I grew up loving sports. Mostly baseball, football, and basketball. Reading newspapers and magazines and seeing the amazing photographs that the sports photographers were able to capture was always something I loved.

I never thought I would be a sports photographer. When I first started in photography sports was the farthest thing from my mind as a subject. But at some point I began to think about merging two things that I love once again in sports and photography.

The likelihood that I will ever be down on the field at a MLB, NFL, or NBA game is slim. But, that doesn’t mean I cannot enjoy creating sports photography. There are plenty of ways to enjoy sports photography right in your back yard.

Youth sports of all kinds abound and are gaining popularity. There are plenty of armature sports being played at the park or track or court. And new sport pop up all the time, like Pickleball. And there are also a variety of sports in high schools and colleges all around us.

Find where the sports happen

If you are interested in this one simple thing is to ask your friends you play sports if they would like to be photographed playing or practicing. You can also reach out to the people and organizations who organize the sports events and teams in your area. High school and college athletic directors in my experience can be very open to more people showing up to watch their games.

I have photographed a variety of sports over the years: Football, softball, lacrosse, rugby, and running. The vast majority of my sports photography has been in running because that is the sport that I am most personally involved in. And right there is a key. If you want to branch out into sports photography look to the sport that you are most closely connected to.

Photograph what you know

If you photograph the sport you are most closely connected to you will probably have the most opportunities. You will also be most likely to create good photography in a sport you are familiar with. If you know where to be looking and when. Where the action takes place in a sport. And you can anticipate that action you are better prepared to create good photography. I experience this first hand when I photograph football or running. Both are sports that I have participated in and am fairly knowledgeable about so I know how to anticipate the action. This was vastly different than when I have photographed rugby, a sport I know almost nothing about. I felt lost out there on the field.

I really want to get out there and create more sport photography or a wider range of sports.

What sports would you like to photograph?

If you enjoyed this article you can click the link below to support the work I do here or subscribe to my email so you don’t miss out in anything I share.