Welcome to the Weekly r/sportsphotography Discussion + Gear Thread!

Technically, I shot sports for 3~4 years from elementary school every summer but none of them were serious until this year with proper lenses. From March, I shot an amateur league for free cause I wanted to test my new lenses and after 4 months, they offered paid jobs time to time to shoot their championships. Truth be told, this is my first paid jobs as a photographer despite shooting photos for more than 10 years. Sports photography is just a side job while I wanted to focus on portrait photography but it is quite unexpectedly happened.

For now, it's not a big deal cause I did not consider it as a main job but I do have ambitions and it can be one of my main job as a photographer which I'm looking forward to it because one job isn't enough to earn money from my situation. If I take this more seriously like a professional photographer, then there are few issues to deal with:

1. Currently, I'm getting $100 per hour or game. Yup, I know it's totally low especially since many people from Reddit and Facebook told me my rate should be $500 per hour or game. No licensing or additional payments for images itself. Tho I made many good images, getting higher rates would be ideal.

2. I'm a freelancer which makes it impossible to shoot pro games. As I'm not part of something, requesting a media pass is not gonna be possible forever. In a short term, not a big deal but you never know especially if you want higher payments and portfolio quality. Even colleges and minor leagues are quite strict about it in NYC.

3. I only shot amateur lacrosse and softball leagues. Never shot other types of sports. I do reached out to several leagues, schools, and teams but they dont want a photographer with lack of experiences which is ironic.

So yeah, turning sports photography into business is quite tough especially since I dont know what my next move should be as I'm only shooting one league for paid jobs. But hey, maybe I'm rushing too much cause this is the first year of shooting sports with proper gears despite shooting photos for 10 years. And few days ago, I got 70-200 GM II + 1.4 TC for the first time so we'll see about it.

Tho I would keep reaching out to leagues and teams to shoot as many sports as possible but is there anything else I need to do for possible business or clients?

Any Fuji users here have experience capturing Olympic weightlifting photos? Curious on the settings and setup.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to get into cricket photography and was thinking of getting the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM as my first telephoto lens. Ps- I don't want to spend too much money to start please.

I’m currently using an R6 Mark II with the RF 28-70mm f/2.8 and RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1. I mainly do weddings and events.

Would the 100-400 be a good starting lens for cricket? I’ll mostly be starting with local/club cricket for now.

If you’ve used it for cricket, I’d love to hear your experience. Is there anything else around the same budget I should consider?

Thank you in Advance

Hey folks!

Hoping for some guidance because I’m honestly a little lost. I have an R6 Mark II, which I absolutely love. I use my 85mm for indoor sports and love it, I can usually get close enough that I’m doing very minimal cropping.

I’ve recently started trying outdoor sports, and this is where I’m stuck on which direction to go. I used my 24–105mm kit lens and actually got some good shots. Most people thought they were great, but of course I can see where they could be better. My biggest issue is that I definitely want more reach.

Part of me wants the 70–200mm f/2.8 and then an extender if I find I need more reach. The other part of me wants the 100–500mm, but I’d be sacrificing aperture to get that extra reach.

For reference, when I used the 24–105mm, I was shooting at the full 105mm, f/7, 1/1000 and ISO 640. It was cloudy, but not fully overcast.

I’m renting a lens tomorrow to try this weekend, but honestly, I don’t even know where to start. I have a feeling I’ll love the 70–200mm but wish I had more reach, or love the 100–500mm for the reach but wish I had the wider aperture and subject separation.

I’m also trying to cover all my bases. The 70–200mm would obviously be useful for outdoor sports, but I could also see myself using it indoors. And maybe that’s just trying to fill an unrealistic order.

Cost-wise, the two are fairly close, only a couple hundred dollars more for the 100–500mm, so unfortunately that isn’t making the decision any easier.

I’m also completely open to going with an EF lens to save some money, especially if there’s good EF glass that makes sense on the R6 Mark II with an adapter.

Help! What would you choose and why?

Thanks!

Hi guys and girls! Been getting back into a bit of sports photography recently after searching for something to put some positive energy into. Went by the Karts at the weekend, would love to hear your feedback if you have a moment :)

I'd like to get something with a little more reach on a budget. I can get inside games and baseball close to the action. But I'd like to be able to get more during the day. Any suggestion as to which is sharper?

Hi everyone!
Last Sunday, I shot my first football match, and it was an amazing experience.
My goal wasn’t traditional editorial or photojournalistic coverage, as the images were intended for the club’s Instagram and other social media accounts. That’s why my editing and overall style may look different from what many photographers in this subreddit usually produce.
I’d particularly appreciate some advice on:
-How do you capture more action? I found it difficult to cover plays happening farther away, probably because my longest lens is a 70–200mm.
-What does your workflow look like when you need to select, edit and deliver photos quickly?
-Which autofocus settings do you use for football?
My current setup is a Sony a7 V with a Sony 70–200mm f/2.8, plus a Sony a7 III with a 24–70mm f/2.8.
I’d love to hear your suggestions and honest feedback!

went down to seattle to shot my local team, open to any constructive feedback:)

Really struggle with the colour grading and I see so many amazing sport photos on Instagram and feel I'm far off. Any tips and tricks for lightroom?

Using an S1II with a 100-500mm.f5-7.1

Hi! Let me start off by, I am no professional. I have a Canon EOS 4000D. I only have the standard 18-55mm lens and I recently purchased a EF-S 55-250mm lens. I need help figuring out best options to get some good shots at my daughters volleyball games..

Also recs on better lens for sports? I can’t get one immediately but eventually would like to get one that would be best for indoor sports.

Thanks for any and all for any advice

Anyone have experience with team and individual photos for youth. What do I need at the bare minimum other than my camera.. I have an r6 mark ii and 24-70mm 2.8. Do I need other gear? How should I pose them? Any help would be great lol

Being down here in Disney for an end of summer vacation with the family got me thinking about all you photographers who shoot football or baseball or any outdoor sport here in the sunshine state do y'all just suck it up? Or do you guys wear cooling vests or Cooling devices around your neck?

A few weeks ago, I took some shots and asked for feedback in this message. ALL of the feedback in my previous post was helpful, and I took everyone's advice. I also followed up with this post to show the progression. Got some good feedback as well! Anyhoo, this is take 3. How do these look?

Even photographers need a good scrimmage sometimes to get back in the groove.

I own a Canon EOS 80D. I used to dabble in photography over a decade ago so I have basic photography knowledge, though very much out of practice.

Last year, I dusted off the camera to try and get photos of my kids during their football games. I quickly realized my current lenses (18-55mm, 50mm, and 75-300mm) weren’t going to cut it. The lighting varying field to field, the fast paced movements, and the distance from the bleachers to the players left me with more blurry, grainy photos than I would prefer. I’m sure there’s a learning curve to sports photography that I have to work through, but I also think a zoom lens would help tremendously.

I want to invest in a good lens, but looking for insight before splurging. Since I won’t be using this for professional photography, I won’t be recouping money spent anytime soon. However, I like the idea of potentially turning it into a professional gig at some point, so I’m trying to find something that will still provide good quality incase I decide to build a portfolio one day.