Sports Photography Using A Pentax - Part 1

Matthew Kelly shows us how to take great sports photos with a Pentax.

31/07/2012 - 11:45

Matthew Kelly is a professional sports photographer. Take a look as his website here.

If I could give you only one tip it would have to be a quote from Robert Capa, the legendary American war photographer:

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re too far away.”

Sports photography is about getting in tight and seeing the emotion of the players and crowd. That’s why we love sport – the highs and lows.

You need to be as close to the action as possible and that means right on the touch-line, in front of the advertising boards. If you think you’ll need permission contact the club in the week before the game. My advice is to do this anyway out of courtesy. Most clubs are fine with this because you’re going to publicise their team / event, etc. There may be occasion when you need to be affiliated to a sports governing body to gain access to pitch-side. For example, to take pitch-side photos at any Welsh Premier Football matches you need to be affiliated to the FAW (it’s free and it means you can have access to any Welsh Premier match that season).

I’ve put together a few tips and tricks from my experiences of shooting sports with a Pentax DSLR:

Equipment

Camera Body
I’ve been taking sports photos, and supplying the local press too, for the last five years or so, all with a Pentax. The majority of the pics I have taken have been with a K7 and I’ve recently upgraded to a K5. Both bodies have coped with rugby and football, the latter especially. The autofocus is usually okay, but in dark situations the lack of contrast can hinder you a little. The frame rate is certainly quick enough and it means you’ll have fewer photos to edit through and delete later – imagine shooting 90 minutes at 11fps, most pics will go straight in the bin.

celebrations

Exposure

For most sports the minimum shutter speed needed to freeze the action is at least 1/500th, more likely 1/640th. If you’re shooting outside on a gloriously sunny afternoon and bathed in bright sunshine then f/5.6 or f/6.3 will be fast enough.
But we live in Britain. Those bright and sunny days, especially in the rugby or football seasons, are very few and far between.
Imagine it’s a Saturday in February at 4:30pm. It’s damp, grey and cold. What little sun there was has almost slipped away until tomorrow. The score is 1 -1. Just as the game is finishing the home side throw one last attack up the field…they score the winning goal and you nailed the photo! Everyone goes wild! Shouting and waving their arms in the air!
Including you.
You’ve just seen your blurry, dark, underexposed photo. f/5.6 will not give you the shutter speed you need (unless you crank up the ISO and then they’ll be noisy).

Don’t even try at a floodlit match unless you’ve got f/2.8.

Cricket, however, is only played in the summer on dry days. f/5.6 is going to do the job just fine! Set your camera on a tripod, aim it at the stumps and fire away! Plus the extra depth of field will let you get the wicket keeper and slips relatively sharp too.

There are plenty of other sports that don’t need f/2.8, too.

On choosing a lens, personally, I would go for a larger constant aperture over focal length. For example, f/2.8 200mm instead of f/5.6 300mm.

goalkicker

Memory Cards
I use class 10 Micro SD cards with an adapter. The class 10 makes the files write quicker and the camera’s buffer doesn’t fill up so fast. I use Micro SD cards for another reason which I’ll get to later.

Extra Equipment

Two things that make handling Pentax cameras an awful lot easier are:

1) A battery grip
2) Remove the neck strap

Pentax DSLRs are small – a huge selling point – but with a f/2.8 200mm lens on the front it makes them feel a little cumbersome. The grip gives the body that little extra size and seems to balance out the camera and lens. Also, most of my sports shots are taken in portrait orientation and the grip makes those much more comfortable.

How many times have you looked through the viewfinder and found the strap in the way? Never? Oh, if it’s just me then forget point two. But, if you’ve been wasting seconds moving the strap it means you’ve missed the shot - and there’s no replay in live sports! I use clips to attach my neck strap and remove it completely when I start shooting.

One last tip on equipment – wear “work” trousers with knee pads. The extra pockets in the trousers are really handy BUT to make your subjects appear larger, taller and more imposing you need to be on your knees. When you shoot from a lower angle the players look better and knee pads are a must!

That's it for part one of Matt's Sports photography guide - look out for part 2 coming soon!

In the meantime, why not take a look at Matthew's website here.



Related Photos

PhoenixWebsiteDesign

Link Posted 11/08/2012 - 08:03
Hello Matthew,

Football is my favorite game.You are doing excellent job.This pictures are nice click....
I passionate about flute,what about you?

ankit941

Link Posted 16/03/2018 - 07:27
This is my favourite work to find some interesting and best technology which always connected with the help of the human backup windows 10 and for this matter we can talk about the how we can implement the option of the restore and the backup of the files of the system backup windows 10.

Madhavi

Link Posted 05/10/2018 - 07:28
quite amazing post
free steam money no survey

Mulford

Link Posted 22/11/2018 - 07:27
I am trying to reach your major articles for the sports photography. Everything you should follow for issuing better users provided bestessays.com photography updates. So, we prefer to have some important and major assignments.

HoangLinh97

Link Posted 17/06/2019 - 09:09
Dấu hiệu mang thai sớm mà bạn có thể dựa vào đó là chính là nhiệt độ cơ thể. Thật vậy khi mang thai, hàm lượng hormone progesterone trong người mẹ sẽ tiết ra nhiều hơn khiến cho nhiệt độ cơ thể tăng cao hơn b́nh thường một chút. Nếu thường xuyên theo dơi nhiệt độ cơ thể ḿnh th́ bạn sẽ có thể dễ dàng nhận ra dấu hiệu này.

photographypls

Link Posted 21/07/2019 - 18:39
The campark x20 is also a solid little camera to capture some action sport photographs and video on too.

