For our final project for our Junior year at Freestyle was the Explorations project. For this Project, we were asked to choose a 21st century skill that can be used at Freestyle, research the skill and master it. During the research process we were trusted with managing our own time throughout the whole project. We were also allowed to chose to work in either Film/Web, English, or Design class. I chose to research Sports Photography as my 21st Century skill as sports are a central part of my life. I started off the project by simply researching tips and camera settings from professional sports photographers and then I used that knowledge to take my own sports photos. Then, I created this informational website on sports photography adding the photos that I took as examples and giving beginners simple tips to start taking sports images. In the process of creating this website I used Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe photoshop to design the website and edit photos.

This year was my first year at Freestyle and looking at the projects throughout this last year I am very proud of the work I was able to accomplish. At the beginning, I had a hard time learning how to use Adobe Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and Photoshop but after the first couple of months I finally started to feel comfortable using all the tools on my own. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to come to Freestyle because I have learned so much and Freestyle has totally changed my learning experience. After a year of Freestyle, I feel very proud of the work I have created during my first year. I hope you enjoy my website!

Below is a song I created using the software Reason.  I used beats generated by the software and a rhythm that I created with the piano keyboard.  I also inserted an image of the process of creating the song.  

 

 

 

 

Process:

 

Screenshots of Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver

Taking Photos

 

Creating our Infograph

 

 

 

In order to get a great shot with poor lighting or to capture high speed action you can raise the ISO on the camera. Most professional sports photographers set their camera to a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second to capture fast motion. Although this method will work fine during the day, at night you will need an F stop faster than what your lens is built for. To solve this problem you can increase the ISO on the camera which allows the camera to see more light. A good ISO setting for sports photography is 1600 ISO which is a good median between 800 ISO and 1600 ISO and also allows the photographer to shoot at a faster shutter speed. Beginners may want to use the Auto ISO feature which automatically picks the right ISO setting depending on the condition.

 

Pictured: Kelvin G.

 

 

 

 

 

The type of lens you decide to use depends on your skill level of sports photography. As a beginner with minimal gear you will probably want to shoot with a 70-200mm lens. If you really start getting into sports photography and want to master the skill then you would consider investing in a 300 or 400mm lens which is much more expensive. When buying a lens look for one with an f/stop of either f/2.8 or f/4. If possible avoid buying a f/5.6 lens. Also, the better lenses are usually bigger and heavier, have a built in tripod mount, and have been around for many years. Although big lenses may be expensive a good lens usually lasts around 10 years if properly cared for.

Pictured: Colin D.

Every so often it is cool to have photos with a blurry background adding energy to the photo. This technique originated from professional photographers working for Getty images. Setting the shutter speed to 1/100 of a second or 1/80 of a second sharply captures the focal point of the photo while leaving the background blurry.

Pictured: Colin D. and Owen M.

When shooting lower level sporting events such as high school, check with coaches or the school’s athletic director before you start shooting with flash. However when it comes to collegiate and professional sports on camera flash should almost never be used. In general, it is best to try to avoid using flash at all which is why setting your ISO to the right setting is so important.

Pictured: Colin D.

Chimping: Chimping is every good sports photographer’s pet peeve. Chimping is when the photographer checks each photo they take on the LCD screen after every shot. As a result of chimping, the photographer loses attention of what’s going on in the game and miss an opportunity for a good shot or increase the chance if the photographer getting hurt. In sports photography, the best way to get the best shot without chimping is to take as many different pictures as possible.

Surroundings: Although the main action is usually on the field or the court the stadium full of fans or the sunset in the background can also capture the spirit of the game. At a game with an intense student section, you can shoot a player with a crazy crowd in the background. Also remember to arrive well before the sporting event is set to start. Capturing team warm-ups or pregame meetings on the sidelines make for cool shots as they give the viewer a chance to see theS game from a player’s perspective. With this in mind, plan to stay 10-15 minutes after the game is set to end as games with thriller endings and crowd rushers can also make for some very cool photos.

Strategies: When taking photos at a sporting event try as many different shots as possible. For example, Sports Illustrated photographers created a new type of football photo by laying down behind the end zone to take the photo. This gave the writers a new angle in which they could indulge their readers. While at the sporting event be sure to move around constantly to get different kinds of shots. The exact same angle for every photo will bore the viewer very quickly. Also when watching sporting events on TV, think about different angles and unique shots that could represent a player’s or fan’s perspective.

Pcitured: Colin D.

 

Here is a gallery of the images we took throughout our project.