Learning to shoot sports in any environment

Kalamazoo's Tyler Oliver drives to the basket. (PHO245 photos by Damion Roundtree)

Owens head coach Dave Clarke shouts out a play.

   Sports photography is much harder than I expected. There are a lot of things to keep in mind when shooting sports.

   Upon entering the facility you need to check out the lighting, depending on how the gym in this case is lit the proper lens will need to be chosen.

   Low light lenses will work best in this situation but if you don’t have one, which I did not, your camera control skills are your best option.

   Anticipation is the key to getting some really good action shots. Following the game at its fast pace can be hard when looking through the viewfinder.

   Setting your camera on a high shutter speed will help you stop action in its tracks.

   Remembering your there to shoot the game is a challenge in its own, I’m a sports kind of guy so I found my self watching and forgetting about shooting several times.

   I really enjoyed shooting the Owens Community College basketball game, besides getting in free and watching the game from the floor the the teams put on a good show for their fans.

   Despite not having the best equipment for the job, I don’t think I done bad.

You be the judge and I hope you enjoy the photos.

Fans watch the game.

Finding a portrait in the elements of your environment

Instructor chef Gretchen Fayerweather

Lab assistant Amy Morford

   Environmental portraits can be taken in many ways from posing in front of a camera, which is probably the most common to waiting at a sporting event for the right moment to snap the shot.

   The culinary arts class at Owens Community College posed a little different scenario for me to be able to get this done.

   While the instructors and students are trying to keep deadlines with what they have going on, I had to work around them while they stayed busy.

   The task was not easy; while they worked I positioned my self in lots of different places. Taking pictures from any and every angle I could think of to get a somewhat of a decent shoot.

   Environmental portraits are best photographed in the environment that best relates to the subject.         Everything about the photo should say what the person does from the foreground to the background.

   

Portrait photography can be challenging when you don’t know your subject personally, moving around finding the right composition while giving instructions did not come easy for me. The more you work with people the more you will learn and the better you will become.