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:21

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:23
MAINTENANCE-AGENT

ان يقوموا باصلاحها لدى توكيل توشيبا دون اللجوء الى احد المراكز الخارجية دليل مراكز الصيانة في مصر التي تدعي دائما انها تقوم بجميع عمليات الاصلاح المختلفة لان هذه الاعمال

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:25
HOTPOINT

بصناعة الاجهزة على الاطلاق , وقد عملت صيانة هوت بوينت دائما على ان تطور من نفسها باستمرار وتضيف العديد من الاجهزة المختلفة الى قائمة صناعتها الكبيرة والتي لا حصر

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:25
SILTAL

تتواجد وتنتشر العديد من الاجهزة المختلفة الخاصة بـ صيانة سليتال حيث انه يوجد منها العديد من الاجهزة المختلفة المتواجدة والمعروفة وذلك لانه من افضل الشركات التي تقوم

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:26
PANASONIC

لمزيد من المعلومات أو للحصول على عرض أسعار دقيق مخصص لـ صيانة باناسونيك و العمل المطلوب، يرجى الاتصال على رقم صيانة توشيبا العربي الخاص بنا .

syana

Link Posted 27/07/2019 - 16:27
FRESH

تقدم لك صيانة توشيبا العربي أسعار قطع الغيار وأجرة صيانة فريش اليد العاملة الشاملة الخاصة ببرامج صيانة أجهزة توشيبا

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 21/04/2020 - 20:14
I often enjoy locating a website that offers useful info because I like learning interesting things. Often times when I have been to this site I have really enjoyed the good article here. An incredible blog and I will return a lot more for more good content… vietnam virtual number

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 25/04/2020 - 14:20
Can nicely write on similar topics! Welcome to here you'll find out how it should look. phenq diet pills

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 28/04/2020 - 20:23
Interestingly you write, I will address you'll find exciting and interesting things on similar topics. save sea life jewelry

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 30/04/2020 - 20:37
These websites are really needed, you can learn a lot. esrar yetistirme

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 07/05/2020 - 09:09
Excellent read, Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting?I have read a few of the articles on your website now, and I really like your style. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work. https://eubookshop.com/

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 07/05/2020 - 09:28
For many people this is the best solution here see how to do it. eubookshop.com/his-secret-obsession-review

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 08/05/2020 - 18:17
هذا أمر مهم للغاية ، ولكنه ضروري من أجل النقر فوق هذا الرابط الخلفي الفريد: حملات ممولة

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 12/05/2020 - 22:48
For this web site, you will see our account, remember to go through this info. Arya Toufanian

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 28/05/2020 - 19:31
This content is simply exciting and creative. I have been deciding on a institutional move and this has helped me with one aspect. 토토사이트

RobertSchneider

Link Posted 29/05/2020 - 13:19
It is especially decent, though look into the tips during this home address. 남성 복부지방흡입 발기부전 치료 수술 여성형유방증 남성 중점 병원 남자지방흡입

darrendemers12

Link Posted 14/07/2020 - 08:33
Imagine it’s a Saturday in February at 4:30pm. It’s damp, grey and cold. What little sun there was has almost slipped away until tomorrow. The score is 1 -1. Just as the game is finishing the home side throw one last attack up the field…they score the winning goal and you nailed the photo! Everyone goes wild! Shouting and waving their arms in the air! wholesale t shirt printing , bulk shirts canada , wholesale gildan t shirts free shipping , best place to get wholesale t shirts , red shirts in bulk , buy polos in bulk , wholesale childrens clothing in bulk , designer baby clothes , cheap dresses for kids , where to buy wholesale baby clothes , kids eid dresses

kimcuongdaquy

Link Posted 20/11/2021 - 03:58
Theo phong tục và truyền thống th́ người xưa tin rằng người đeo ngọc bích có vận may tránh được rủi ro, ma quỷ và nguy hiểm. Trang sức bằng ngọc bích cũng là biểu tượng của sức khỏe. Suốt chiều dài lịch sử mênh mông từ 5 000 năm qua vua chúa Trung Hoa không ngừng say mê ngọc bích v́ họ tin rằng thứ đá quư này giúp họ luôn cường tráng và trường thọ. Cùng thời kỳ đó, thời kỳ Trước-Columbus, di tích c̣n sót lại của các nền văn minh rực rỡ Olmec, Maya và Aztec ở Trung Mỹ cũng cho thấy rằng ngọc bích, ngoài vai tṛ được ưa thích nhất trong việc chế tạo vật dụng và vũ khí, c̣n được xem là phương thuốc thần kỳ chữa bệnh thận. Từ ngữ jade, ngọc bích, có nguyên ngữ từ tiếng Tây-Ban-Nha piedra de ijada (stone of the loins) nghĩa là 'đá thận' là một minh chứng. Các bậc vương tôn công tử Trung Hoa lẫn các tù trưởng quyền uy ở Trung Mỹ không phải vô cớ khi đeo chuỗi hạt ngọc bích ngang thắt lưng, vị trí của hai quả thận (!!!), và đeo nó suốt … cuộc đời.
Đeo ṿng đá Aquamarine giúp chủ nhân có thể giảm trừ các căn bệnh liên quan đến thần kinh, tăng cường khả năng cân bằng với thiên nhiên. và cuộc sống

Kim Cương Đá Quư

ThomasNesh

Link Posted 30/07/2022 - 09:07
Hello there, games are really an enormous piece of my life. I really want to play here on 9winz, at jet x game, could you have the choice to ask me a couple?
Add a Comment
You must be registered or logged-in to comment.