Digital Sports Photography
The invention of the digital camera has revolutionized sports
photography. Because sports involves such fast-paced action, over 90% of
all shots are more or less useless or ruined. With conventional
photography, this means wasted film which in turn means wasted money.
With a digital camera one take as many photographs as one likes, make a
choice by screening over the computer and print only the pics one wants.
Most of the sports photography is now digital these days.
Types
How is a digital camera different from a conventional camera? In
effect, a digital camera has precious little difference with a
conventional camera. It has a lens and a shutter to let in light just
like the old cameras. However, instead of allowing the light to fall on
a photosensitive film, it uses a system of image sensors (a microchip
just 10mm wide) to grab the light. There are two types of microchips:
charged couple device (CCD) and the complementary metal oxide
semiconductor (CMOS). CMOS chips are cheaper, smaller, and lighter but
sacrifice a lot in image quality. Most cameras in the megapixel range,
however, have CCD microchips, giving better picture quality.
Equipment
Basic equipment needed for a professional sports photographer is as
follows:
- 1-3 digital cameras (depending on the sports you specialize)
- Extra batteries as your battery will not last during the whole
event especially if you are shooting a lot.
- 1 extreme wide angle lens (14 mm) to help you take shots of
large spaces
- 1 wide angle zoom lens (17-35 mm) for closer shots
- Camera stands (monopods or tripods) to enable to wait throughout
the event without having to hold the camera yourself.
- Telephoto lenses 300mm or 400 mm to get access to actions that
are at a distance.
- Flashes and other lighting equipment
- Computer with the right software
As you can guess, such equipment will not come cheap. It is therefore
quite an investment to become a sports photographer.
Issues with digital photography
- Shutter speed—cameras with slow shutter speeds are inappropriate
for taking action shots. The fastest shutter speed on the market is
1/8000 second. However, a slow shutter speed may be necessary if one
wants to show movement.
- Lag time—this is the difference between the time the shutter
button is pressed and the time the picture is taken. The camera
typically sets the exposure and focus during this period. Of course,
a long lag time means that you lose the action you were aiming for.
You may reduce the lag time by pressing the button halfway down so
that the camera can perform some of the focusing function prior to
taking the picture.
- Latency—the time taken by the camera to write the image to
memory before it can take the next shot. To decrease latency, faster
flash cards can be used.
- Burst mode—digital cameras have the advantage of being able to
capture a series of movements through near simultaneous shots. This
is a convenient way to capture movement and choose between different
shots.
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