NAKGEELA.comAthletics Photography

Taking pictures of track and field athletics with a digital camera is one of the most challenging aspects of sports photography.

The first important point to remember is safety - both for yourself and the athletes. Be careful where you stand so that you do not interfere with the competition. Only go inside the competition area if you have permission from the meeting organiser. Look both ways when crossing the track and ensure you are not in the way of the officials. Remember that athletes will use the track for warming up and not just during races. Be aware of where throwing events are taking place - you do not want to be hit by any thrown implements such as javelins or shots - this will certainly hurt and could result in serious injury or death.

General tips

i) for most events look for tight action shots

ii) isolating individual athletes tends to make for the most dramatic shots

iii) understand any shutter delay that your camera has and learn to anticipate where to focus so that the action is in the right place

Digital SLR tips
i) to use a narrow depth of field to isolate the athlete from the background

ii) use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action - 1/500 second or faster for most events

Today I responded to a post on the Fred Miranda Sports Corner forum. The poster was asking for reviews of his portfolio prior to submitting it to Sportsshooter. One of the photographs is of a triple jumper which I felt suffered from two faults - a busy background and poor framing.

Other athletes and objects such as cones in the background of a photograph cause the eye of the viewer to be distracted from the object of the picture - the athlete. Yes, it is virtually impossible to get a completely clear background at an Athletics meeting, but it is worth changing shooting position and angle to try to minimise any background distractions. If you are using an SLR camera this could also be helped by increasing the aperture to give a narrower depth of field and (depending to some extent on the lens) better bokeh for the background which will ease the distraction.

Framing is a simpler issue - the picture is of a Triple Jumper but the pit is not in the shot and therefore, for me, some of the context of the event is lost.