Sports Photography

People who work on the field and sidelines of NFL games are often in harm's way from players crashing around and off the field during plays, but occasionally, it is a flying ball that causes trouble. One veteran cameraman showed off his toughness recently when a Nick Folk field goal came down directly on his head. 

After 16 typhoons, three landslides, two major road closures, a frightening earthquake, and countless near-misses, the ocean finally exploded into life for daredevil surfers in Kyushu, south-west Japan. I was there to capture it all with my Canon EOS R5.

There are plenty of articles to give you the basics on how to shoot soccer or baseball, but what about sporting events that are a little more unusual, such as parkour or rock climbing? Here are a number of tips that might well carry over to lots of other different shooting scenarios.

Sports photography is a challenging genre that requires fast reactions and solid technique, but it can also be a ton of fun and can yield jaw-dropping action images. If you are looking to improve your sports images, check out this great video tutorial that offers five helpful tips to take better shots. 

High-end sports photography typically involves a combination of expensive camera bodies with even more expensive lenses. What compromises are involved when capturing fast-moving action using equipment that doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars?

Formula 1 photography requires some specialist gear, and the equipment used during post-production by this seasoned professional is fascinating, allowing him to deliver images as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I may have accidentally ruined my enjoyment of baseball. Whereas I normally watch games in 1080p, seeing how good they look in ultra-high definition has made me forever envious that I can't watch them at that resolution all the time. See just how good sports look when filmed in 8K on the Canon EOS R5.

One of the most important things about photography is that it records moments in time so they are never forgotten by future generations. It also provides evidence that things actually happened. These incredible images from last week's monster ocean swells in Hawaii show why photography is so important in documenting history. 

“I just remember feeling weightless and it taking a really long time to come down." What came next for surf photographer Ryan Moss wasn't pretty. He's now in a hospital bed in Honolulu. To see exactly what happened in waves never seen before, read on.

It’s fascinating to get an insight into how major sporting events are documented by photographers and perhaps even more so when the stadiums are empty due to COVID. Photographer Paul Rutherford talks you through game day, from gear to workflow and where he positions himself.

Creating a panning shot that has a nice blurry background thanks to a slow shutter speed tends to be a combination of skill and luck at the best of times. However, how can you maximize the number of sharp images and how should you focus? This in-depth video gives you all the details.

Some photography is gated behind the physical requirements of keeping up with the subjects, and unsurprisingly, action adventure photography is one of those genres.

As more and more photographers move to mirrorless camera systems, it is important to test and get some hands-on experience to see if a specific camera body will meet your average work flow. There are a lot of impressive new mirrorless cameras hitting the market but are they the right upgrade for you?

The R5 is an incredible camera, but there are still some question marks. One, for example, is how useful the electronic shutter really is, in difficult scenarios like bird photography or sport.

With COVID-19, fans have been wondering for quite some time just when sports would come back and what they might look like. Now, we are starting to see several professional sports preparing to start their modified regular seasons, but how are sports photographers being affected by these new changes?

What will sports look like without an audience this year? Renowned sports photography Andy Bernstein is going to be part of the NBA COVID-19 bubble, and he's going to share it with us.

Sigma are walking the line of affordable and high quality again, this time with a long telephoto lens for Sony E and L-Mount.

We've seen plenty of portraits, fashion, and family shots done remotely throughout quarantine, but what about taking it up a notch? Check out these FaceTime portraits taken of Boston Red Sox baseball players!

When an idea goes beyond what is possible, sometimes you need to create your own reality. Learn how the photographer for and NHL team got below the ice for a fresh perspective and created some very cool portraits.

This is undoubtedly a crazy time for photographers. There's no work, and we can't stretch our creative muscles as often as we're used to. How are the pros coping? Many pro photographers are using their photography skills to create something they'd never normally have time to do, and the results are remarkable. 

Are you catching up on your editing backlog? Before you start doing any work on your next gallery, take a look at these tips for creating the best possible result in your post-processing.

Weather sealing has been an anxiety of mine over the years (before I became a studio bunny) and I was never sure how far I could push it. A few weeks ago I decided to find out by shooting in the rain for two hours.

It looks like the worldwide pandemic has finally hit the biggest sports and photography event of the year, as the international Olympic Committee is looking at rescheduling the 2020 Summer Olympics. With this news, the big camera and lens companies may be looking at their newly announced, but as yet unreleased models, and could be wondering if waiting out the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 virus is the most viable idea.

I recently returned from 10 days of camping in the Swiss mountains, having just taken one of my favorite climbing images. As is often the case, it was another lesson in humility: sometimes, you need the person in your photograph to tell you what you’re doing wrong. Here’s how it came about.

