A digital sports photography article would have been fairly brief as recently as a couple of years ago. In essence, it would have stated that digital cameras have unacceptable shutter lag, and cannot yet achieve the frame rates of their film cousins. End of story.
Well, that particular story has in fact ended. These days the focus is on digital cameras finally reaching the level of film cameras, and being widely used with great effect in digital sports photography. The aim nowadays is to point out the clear benefits offered by the digital route.
In fact, a number of excellent books have appeared on digital sports photography, confirming that this type of photography has finally become an acceptable mainstream digital activity.
In 'Digital Sports Photography', G. Newman Lowrance offers a wealth of information on the techniques and equipment you will need for successful digital sports photography - either as an aspiring professional, or taking shots at the local basketball game.
Lowrance has many years' experience of digital sports photography, and his pictures have been widely published in Official Super Bowl and Pro Bowl game magazines, NFL videos and calendars, NFL Insider Magazine, and elsewhere.
He doesn't hold back, and gives you a lot of information from some excellent sports photographers and editors. Issues such as color management, camera setup, and equipment options are covered. You will discover all the ins and outs of the unique techniques applied to shooting for baseball, football, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, and tennis.
Lowrance also uses his own experiences in digital sports photography, and gives true, autobiographical examples of how to get started and how to succeed as a professional.
His book features many eye-catching sports action photographs that will generate excitement and inspiration. The informative content will motivate you to become familiar with new aspects of the technology, stimulating a keen interest and involvement in this aspect of photography.
In short, 'Digital Sports Photography' will give you the help and guidance you need to make your photos stand out from the crowd!
Another book that illustrates how far digital sports photography has come, is 'Digital Sports Photography: Take Winning Shots Every Time', by Serge Timacheff and David Karlins.
This book helps you to take great shots by overcoming obstacles like rain and crowds, bad lighting, fast-moving athletes, flash limitations, and other challenges.
The authors give advice on how to shoot a wide range of sports: extreme, outdoor, indoor, competitive, recreational, and more. The book provides many full-color examples illustrating professional tips and techniques, and shows how to tackle skilled digital sports photography with any kind of digital camera, from point-and-shoot to SLR.
And the bottom line for many aspiring digital sports photographers is that this book will also teach you how to actually sell your images!
One of the advantages of digital sports photography highlighted, is that once you have the equipment, including enough batteries and memory cards, it doesn't cost anything to snap away at that baseball game...
