Quick Tips for Photographing Indoor Sporting Events

by Bill Jones

If there is one thing that is truly difficult to photograph it is indoor sporting events. The lighting is often so poor as to make stop-action photography nearly impossible, and the position of the photographer is usually significantly distant from the action. Additionally, many artificially lit environments can throw off the auto white balance settings which can make colors appear a bit “sickly” too.

The way to begin to address any indoor sporting event photography is to consider the positioning of the photographer. If they must be located in the “stands” or fan seating, it is important to get as low and close to the action as possible. Additionally, looking for a seat with a good position to the end zone, scoring area, basket, etc. is an ideal way to record some dynamic moments. If the teams or action is headed towards the camera’s lens the results will be even better.

Photo by Stephen Kirsch

Once a photographer knows their position in regards to the action, they can then begin to address the camera settings that are most likely to have an effect on the outcome of their photography. These settings will include the shutter speed, ISO, and the aperture.

To begin with, the shutter speed is going to have a major impact on the tone of the photograph. For example, if it is capable of freezing the action it will prevent the photographer from adding a sense of motion or movement into their image through any blurring. For some sporting events this is highly desirable, but for others it may need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the photographer’s style.

If shutter speed must be as fast as possible, the photographer can then turn to ISO and aperture settings to make this happen. The ISO can make the camera sensor more sensitive to the light that strikes it and the aperture will allow more light to enter the camera. Although these are ideal outcomes for the need to freeze action, a higher ISO can add “noise” or graininess to a picture and a large aperture can dramatically shorten the depth of field.

Photo by Rick French

What do these things mean to someone doing indoor sports photography? Well, if you are relatively close to your subject and don’t mind the foreground and background being out of focus you can pull in a lot of light by opening up the aperture on the lens. If you don’t intend to blow up or enlarge prints of your photographs to any great extent, the ISO can also be set to a higher level too.

Most indoor sports photographers tend to use the “aperture priority” mode on their camera with the f/stop set as low as possible. They also usually set the ISO to the “auto” mode with a maximum level of 1600. Finally, they set their shutter speed to a minimum of 1/60th, but allow for some flexibility if action must be frozen instead of blurred.

Top image by dentite

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4 Comments

Cameta Camera
January 14th
Great Tips. Are you using any type or flash?
Luz Rivera
January 14th
Magnificent motivation. I am fixing to become a photographer too.
Bill Jones
January 14th
@Cameta
Check out Stephen’s setup here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenkirsh/3275648858/
Sarthak Singhal
January 20th
Thanks for the settings information. It seems more generic which can be applied to any low light shooting conditions without the usage of Flash or any artificial lighting system.