Sports Photography: by Ed Mercer                     

It's that time of year again, no matter what time of year that is,it's the beginning of one sport or another. Are you ready to capture that big hit, winning basket, or 50 yard touchdown. Good sports photography involves quite a few elements, the first being proper camera and lens. It's important to have a camera with interchangeable lenses and a good fast zoom lens. You can take sports photographs with a regular rangefinder type cameras, but they are usually not responsive enough and you will miss your shot, and they dont usually have a strong enough telephoto feature so you are usually too far away from the subject. Most people are now using digital cameras, and an affordable one with interchangeable lenses can be had for around $600.00. These cameras are just like the film cameras that you are used to except you get instant feedback and with sports photography that is a big advantage. As with any type of photography you want to try and have your light source to your back, shooting into the light will give you silouettes and results you will not be happy with. This also gives you the  most light which you need so that you can adjust your lens to its fastest setting to stop the action which you get with sports. Positioning is also quite important, it is best to be positioned in front of the action so that the athlete is coming towards you, it is easier to catch the action this way and you are able to focus on the subject for a longer period of time. It also does not hurt to familiarize yourself with the sport you are going to photograph so that you can anticipate what is going to happen next. These are a few tips that will make a big difference in capturing action at sporting events and givving you the best chance at getting great photographs. And make sure to get out of the way when athletes come towards you, that telephoto lense makes them seem further away than they are and they are usually moving pretty fast.