Football photos often command great sums of money and are therefore treasured by those that love the sport. The skill of sports photographers is to make these pictures come to life, exuding the aura of the game and its passion. Sports photography encompasses a wide range of activities and angles from training sessions, games and tournaments, all the way through to the aftermath of an important event, such as the World Cup. Here we will examine some of the challenges faced by sports photographers and how they compare to the challenges faced by other media professionals.
Although it has been debated over for years whether sports photography is art or science, there is no doubting the value placed on being able to capture movement, colour and pace. However, many argue that modern technology has taken its logical place alongside all the other arts forms and that modern sports photography is in fact a genre all of its own. Because of this, many sports photographers have begun using advanced tools and techniques. This has included things like shooting in black and white, shooting in a narrow aperture, and the use of white balance. This article looks closely at these topics and how they impact on the field of modern day sports photography.
Black and white photography is a great tool for football photography. This method of photography enables the photographer to pick out the most important highlights of a game or competition, such as a diving header or a fight back. In black and white, there is a greater emphasis on capturing minute details, enabling the photographer to pick out the littlest details that would otherwise be lost in a busy stadium. Black and white photos also have their limitations. As well as looking dull and murky when captured in high definition, they are also very difficult to edit; something that digital photography makes extremely easy.
In order to capture action shots of players and crowds, many photographers choose to use digital cameras and lenses. Digital cameras allow them to take a better look at action scenes, such as football ones. This has made digital football photos much more popular with football fans. There is also no loss of resolution and image quality when transferring the image to a computer.
In addition to using a digital camera, many photographers work with an SLR (single lens reflex) camera so that they can zoom in and focus closer to key areas of action. This makes football photos much more dynamic. The wide lenses of SLRs enable the photographer to capture the action from all angles, something that a compact camera cannot do. In addition to this, a compact camera will often have a shorter shutter speed than a SLR which again makes for an easier to manipulate photograph.
It’s quite common for football scores to feature various players from both teams. For this reason, football photos of this type often feature a wide variety of different poses and positions for the players. Having the crowd cheering and the atmosphere of the game itself can help make football photos even more exciting.