Sports pro Joel shares his amazing catalogue of action images and his top tips for how you can capture similar shots.
From tennis to track-and-field and swimming to soccer, sports supremo and Nikon Ambassador Joel Marklund shares his secrets for gold-worthy images
The summer of sport is finally upon us! By the time you read this, the delayed Euro 2020 football championship will be in full swing and into the knockout stages, Wimbledon will have just started, having taken a year out, and the Tokyo Olympics will be on the near horizon, once again being delayed for a year thanks to you-know-what.
I will be covering many of the major highlights on the sporting calendar, and after a fallow year followed by photographing sporting events almost completely absent of supporters, I can’t wait to capture the great sporting moments to come, and the atmosphere of the crowds that follow them.
The path to becoming a sports photographer isn’t easy; on a professional level, it demands fast telephoto lenses and top-end cameras,
neither of which come cheap. And getting accreditation to shoot at professional games is a chicken-and-egg situation where you need a proven track record to get access to shoot and, realistically, you need to work for a sports photo agency or a newspaper to get the gig in the first place.
But it’s not impossible, and starting off small – covering your local amateur team or events – can lead to bigger and better things. Hopefully this advice will stand you in good stead, no matter what level or discipline of sport want you shoot.
Start with what you are most comfortable with and where you can get close, and if that’s your kid’s school team, then you will be close to the action and where there’s lots of emotion. Don’t just stand at the side of the pitch to shoot at head height; get down on your knees or lie down on the ground to get different angles. If you’ve got a spare Nikon body and wide-angle lens, equip it with a remote trigger and set it up just behind the goal, or finish line, to capture action-packed point-of-view shots.
Contrary to common belief, a lot of the best shots aren’t taken at big events, as access is harder. Lowlevel events are better with access and you can get much more from your time there. Start with a sport you are familiar with and let the action unfold!
SPORTS KIT
There’s no getting away from the fact that good gear is of the utmost importance in sports photography. You need to capture split-second moments with pin-point focusing accuracy, and so as a pro I’m using Nikon’s top-flight cameras and big telephoto lenses. But, of course, these lenses come with a price tag that makes them difficult to justify if you don’t make your living using them.
However, while these are vital for shooting events on the world stage such as the Euros or Olympics, you won’t need as exotic kit to shoot your local pub team or kids’ sports day. And you don’t need the longest telephoto lenses, especially when you’re able to shoot from up close. That being said, I do advise that you invest in lenses with wide apertures and build up that collection over time. And you can always hire expensive lenses for unmissable events…
Multiple bodies
With many sports, you’ll need to be able to capture everything from the far side of the pitch to close-up action, and so multiple bodies are essential – there’s obviously no opportunity to change lenses in the heat of the action!
My main kit is two or three Nikon D6 cameras, equipped with a range of lenses, depending on the sport, whether it’s football, swimming or athletics. The D6 is a phenomenal camera for sports photographers. It has a lower resolution than most Nikon cameras, with a 20Mp sensor, which is why
It’s important to be able to compose scenes in-camera, as there’s less leeway for cropping than you might have with more megapixels
it’s important to be able to compose scenes incamera, as there’s less leeway for cropping than you might have with more megapixels at your disposal. This is more than made up for with its 14fps shooting rate, highly accurate AF, advanced subject tracking and customization features. The smaller file sizes mean images can be uploaded and processed more quickly too – vital for getting shots to news outlets within seconds of them happening.
Mirrorless for sports
This past year I’ve also introduced the Z 6II
into my kitbag, and I think this is going to come into its own as a more affordable camera with a very high shooting rate. In fact, I think we’re just beginning to see the potential of mirrorless.
For example, silent shutters have a huge advantage in many sports, such as tennis or golf, when the noise of the shutter would be a distraction and mean you’re not able to shoot during the serve or swing with a regular DSLR. And as facial tracking continues to improve, this will be a game-changer.
Lens choice
With sports normally you’re far away from the athletes, so telephoto lenses are a must. You’re usually shooting at high shutter speeds and often in low light, but that’s not the only reason you need a wide aperture. You must also separate the subject from the background, and most of the time you want to get rid of banners and adverts, hence the f/2.8 or bigger aperture to blur these out.
For football, as an example, I’d have three bodies: one with a 24-70mm or 14-24mm f/2.8, another with a 70-200mm f/2.8, and the third with a 400mm f/2.8 prime, sometimes with a converter to make it longer, depending on the size of the field. All football fields are different, as is the distance from where you are sitting to the edge of the pitch.
If you’re working indoors then there’s less light, but you are usually closer. I’ll go for a 70-200mm f/2.8, as well as the 400mm, and the 105mm f/1.4 is an amazing sports lens, if you can get close enough.
But it’s not all about long lenses, especially when it comes to the more creative shots. I use everything from the 8-15mm fisheye, 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm and I might go for the 50mm f/1.4 at times too, it depends on the sport.