While strolling aimlessly along downtown streets this weekend, doing a bit of photography just for fun, I was reminded of one of the reasons I fell in love with photography in the first place. I was also reminded that this simple reason still provides benefits, both professionally and personally.

The two heavyweights when it comes to flagship sports and wildlife cameras are the Sony a9 II and the recently released Canon 1D X Mark III. The ability of the autofocus to track a subject is critical, so how do the two compare when placed side by side?

We've teamed up with 49ers photographer Terrell Lloyd and Datacolor to talk about Lloyd's prolific career as a sports photographer and the importance of accurate colors in sports and action images.

From rodeo, to baseball, to lacrosse, to soccer, sports photography is an incredibly varied genre with something in it for almost everybody. If you are looking to improve your sports images, you should definitely watch this video in which a seasoned sports photographer critiques a vast range of images and offers a ton of helpful tips and advice.

As the bells chimed to bring in the new year, we said sayonara to the second decade of this century. And didn’t we see some iconic sports moments during that time? Here are 20 of the best.  

Josh Allen has been dazzling Buffalo Bills fan all year with his play on the field, but now, he is famous for another reason after his selfie photo in front of screaming fans has been displayed at an art gallery in Buffalo, NY.

The winners of the 5th Red Bull Illume action sports photo contest have just been announced. Just as in previous years the images are an excellent example of what the sports and adventure genres of photography are capable of. 

Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins missed the last play of his first NFL victory this past Sunday. The reason? He was taking selfies with fans in the stands. 

A photographer was knocked unconscious at a recent football match in Atlanta which quickly made the news. What the news didn't say is she still got the shot, like a boss.

As jarring as it is to acknowledge, we all die. And the manner in which we die is something that many of us have probably contemplated at different times over our lives. For legendary photographer and publisher Allen Margolis, he passed away doing what he loved with those he loved.

So, what did you photograph in the last seven days? What, you didn’t shoot anything in the previous week? Nothing? Too many times, I hear: “there is nothing interesting to photograph” or “I’ve already photographed everything around me.” Well, to me, that means you just aren’t trying hard enough.

The recent Bears and Saints game had a dramatic moment when Cordarrelle Patterson ran a kickoff back 102 yards for a touchdown, made all the more impressive by the expert operation of and unique perspective from the Skycam.

While Typhoon Hagibis was causing destruction across Japan recently, some adrenaline junkies decided to go surfing at one of the country's most mythical big wave locations. I was there to capture these incredible scenes.

Shimoda Designs made a big entrance into the adventure outdoor camera bag market with its original Explore series. Since then there has been a lot of competition from both new designers and industry leaders. Not to be outdone Shimoda is back with a new evolution of their previous bag with the Action X series. 

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is being heaped with praise by fans online over the way he handled accidentally knocking a photographer to the ground. In a clip from the game, he is seen helping her up, and later private messaged her through her social pages to check she was OK.

Canon recently launched the successor to the EOS M6 with the aptly named EOS M6 Mark II. It's a seemingly innocent camera that looks almost exactly like its predecessor but is packed with very significant upgrades inside. 

With technology advancing, watching sports becomes more exciting each year, but it's quite possible that this time, the event organizers at the world track and field championships in Qatar have gone too far!

Traditionally, professional sports photographers use top-level cameras with low-to-medium resolution, as these cameras typically have the fastest frame rates, which are needed to capture professional athletes in action. But with Sony putting fast burst rates even in their higher-resolution cameras, sports photographers can now have the best of both worlds. This great video discusses using a Sony a7R IV for NFL football photography.

I mostly shoot non-ball type of sports like surfing, sailing, skate, motocross, and of course, my favorite the Monster Energy Supercross series.

Whether you’re making the switch or just starting out with the Sony Alpha mirrorless system, sports photographers will want to watch this video that examines which lenses are worth your while to kit up with.

FUJIFILM just sent over their $6,000 200mm f/2 lens. I was planning to shoot a sporting event with it, but I decided to do something a little different. 

If you’re wondering whether to treat yourself to Sony’s new 600mm f/4 GM lens, you probably want to check out this hands-on video from Jared Polin. If a $13,000 lens isn’t for you, you might simply want to see how much of a difference the autofocus tracking on the Sony a9 can make when shooting sports.

Some of the highest performing cars, up close and personal. Formula 1 recently released a video to give us a track-side glimpse of what it's like to photograph these cars week-in and week out. Photographer Vladimir Rys was also kind of enough to share some of his images to help illustrate what they capture.

There is no way to stay on top of your creative game if your body is falling apart. The wear and tear of shlepping gear up 4 flights of stairs, down alleys and packing, repacking and packing again takes its toll on our bodies. Here’s a few ideas, tips and tricks to help you work until freelancers get good healthcare….