If people are constantly complimenting the superior shots you've snapped of your soccer-playing son and the dramatic photos taken at your daughter's diving competition, you might want to consider a job in digital youth sports photography.
About Digital Youth Sports Photography
Many parents experience stress when trying to capture their child's winning moves on the court, on the field or in the pool. Action photography is an art, which is perfected with a great deal of practice. Parents, who are inexperienced at snapping their little leaguer on the move, may not always be pleased with their results. This is the main reason professional youth sports photographers are in such high demand.
Tips for Burgeoning Youth Sports Photographers
If you have a passion for sports photography, the right equipment, and you don't mind spending a copious amount of time marketing your skills, then you might have a future in digital youth spots photography.
The following tips are designed to help you turn your passion into profit:
Shutter Speed
High shutter speed is critical when it comes to taking action shots. The absolute slowest speed you will employ is one 500th of a second, which will enable you to capture the average line tackle or pole vault. For lightning fast motion, you will want speeds of one 1000th of a second or higher. For example, a typical fast baseball pitch at the high school level averages about 90 miles per hour. In order to capture the ball in mid-air, you will need a shutter speed of one 4000th. Knowing the importance of high shutter speed will allow you to better determine the type of digital camera you'll need in order to capture vivid action photos.
Lighting
High-speed shutter translates in a higher ISO. This means lighting is critical. Generally, stadiums will be well lit. However, high-intensity stadium lights often washout color and yield unwanted glare and high-contrast shadows. To avoid running into lighting issues, it's a good idea to have a light tool on your digital camera such as a histogram. The histogram's sensor will give you a good read on light levels, thereby allowing you to adjust the ISO on the spot.
Lenses
Having a telephoto lens is a must when shooting youth sporting events. It will prove invaluable, especially when you are covering games where you are not allowed on the field and you don't have a front-row seat. You might think you can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but superior digital sports shots are taken with a proper telephoto.
Cutting-Edge Equipment
If you are planning to turn your passion into a moneymaking venture, it's important to invest in professional-grade equipment. These days almost all professional youth sports photographers shoot with cutting-edge digital cameras. This is a bonus for parents, who don't own digital photo equipment, in that it provides them with high quality images of their young athletes in action.
By shooting with high-tech digital equipment, you will be able to display your images on a website. This allows parents easy access to photos of their son scoring the game-winning touchdown or their daughter hitting her first homerun. What's more, with digital photo technology, moms, dads and other family members can view and purchase prints online, often within hours of the sporting event. This translates into more sales for you.
Popular Youth Sports Photography Companies
If you are looking to make a profession from capturing young all-stars in action, then consider reviewing examples taken by top-notch youth sports photographers:
Practice Makes Perfect
Documenting little leaguers, pint-sized swimmers and super soccer players in action can be a daunting task even for advanced shooters. The slightest mistake can ruin a shot. On the flipside, sporting events yield many dramatic moments so you often get multiple chances to capture high-impact shots. The key to snapping exceptional photos is to be patient and practice whenever possible. Being at the right place at the right time with the right equipment will help you get the money shots you are looking for.