SPORTS SETTINGS
Naturally, for sports images you are typically shooting at high shutter speeds of around 1/1000 sec or higher to freeze the action, depending on the sport. I shoot in Manual most of the time, and usually with the aperture as wide open as the lens will allow. I will only stop down if I need a larger depth of field. For sports you want a clean background, so wide apertures will help blur them and also allow you to shoot at fast shutter speeds to freeze the subject. I will change the ISO to enable me to shoot at the shutter speed I want. Nikons today have excellent ISO performance, and it’s not uncommon to shoot at a really high ISO, such as ISO8000, when shooting indoors. Sometimes with remote cameras I might use the Shutter Priority mode and the Auto ISO function, which is very helpful if you have a camera set up all day, with different lighting conditions as the day goes on.
Quick-change settings
While the fast shutter speed, wide aperture and high-iso combo is used to capture most of the action, you won’t necessarily want to use these sorts of settings for every shot. The Nikon D5 has a great function called Recall Shooting, and this has been perfected on the D6. It allows you to switch between settings quickly with one press of a button. I use a front button next to the lens, so I can go from my action setting to – for example – panoramic settings and then quickly release the button and go back to my action settings. For football this is incredibly useful, as half the field is often shrouded in shadow, while the other half is illuminated by the sun.
High-speed shooting
I always have my camera set to continuous autofocus and high-speed shooting, but experience has taught me to go easy and only shoot bursts at the right moment – I don’t shoot as much as you might think. For example, after shooting a friendly national game the other day, I spoke to one colleague who had 7000 shots from the game and I’d only shot 700 yet I’d wired more. I’m very much trying to time the perfect shot, rather than taking lots of long bursts.
One colleague had 7000 shots from the game and I’d only shot 700 yet I’d wired more. I’m very much trying to time the perfect shot
It’s more like a lottery if you get a good position or not. When you know where the good spots are, this can be a bit frustrating
If I have fewer shots it takes less time for me to go through them. If you shoot 10 times the number of pictures, not only is it going to be a distraction for you as you try and find the ones worth uploading, but at some point you’ll probably miss the best shot because you’re filtering through loads of images, and on a small display you can’t always see the detail.
CAPTURING THE ACTION
You need to be at the right place at the right time to capture the best sports shots. When I’m covering a specific team for football I will move at half-time, so I’m on the attacking side for both halves. Some arenas have LED boards that are cut short at the corners; I like to sneak down there, if possible, so I’m at ground level, rather than having to shoot above the advertising hoardings; this allows me to get closer to the game and the action. It makes the angle much lower and I prefer lower angles. I also try to plan what will make the best shot during that time of day that I’m shooting. I might choose a position depending on where the light falls in the morning or afternoon.
Bag your spot
To claim your favoured spots, sometimes you just have to show up early. At other times, like the Euros or World Cup, you have priority groups. The biggest agencies have the best positions and the rest take the leftovers! Even during the Euros there are only 16 pitch-side positions available, and you only have two in each corner, so it makes it harder. It’s more like a lottery if you get a good position or not. When you know where the good spots are, this can be a bit frustrating. Yet everyone thinks differently. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by how people choose spots, but they might have a specific idea or be shooting with different lenses – I’ve seen amazing stuff from photographers using totally different spots to me.
Capturing celebrations
In the UK you have lots of arenas with dugouts around the pitch and those are really the best for football photography, but they are not common in the rest of Europe. I prefer to be on the same side as the team’s bench as often players will turn and celebrate towards their side. You try to predict this, but, again, sometimes it’s a lottery!
Another option is to see where the fans are. If I’m covering Sweden and I see a lot of Swedish fans on one side I’ll try to be as close to them as possible. I know that if the Swedish team scores they’ll head towards those fans as they celebrate.
Autofocus
When it comes to autofocus I switch depending on the sport. The 3D tracking is helpful with some sports but most of the time I use the general 9-point, 21-point or 51-point Dynamic Area AF modes; this selects a cluster of AF points and prioritizes the central point, but the surrounding points will serve as backup, should the action stray from this – and with fast-moving sports this is certain to happen! I move this cluster of points around quite a lot, as I like to frame an image when I’m shooting it, but, of course, it depends on how fast-paced the sport is. It also depends on what level you’re on compared to the athlete; are you at ground level or above? For instance, with shooting football when I know they’re going to jump for a header, I will position the focus point higher in the frame.
Sighting through the viewfinder
With telephoto lenses you only see a small area, so I look through the viewfinder with my right eye and keep my left eye open to get a sense of what’s happening. For games like tennis, it’s easier to keep track of what’s going on, as there are just two players, but you still want to know what’s happening on the other side of the court. I always try to shoot with both eyes open in order to sense when something’s going to happen. Once you’ve got used to it, your mind is really good at putting those two visions together.
REMOTE SHOOTING
No matter how many cameras you have to hand, you can only be in one place at a time, and so using remote cameras enables you to capture something different and cover different angles. For a national football game, for example,
Sometimes remotes will be left for the whole event. It depends on the event and the restrictions you have to work with
I will normally use three handheld cameras and four remotes. One in the ceiling pointing straight down, one in the stands and two behind the goal, one at each end.
