Taking a Position

One of the keys to taking great action photos is getting a favorable vantage point. Some locations just lend themselves to better viewpoints and improved photographic opportunities. Gain access to the pit at an auto race, and you'll not only get incredible photos of cars on the track, but you'll be able to capture the excitement of the crew servicing a dusty, steaming hot vehicle that pauses just long enough for a picture or two before peeling back out to the competition. (This assumes you know how to stay out of the way of the professionals!)

Of course, at professional sports events you probably won't have much choice about where you position yourself unless you have press credentials. College games are big business, too, so you may run into restrictions there as well. (An amateur photographer doesn't have a prayer of getting down on the field at a Big 10 football game.) However, once you lower your expectations a notch, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to gain a prime location (again, remembering to stay out of the way of the press photographers who are covering the event professionally). I've taken pictures at women's professional fast-pitch softball games, grabbed next-to-dugout seats at AA-class minor league baseball contests, shot lower-division college football, basketball, and soccer, and the whole range of high school sports with nary a problem.

The following sections offer some sports-specific tips for gaining position.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Football games are a lot of fun to shoot, but they're typically full of fans who are eager to beat you up if you obscure their view. In smaller stadiums, the impatient folks are likely to be close enough to do some damage, too. Your best bet is to keep moving, which is a good idea anyway because there is no telling when a 200-pound receiver might head for the sidelines after a catch in order to stop the clock.

My recommendation for football is to get down on the sidelines and take your pictures 10 to 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. It doesn't really matter if you're in front of the line of scrimmage or behind it. You can get great pictures of a quarterback dropping back for a pass, as in Figure 5.21, handing off, or taking a tumble into the turf when he's sacked. Or, downfield, you can grab some shots of a fingertip reception, or, if you're lucky, a back breaking through for a long run. Move to the end zones when appropriate, to catch the fullback bulling over from the one-yard line, or the kicker lining up for a field goal.

Figure 5.21. The sidelines are the best place to capture exciting football action.

Soccer to Me

Soccer is a lot like football, at least photographically. The fans are less belligerent too, except in Europe or at elementary/middle schools. As with football, you can follow the action up and down the sidelines, or position yourself behind the goal. At that end of the field you'll be concentrating on one team's fullbacks and goalie and the other team's wings and strikers. If the game is a bit one-sided, you may even find yourself spending most of your time in a single position, then changing to the other end of the field after halftime. Well-played soccer can range all over the field, but a really dominant team may spend most of the game on offense. The most exciting action typically takes place around the goal, as you can see in Figure 5.22.

Figure 5.22. A lot of soccer action is clustered around the goal.

Take Me out to the Ball Game

It's fun to watch a baseball game from behind home plate, but that's not always the best place to shoot, unless the pitcher is a personal friend of yours. The netting typically used as a backstop can diffuse your photos a bit (although with a long lens the barrier will largely be out of focus). A better position is to find a niche at the ends of the dugouts. I prefer the first base side, because much of the action takes place at home plate, at first base, or in right field. From that position you can swivel quickly to grab a shot of a runner sliding home, show the pitcher winding up (or eyeing the runner on first), or snap a picture of a steal at second base.

On the first base side, right-handed pitchers will have their backs to you as they wind up, but will be more visible during/after their delivery. With southpaws, the situation is reversed. Figure 5.23 shows a pitcher trying to pick off a runner at first base.

Figure 5.23. Keep your eye on the pitcher and grab a shot of him trying to pick off the runner on first base.

You can also get interesting pictures from the upper stands at a professional baseball game, if you're willing to settle for human interest shots of the fans, or have a really, really long telephoto lens.

Nothing but Net

You won't spend a lot of time racing up and down the sidelines at a basketball game. While lots of interesting things can happen in the backcourt (particularly on defense), most of the attention focuses on a single spot, the basket. So, the best locations are clustered behind or next to the backboard, or from the sides near the baselines, as shown in Figure 5.24.

