How to Be a Photographer for Skating
If you want to be a professional sports photographer covering skating, you need to make yourself an expert with a camera and with the sport itself. The best skating photos convey a sense of excitement, grace and athleticism, just like the sport itself. Equip yourself with the tools and techniques needed to be a winning photographer, put in the time to learn your craft and you may find yourself with a long-lasting, rewarding career.
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Instructions
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Learn top-notch photography skills. Take photography classes, read books and magazines that teach techniques. Practice photographing everything and anything. Learn basic lighting techniques by taking many photos, using varied locations and poses. Learn digital editing software, so you can properly crop, edit and tweak pictures to improve the final product. Develop and learn to trust your eye as well as your instincts.
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Watch athletes at practice. Read magazines and websites to learn learn everything you can about the sport. Talk to people involved, too, to gain an insider's view. Whether it’s figure skating or skateboarding, understanding the moves, positions, jumps, spins and elements that the athletes, coaches, fans and judges look for and value.
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Focus on shooting awe-inspiring moves that your athlete does best. Spend time with the subject, asking questions and observing interactions with others, to discover what makes the subject a winner. Use that insight to illuminate the subject through your photos. It's not just images taken at practices and competitions, but behind-the-scene, slice-of-life photos, in and outside of the skating environment, that also define the skater.
Another way to capture a skater's essence is to get in close. Use a telephoto lens to capture the person behind the athlete by focusing on candid facial expressions during extreme moments. This, too, helps you stand out from other photographers.
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Build a portfolio. Go to competitions and shoot lots of quality photos. Amass a variety of skaters, poses and types of photos, as in portraits, candids, action and montages, in a portfolio book.
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Market your photos. When your pictures rival those in your favorite skating magazines, get the names of the editors or publishers from the masthead and mail them samples of your skating pictures. Enclose a cover letter with information about yourself as well as a way for your potential buyers to get in touch with you. Set up a meeting to show them your portfolio.
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Send an article along with your pictures. Editors may not need random photos, but they may be short on quick, interesting photo essays with a short piece. If you don’t feel comfortable writing, ask a friend to write a short article to go along with your pictures.
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Listen to your critics. If you’re lucky enough to get feedback on your photos after sending them out, take the advice seriously and learn from it.
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Tips & Warnings
Anticipate jumps and spins for the best action shots.
Use an image stabilization lens to avoid blur in low lights.
Use a wide aperture to blur the background and focus on the skater.
Use radial blur and a slow shutter speed to show motion.
Flash photography is prohibited in figure skating competitions. Learn to shoot in low light.
If you send a packet of photos with an article into an editor, never say you’re more of a photographer than a writer or try to make any excuse for the quality of your work.
Make the quality of your work as professional as possible.
References
- Exposure Guide: Figure Skating Photography Tips
- New York Institute of Photography: Photographing Figure Skating
- Transworld Skateboarding: How to Steal My Job
- Digital Photography School; 8 Tips for SkateBoard Shooting; Christina N. Dickson
- Beyond Phototips; 19 Radical Skateboard Photography Tips; Brian Auer
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
