How to Photograph Football | Tips for Editing Action Shots

Summary

In this video, a photographer takes us through the entire process of capturing and editing football photos. From arriving early at the stadium to setting up equipment, including a range of versatile lenses, the photographer explains how they approach the action shots and locker room moments. They demonstrate how to quickly sort photos in Photo Mechanic and organize them for easy editing. Through Lightroom, they highlight techniques for enhancing images with creative adjustments, noise reduction, and story-driven edits. The video also emphasizes the importance of experimentation and refining one's editing style for both portfolio and social media work.

Takeaways

• 😀 Arrive early at the stadium (2 hours) to ensure proper setup and preparation.
• 😀 Use versatile lenses, like a 28-70mm F2, 50mm F1.2, 70-200mm F4, and 60-600mm F6.3, to experiment with different angles and exposures.
• 😀 Capture pre-game moments in the locker room to convey the feeling of preparation and anticipation.
• 😀 Use Photo Mechanic to quickly sort through photos, tagging favorites with a pink tag for easier selection later.
• 😀 Rename files in Photo Mechanic using a structured format (e.g., year_month_day_opponent_sport_photographer) for better organization.
• 😀 In Lightroom, use the white rating from Photo Mechanic to filter and select your best photos for editing.
• 😀 Focus on enhancing your photos by adjusting lighting, colors, and details, such as drawing attention to the center of the frame.
• 😀 Linear gradients in Lightroom can help focus attention on the subject by darkening the surrounding areas.
• 😀 In editing, sharpen specific areas of the photo using masking and hold the 'Alt' key to refine your edits more precisely.
• 😀 Noise reduction in Lightroom is essential when working with high ISO images, especially for social media posts where noise isn't as noticeable.
• 😀 Cropping the image in unique ways, like a square crop, can remove distractions and create a more focused composition.

Q & A

What camera setup does the photographer use for shooting football?

The photographer uses a Sony R3 camera and switches between a 28-70mm F2 lens, a 50mm F1.2 lens, a 70-200mm F4 lens, and a 60-600mm F6.3 lens, offering a versatile range for different angles and exposures.

Why does the photographer go to the stadium two hours early?

The photographer arrives early to set up everything and prepare for the shoot, ensuring they are ready to capture the action from the start of the game.

What type of photos does the photographer focus on in the locker room?

The photographer focuses on creating photos that capture the feeling of preparation and anticipation, which are often appreciated by the players and offer a unique perspective not commonly seen.

How does the photographer quickly sort through the photos after the game?

The photographer uses Photo Mechanic, which is faster than Lightroom, to sort through photos. They tag their favorites with a pink tag for easy identification later.

What is the process for renaming and organizing the photos?

The photographer renames photos by using a system that includes the year, month, day, opponent, sport, and photographer's initials, followed by a sequence number to keep the files organized.

How does the photographer edit photos in Lightroom?

The photographer imports the selected photos into Lightroom and starts by sorting them based on the pink rating tags. They focus on finding the best photo for the cover shot, making adjustments like adjusting exposure, contrast, and using presets to enhance colors and highlights.

What is the photographer’s approach to improving a photo that initially looks difficult to save?

For photos that are challenging to improve, such as those with distracting backgrounds, the photographer uses cropping techniques, like square cropping, and adjusts settings like exposure and noise reduction to salvage the photo.

What is the benefit of using a square crop in certain photos?

A square crop helps remove distracting elements from the background, making the subject the focal point of the image. This technique is especially useful when dealing with busy or crowded scenes.

How does the photographer handle high ISO and noise in photos?

When faced with high ISO and noisy images, the photographer uses Lightroom’s noise reduction feature to smooth out the image while maintaining quality. They also apply sharpening and sometimes add grain to preserve texture.

How does the photographer create more dynamic and story-driven images?

To tell a more compelling story, the photographer may convert a photo to black and white, adjust the exposure, and crop the image creatively to emphasize movement or atmosphere, such as simulating a tunnel-like effect in action shots.