European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse For real action turn out for sports with your camera by l. Emmett Lewis or staff photographer s this Springs Uncertain warmth blends into the heat of summer sports action and photography arc a also beginning to heat up. Hundreds of Amateur and professional sports photographers haul out their motor drive cameras telephoto lenses last Fil Vand baseball Caps and head for the nearest action. Whether you Are a sports Lover or just enjoy a Good Challenge sum mar is an excellent time to test your reflexes and skill As an action photographer. Sports Reward the successful photographer with Frozen slices of time showing details of exciting action. Summertime sports us Cloras Tennis bicycling motorcycling Golf volleyball swimming diving hang gliding windsurfing soccer and baseball Are just a few of the Many possible adventures in sports photography. Photography can give you a Chance to make photos of your favorite sports discover new Leisure activities that you May want to try and a through your photos and personality a find new friends and opportunities that you might never have encountered any other Way. To keep the action from blurring in most instances you need to be Able to a Stop Quot it with your camera. There Are basically three ways of doing this outdoors a methods that May be used singly or in combination. The method used most often for stopping the action is the use of a fast shutter Speed a l/5 0th of a second or faster. The shutter Speed needed to arrest the image on film is related to the Speed with which the action is taking place and the direction of the action rela five to the position of the Lens. Someone walking at 90 degrees to the Lens Axis May require a shutter Speed of l/500 Turof a second to Stop the action. But the same person walking directly toward or away from the Lens in line with the Axis May Only require l/125th of a second to halt the relative to. Tion in the image. To use fast shutter speeds you usually need to use a relatively High Speed film Iso 200 or higher although you can often use slower Speed action the higher Speed film will allow you to have both a greater depth of Field greater Range of distance in Sharp focus and a faster shutter Speed. A second method often used by professionals to give the feeling of motion while preserving the Sharpness of the subject is to Quot pan or follow the direction of the action with the movement of the camera. This allows the background to blur depending on the shutter Speed used while the action subject is held relatively immobile within the Frame. Timing is a very important third element that is invaluable in most types of sports photography. Timing and practice will help you capture the instant when action peaks. Understanding the sport Well enough to know w Hen the action w ill pause in Quot mid flight Quot can be helpful in arresting the motion on film. A pole vaulter caught As his body hangs for a split second at the top of the jump is an exam pie of How timing can be equipment for sports photography can he pretty exotic Lor most types of action the Short. A a ,. Sis l. Ein Mott lows i i no photo catches the action As a then stars and stripes staffer Tom Saunders spikes a Hall during a volleyball game on the stripes compound last summer. Telephoto 85-135mm to Long telephoto 200-5 my focal length lenses Are most useful. An 80-20 my zoom Lens is probably a Good investment for Genet Al outdoor sports photography Long lenses allow the photographer to be Lar enough from the action to avoid interfering with it and still bring the image up close. Telephoto also allow you to shoot a Sale distance from the action. It you want to really understand the meaning of a Sale distance try clicking your camera near a golfer just before he or she hits a critical putt on the 18th Hole. Fast focus another advantage of telephoto lenses is that they can help you sep aisle the subject from a complicated background by throwing the background out of focus while the subject remains Sharp. Practice a follow focusing Quot a keeping the subject in focus As it moves. Practice this even when you Are not actually taking a picture. The More automatic this becomes with different lenses the More attention you can pay to details and to anticipating the action you Are photographing. A motor driven film Advance or motorized film w incr is a useful but not essential accessory Lor action photography. The motor allows you to Eon Centiole on the flow of the Actium while shooting instead of having to take time out to wind the him it s also a bit of a thrill to capture a six Frame so Quence of the winning play to a football game or of two soccer players colliding Oono to let bad weather Dampen your enthusiasm colors become More vibrant against the Blue tones of Rainy weather. In some sports such As football the ram and some really High Impact nitty Gritty no Pun intended Shols of players faces. The Slippery environment can also mean some interesting aerobatics when fast moving objects or people collide. On a , stuff an umbrella the front of your zipped up jacket to free your hands Lor shooting. Garry a Chamois and Lens tissue to clean your equipment if it gets wet. And done to forget your boots. If you Are shooting with really Long lenses a say. 300mm or so a a Mono pod or min ipod to steady the Lens against the ground or your Chest. A Mono pod will also keep some of the very tiring weight of Large lenses Oil your neck. A a camera Vest is a Good investment for someone planning to do a lot of sports photography. It allows you to Caily several lenses film Chamois Lens tissue Light meter rain Parka and other accessories m a Well Distri Fulcd weight pattern yet keep those items within easy reach. A fishing Vest can be an inexpensive substitute for an often identical camera Vest. A fishing Vest sold through the Exchange system runs $23 or so. A of till pack Anil arc other ways of distributing your Cam Era gear for easier mobility. For some types of sports such As Tennis a. Ground pad 24-Inch Square of dense foam rubber like that used for camping or a Small folding Stool May help relieve the fatigue of staying close to the ground. An excellent alternative if you won t be doing a lot of walking is to use a hard sided camera Case As a double duty seat. Next week some tips on shooting Tennis sailing various infill games and other specific sports May 19. 1901 sunday Page 7
