Just as an Olympic or Paralympic athlete must finetune their technique for optimal performance, those covering their routines, races, and matches camera-in-hand must do the same. While the best of the former hope for a medal around their neck for their efforts, newspaper features and magazine double-page spreads and covers are the photographer’s equivalent. These techniques can be applied to a cross-section of photographic specialities, from portrait and wedding to school sports and pets, whatever the name of your game is.
A cross-section of my images of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics serves as a guide on homing in on the best angle and exposure based on—in this instance—each sport’s speed and movement, my distance from the action, and available light. You can put this into play in your own discipline.
To capture both the brightly lit beach volleyball court and the lights of the Eiffel Tower and sunset in the background, the sweet spot was 1/500 second at f/5.6, ISO 2000.
When it comes to sports, fast lenses are always best. For the Olympics and Paralympics, I packed Nikon Z 9 and Nikon Z 8 bodies and Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S, Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S, Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S, and Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lenses. The Nikkor Z 400mm has a built-in 1.4X teleconverter that extends the reach of the lens to 560mm.
I work with the Z 400mm f/2.8 because of its fast f/2.8 aperture at 400mm and f/4 at 560mm and incredible bokeh. Most of my Olympic photography colleagues opt for the flexibility of a zoom. For the track start/finishing line position, that’s often in the scope of a 100-400mm lens. To reach further down the track, a 600mm or even an 800mm lens can be used. A monopod attached to all these telephoto lenses is a necessity for the best captures. Nikon, Sony, and Canon have booths set up at the Olympics, Paralympics, and other major sporting events where they loan out equipment to photojournalists and clean and repair cameras.
Team Netherlands swept the medals in the Women's 100m T64 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Fleur Jong (left) took the gold. For this exposure, 1/1,600 second at f/5, ISO 2000 froze each runner mid-stride.
Each sport has its best angles, so do some research before entering the arena or taking to the field. For example, when it comes to track and field, it’s hard to beat the head-on position for the 100-meter race. In longer races, photographers often position themselves in the turns. For some events, such as tennis and golf, it’s vital to know if the athlete is left- or right-handed when establishing an angle.
Once in position, it is crucial you have a deep understanding of the exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) and how best to apply it to an individual sport. Consider the sport’s speed of action, direction and flow of movement, and the amount of ambient light available—all of which play key roles in the success of an image.
To capture split-second moments in fast-action sports such as platform diving or an attempt on goal in soccer (below) requires a shutter speed of at least 1/2,500 second.
French goalkeeper Guillaume Restes trying to stop Spain’s Fermin Lopez from scoring.
In sports photography, the most important and therefore first step is to find the right shutter speed to match the action. Most of the time my goal is to freeze the action, to give the viewer the opportunity to see and analyze a moment in time too brief to be recognized by the naked eye. To capture split-second moments in platform diving, uneven bars in gymnastics, and an attempt on goal in soccer, all required a shutter speed of at least 1/2,500 second.
On the other end of the exposure spectrum, I used a 1/13-second shutter speed to pan a cyclist making his way around the velodrome track. I got to the track early to figure out the best speeds to get the optimal effects. It’s far better to figure out exposures during the practice and warm-up sessions than to waste valuable time during the actual event. With a 1/13-second exposure on the cyclist, the capture shows movement and speed with the blurred background while keeping the cyclist relatively sharp.
A 1/13-second shutter speed at f/16, ISO 320 stilled the motion of a velodrome cyclist while nicely blurring the spectators in the background.
In an indoor arena such as a velodrome, exposures and Kelvin color temperatures can be locked down since the lighting conditions are constant. Outdoors, especially on a cloudy day, exposures vary. Working in manual exposure, setting the shutter speed and aperture, and then using the Auto ISO, is often a good option. With this setup, I use my +/- exposure compensation to finetune the exposure. Since the camera’s internal light meter is basically trying to make the scene 18% grey, a composition with a lot of white, such as downhill skiing during the Winter Games, might require a +0.3 to +1 exposure compensation.
To perform at the peak of your profession in whatever genre of photography, practice technique to the point where it is instinctive, with a clear understanding of the exposure triangle. So much more of your creative capacity will be free to devote to the art of your image when technique becomes innate.
Mark Edward Harris is an award-winning photographer and writer based in Los Angeles.
Tags: sports photography technique