Man is the same animal that stumbles twice on the same stone. And not only does he repeat the same mistake more than once, it is that, in addition, all humans tend to make the same mistakes, right? In photography it happens a bit the same, when we start we all fall into the same mistakes, have you noticed? Surely you do, that is why you are reading this article, because you have noticed that your sports photos are very similar to others that you see and that they do not convince you, or because you have verified that you repeat many times a type of photo that has some fault and you can’t see what it is. Well, you are in the right place. Today I am going to tell you about the most recurrent mistakes that spoil a sports photo, most of them are very, very easy to solve, so when you finish reading this you will not make them again 😉 Shall we bet?
1. Ignore the law of the gaze
One of the most important aspects of photography, sports or not, is composition. What happens, in sports photography, is that the speed with which you have to shoot makes you forget certain “details” like this. Don’t panic, that’s why we’re here, to remind you of the essentials from time to time 😉 One of the most recurrent mistakes in sports, from a compositional point of view, is ignoring the law of the gaze. This rule is the one that recommends that the subject or object have to «breathe» in front, that is, they have to have more space in the direction in which they move or in which they direct their gaze.
2. Send the center of interest to the center
Another very typical error in terms of composition is to place the protagonist in the center of the frame. Now, now… the rush, but if you know the rule of thirds, you will know that what is placed in the center of the image tends to lose interest. Try to place your main element in one of the points called points of interest, as in the following example.
3. Large depth of field
In sport, normally, what matters is the action, not the environment. What’s more, what this can achieve is disturbing and diverting attention. The most appropriate thing is to use an aperture as wide as possible (or what is the same, a small depth of field) so that the background is out of focus. You must be careful because if you want to be able to focus on several athletes that appear in different planes, you will not be able to open the diaphragm to the maximum.
For you to see it more clearly, I give you an example of how a background, if it is not out of focus, spoils the photograph. In the following image, although it is very well taken, the play is not appreciated. There is too much chaos, the players get confused with the public and finding the ball is almost more difficult than finding Wally 😉 Unless what you want is to highlight the fans, which is perhaps the case, open your diaphragm more and highlight the center of interest, the action 😉
4. Shaky photos
Sport is action, movement. For this reason, one of the errors that we find the most when viewing the photos that we have taken at a sporting event are blurred photos. You shoot a cyclist but, of course, he is going so fast that in your image he is shaken. The problem is that you used too slow a speed for that moment, you have to use faster speeds if you want your sharp goal. One idea might be to pan, or on the contrary, go for something more creative and leave the background in focus while your rider moves from side to side of the image. You can think, but if this was a mistake, right? No, the mistake is wanting to photograph it sharp and get it shaky. There are many ways to photograph movement, if you are looking for a specific or creative effect, and you get it, it is not a mistake but a success! 😉
5. Lack of light
In sports photography, as we just discussed, the speeds used to freeze motion are usually very fast. That is why, if there is not too much ambient light, your image may come out dark. You can try a larger aperture or, if this is not possible, raise the ISO value. Be careful not to go too far if you want to avoid noise in the image.
6. Not using the right lenses
If sports photography is your thing, you should know that your ideal lens is one with a long focal length, a telephoto lens (200 mm minimum) and a wide aperture. Yes, it is true, the equipment does not make the photographer, there will be many other factors and aspects that you have to control and manage because the lens will not do all the work, however, it will help you if you know how to use it 😉
7. Do not activate the image stabilizer
And, speaking of lenses, it is also very convenient that the lens has an image stabilizer and that you use it! This is a little button that is often forgotten and whose function is that the picture does not come out so shaken or jerky, something that happens very frequently with long-distance focal lengths. The stabilizer does not work miracles, but something prevents it, so it is better not to lose the camera button in the meantime 😉
8. Pretend to use manual focus mode
If you don’t want to die of despair and get home with some decent photo, with sports, other than chess ;p, forget about the manual approach that we highly recommend in other cases. The action is so fast that manual focus is not possible. Use the autofocus, which is for this type of case.
9. Stand in semi-manual sports mode
It is very good that when necessary you use the semi-manual modes, but planting yourself in them is a huge mistake. The camera will not calculate the necessary adjustments as well as you. It may do it the first few times, when you’re still a fish at this, but as you practice, you learn to adjust your camera with the necessary values for each moment and you can do it infinitely better than her. If you entrust all the work to him, you will neither get impressive results nor have fun.
10. Lack of movement (of the main character)
An athlete is seen to be in motion by the position of her body, however, a car has the same appearance when stationary as when it is moving. In Formula 1, for example, for your photography to be spectacular or at least interesting and not look like something from a car sales catalogue, something very common, you must transmit movement. One way to achieve this would be with a sweep. Observe the difference between the following two images:
11. Do not move (you)
It is also very typical to cover a sporting event from the same place, usually from the place where you are enjoying the show. This is fine if you’re just going to enjoy the event, now if you want to achieve a spectacular photograph, don’t stay in the same place all the time, move. It’s not about moving like the athletes you’ve been to see, but changing position, place, looking from different angles and perspectives to make your photo create an impact. If you stay in the same place, your image will go unnoticed because it will be the same as what your eyes and those of others are already used to. Does the following image not leave you indifferent?
I am sure that, except for error six (here the economy aspect comes into play), you will not make these mistakes again if you practice in a few days. If you don’t, it’s likely that they will be forgotten, and you don’t want that, do you?
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