Figure 5.24. Either the basket or sidelines are the best locations to capture basketball action

The biggest challenge of shooting basketball is avoiding clichéd photographs of guys and gals with their arms up in the air. Remain at eye-level. Most high angles make your photographs resemble screen shots from an NBA-themed video game, while low angles can give you photographs that are 90% legs, given the height of most basketball players. If you're stuck in the stands, look for a seat in the second or third row. However, if you're blessed with a long lens, feel free to move up high and shoot down on the rim of the hoop. All the players will be looking up at the hoop and will stretch their arms towards you. You can get great pictures from a high angle if you've got a lens that can capture the action.

Goony Golf

Golf is probably the most unsports-like of sports this side of bowling. In what other sport are the athletes almost totally surrounded by a gallery of spectators, yet insist on absolute silence from the thronging multitudes as they work? My earliest golf photography involved following Arnold Palmer around the course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, trying to capture human interest shots while not riling Arnie's Army. My best picture was of a woman struck by one of Palmer's shots. She remained in place, frozen, afraid to move and ruin his lie.

For certain, you should disable your digital camera's phony shutter click sound, and hunt down and destroy any autofocus or autoexposure beeps. Don't even think about shooting a picture during a golfer's swing. My Minolta camera plays a cheerful musical chime when switched on that has earned me sharp glances from time to time. Tip: If you can't disable your camera's "boot" sounds, configure the camera so the automatic shutoff doesn't occur for 30 minutes or so, minimizing the number of times you'll need to turn it on. At the same time, turn the LCD preview off to increase your battery life. Your power will be taxed by leaving the camera on for 30 minutes at a time, and the LCD is the big juice glutton.

Cameras with a swiveling lens (like my Nikon CoolPix) are great for stealth photography at golf matches, because you can hold the camera at waist level (or lower, as in Figure 5.25) and innocently glance down at the LCD display to frame your photograph.

Figure 5.25. Don't take pictures during a golfer's swing, but a cordial duffer may let you take a picture as he or she lines up for a putt.  

Other Sports

Apply a little common sense and you can find the right position for every sport imaginable, from lacrosse to curling. Here are some quick tips for a few of the more popular activities (which does not include lacrosse or curling).

• Hockey can look good from a high vantage point, because an elevated view lets you shoot over the glass, and the action contrasts well with the ice.
• Skating. Although figure skating also takes place on the ice, you'll find low angles and upclose perspectives work best. For ice racing, try to position yourself to catch the skaters going around a turn when they're at their most dramatic.
• Professional Wrestling. Unless you have a ringside seat and are prepared to dodge flying chairs, wrestling is often best photographed from a high, hockey-like perspective.
• Gymnastics. Look for shots of the athlete approaching a jump or particularly difficult maneuver, or perhaps attempting a challenging move on the parallel bars or rings.
• Swimming. With the athletes immersed in water most of the time, the best position is either from one side or another so you can shoot several swimmers across the lanes, or head on as they approach the finish or a turn.
• Track and field events are all different, and all exciting. You might want to be under the bar at the pole vault; right in the path of a long jumper (but a few yards behind the sand pit and out of the jumper's field of vision); next to the starting blocks of the 100-meter dash; and not even in the same Zip code as a discus hurler. Exactly how close you can be and where you will be allowed to stand will depend on the nature of the event and the level of the competition. (For example, at middle school events you may be able to get quite close to the action as long as you assure the officials that you're not a parent.)
• Motor sports. If you're up to the task, try photographing automobile racing, in which the vehicles can move at 100 miles per hour—when they're slowing down to pull into the pit! Or, try motorcycle racing, in which adults recklessly propel their bodies around in close proximity to each other and hot metal at frightening speeds amid clouds of dust and dirt. Your only hope is to capture these machines as they're coming straight at you, or as they round a turn.
• Horse racing. If you've tried motor sports, photographing horse racing will seem calm. The same advice goes, however: Photograph the animals head on or making a turn for the most exciting photos.
• Skiing. For a long course, the finish line may be your only option. Stay near a warm place so you can keep your camera and sensor at a decent temperature. Or tuck the camera inside your coat. Watch out for condensation when a warm camera meets cold humid air suddenly.