release in 2023. Take a look inside to see why he made such a huge statement.

Canon has just released the new Canon EOS R6 Mark II, and it looks like a rather impressive camera. Check out these first impressions to see if this new, upgraded model is a genuine step-up and worth your money.

If you want to know how good your camera is, pushing its abilities as far as they will go is the way to find out. Combining speed, vibration, and low light stretches its photographic capabilities, and flying mud, rain, and thick fog help too.

It's been a fair while coming, but Canon's new EOS R7 is getting some rave reviews. This reviewer says it's been a "runaway success," so see what all the fuss is about.

"Game-changer" is an oft-used buzzword these days, but seldom does the product live up to the hype. See why this photographer is adamant the new Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD lens is indeed a game-changer.

Sigma describes this lens as its "flagship" lens, but how does it perform in the hands of an independent reviewer? Take a look and find out if it lives up to the hype.

Photographing cars and motorsport is a unique and exhilarating genre of photography, here are 5 good reasons you should try it.

It's a video that has reverberated around the world, with close to 700k views. Now, the true story behind the driver of the boat has come to light.

How do you get “the shot”? The saliva spewing out, as a fighter gets the decisive knockout blow. The sprinters desperately leaning forward in to gain the winning inch as they cross the finish line. The water tracing the swimmer's face as they come up gasping for air. Sporting events happen so fast, and even if you make the most of your camera's impressive burst rate, it takes a lot more to nail your sports photos. These are three pillars I always lean on to create savage sports imagery.

Part of being an action sports photographer is getting as close as possible to the thrills happening right before you. But how close is too close? See two famous surf photographers come perilously close to losing it all in deathly surf recently.

During the May 16 Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game, Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta turned on a Craig Kimbrel fastball, lifting it for a home run over the right field fence. Unfortunately, the ball came down on the head of a camera operator standing on top of the outfield wall. 

Mark Thompson is a Getty Images photographer with over 25 years of experience covering F1 races, including Red Bull Racing. I spoke with him to gain insight into what it is like to cover this competition.

The Nikon Z-series has a highly impressive firmware update coming, particularly for the Z9. Version 2.0 turns Z9 into a videography and sports photography titan, and if you have any interest in using it for either of those (or a great many other uses), you're going to want to check this out.