Each weekend across the land there are sporting events that offer huge picture potential. Local sports, for example soccer and rugby, are far simpler to access than the major stadium events, and they are a fantastic opportunity to master key action techniques and improve your composition.At little, non-professional venues you can shoot from the touchline and get close enough to the action using little more than a 70-300mm telephoto zoom.The weak daylight in the United Kingdom can make it impossible to shoot action successfully at low ISO settings. It’s far better to freeze the action and put up with some noise or grain than have blurred pictures.To stop the action in its tracks, employ a shutter speed of 1/250 sec or faster. Remember, the longer the focal length you are using, the more critical it is to set a quicker shutter speed to deal with the danger of camera shake.Cluttered, distracting backgrounds are one of the most common issues you can face when shooting local sporting events. Classic Problems are parked automobiles, buildings and fences. Walk around the pitch to discover a viewpoint that permits you to take photographs with a clean background. More distant objects are less of a difficulty than those close to the pitch as they are less complicated to chuck out of focus ( beyond depth-of-field ) using a wide aperture, such as f/4 or f/5.6. Finding a focus to get the viewer’s attention is often the key to a successful shot. The expression and effort that is shown on the player’s face could make or break this kind of image.Try and ensure that the ball is visible in shot as it gives the image context; also try to get the player in possession sharp and clear for maximum impact. Accurate composition is not possible, of course, but the better you know the game you are covering, the more you’ll be able to predict what might occur and be in a position to capture it.Why don’t you try a sequence shot while you are at it? Try to shoot in bursts of 4 or five frames per second, rather than setting the camera to launch away speedily.I love photography and I believe digital photography is an art. Taking beautiful pictures is my hobby and my passion. I hope the information you read here will help you take beautiful pictures. Check out my lens, Understanding Digital Photography!
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The Amazing Art of Digital Photography
The art of digital photography may lie in its simplicity.Its not the camera that takes the shot but the photographer and when that photographer has a digital camera it is like a magic wand is to a magician. Taking the photo is simplicity itself because the new equipment does it all for you but getting your head around how to take photos is a wee bit harder. There are endless possibilities and countless angles but now there is no need to worry about F stops or technical stuff so you would think it would be a piece of cake but what do we do? We start worrying that it is so simple we must not be doing it right.I mean how hard can it be? Pick up the camera and click. Anything can be a great photo if you want to turn it into something extra special with editing but instead we spend time trying to take “the perfect shot” and nothing less will do and that may stop us from attempting anything at all until we “get it right”.Once we give away the old concepts of trying to take the perfect shot we will realize that any photo can become the perfect photo given the right circumstances. With the right editing you will find that your boring photo suddenly appears in brilliant color, crystal clear, exciting, resembling something you have aspired to for ages.Key concepts to get right that I have discovered in my quest to learn digital photography are:
Head on out and take lots of photos, this will help you get comfortable with your camera and what it does
Make your photos clear – that means get a camera with built in anti shake or use a tripod
Turn the flash off for most photos as this will distort your subject and give portraits a startled appearance
Move up close to the subject so that it fills the whole frame
Suspend your judgement on what you think will come up great in a photo – an old shoe can make a fantastic work of art and I have taken photos of rocks that have come out absolutely amazing in macro.
Experiment and see how your photos come out and you will find you start to develop a theme and a feel for the direction you want your photography to go in.Learn as you go, do not sit around reading the manual, waiting for the right day, the right opportunity, the perfect angle and use any discarded photos as learning experiences to be edited and enjoyed and enjoy creating and learning new ways of doing things.