Setting up remotes
I often shoot football at Sweden’s national stadium, and I’m accustomed to it. I’ll set up overhead remotes around three hours prior to the game, and the goal remotes less than an hour before the game starts. In lower-level games you can put them out just a couple of minutes before. At equestrian events you can walk out just before the event starts and set up your cameras. But for the Olympics and bigger events I might have to set my remote cameras up in the morning for an afternoon or evening shoot. And sometimes they will be left for the whole event. It depends on the event and the restrictions you have to work with.
Firing remotely
I use radio transmitters most of the time to fire the camera shutters, but sometimes have to hardwire them, because at big events, like the Euros, there’s a higher probability of interference with so many other photographers also trying to fire cameras remotely. I use a trigger in the hotshoe that fires all the remote cameras at the same time I’m shooting with the camera in my hand. To stop capturing thousands of images on the remotes, I often turn the trigger on and off. For me it’s natural to shoot in this way, but it is one more thing to think about, so if you are new to sports photography I would suggest you don’t keep turning remotes on and off in case you forget at the crucial moment!
Underwater cameras
Underwater cameras have to be hardwired and
triggered by cable as radio waves don’t work underwater. I have a scuba license and dive in with scuba gear to set up the cameras. With my previous system I needed to prefocus and get the settings perfect – and if you screwed up the whole day was gone! With Nikon’s new NX Field system, which I’ll be using in Tokyo, I can see the images straight away in Live View, and change settings and focus. But even so, this isn’t a robotic camera, I need to figure out the angle and frame it perfectly from the beginning. I must know where the athletes will be, where they dive in, and where they break the surface.
CAPTURING DECISIVE MOMENTS
Every sports photographer needs to capture the key points or moments of the event. Getting these basic shots is essential, and only when I’ve secured those will I start to shoot more freely and try different, more creative setups. A lot of times the game-winning goal is the decisive moment, and that’s a shot you can’t afford to miss! But there is so much else happening that tells the story of a game, such as interactions between players, someone saying something to the referee. For me sports photography is like news photography, and there are things happening all over the stadium.
Do your research
Most importantly I do my research before every event I cover. Is there something special with the athletes to look for? Take swimming, for example. I want to know whereabouts the athletes break the water and which arm they use first, so I can then position myself to get the best shot. I might spend time looking on Youtube at old races, just to see how far out they are
A wide shot that shows the entire playing area and beyond can really help put everything into perspective
until they break from the water. It might be different between different competitors, or male and female athletes. Preparation is key. I want to know how the light changes in the stadium if I’m shooting outdoors. It’s easier to shoot indoors as the lighting will be predictable and weather isn’t as much of a hurdle, but maybe not as fun. Outdoors you have all the elements that can make for really great images – but also can screw up your day if you’re unlucky.
Know your sports!
You need to know the sport to be able to anticipate the moment and get the best pictures. To capture the shot, you have to be firing the shutter before it happens; there’s no point shooting when you see something, by then the moment will have passed! It’s all about sensing when something is about to happen, and that comes from knowing the sport inside and out.
Pay attention!
For a football match, you have 90 minutes of action to capture, but for a sport like tennis, you might be shooting all day long, and that demands concentration. It can be hard not to let your guard down, and you need to make a conscious effort not to drift away too much; it might be that next ball where something happens, such as one player throwing themselves dramatically at the net. You have to focus all the time. I’ve learned the hard way by missing shots; it’s inevitable that the time when your mind wanders, or you’re distracted by something like a message on your phone, is when they make the killer shot!
Do not disturb!
As a photographer you’re there solely to record the event, and it’s crucial that you don’t distract the athletes. Of course, in a rowdy football match the sound of your shutter firing will be completely drowned out by the noise of the crowd, but in other sports there are times when you can and cannot shoot. Golf is especially sensitive. If you have a camera with sounds from the shutter you absolutely must not take shots during the swing, you wait until just after, and this is where mirrorless cameras are particularly useful, as you can shoot completely silently. I try to time my shots with tennis, rather than take bursts; it’s frowned upon to shoot long bursts serve after serve. I want them hitting the ball with the racket, or I want to capture the facial expression after hitting the shot, for example.
But even so, I try not to take too many shots or disturb the players. Hearing constant bursts, even during the course of a rally, is distracting.
Match-winning moments
There are times when you have to be even more ready to capture the decisive moment; such as match-point in tennis. You have to be superfocused – at a different level, tuned to everything that’s happening. Sometimes I follow through the viewfinder, but I’m not shooting shots, I can feel in my body when something is going to happen. If they’re making a normal return it’s not the time to take the shot, if they’re building and readying to smash, then that’s the time. If someone is likely to be attempting to break the world record that’s big news. Or it might be an action after the race that will prove to be the best shot; we all know how Usain Bolt or Mo Farah like to celebrate!
Wide stadium shots
A wide shot that shows the entire playing area and beyond can really help put everything into perspective. With the volleyball image (above), I just loved the idea of showing that this venue is right in the centre of London. We have all these magnificent old buildings and next to it is this volleyball court. When it comes to specific places I think to tell the story it might be better to zoom out and show the scenery as well. The Olympics, in particular, are about more than each event, they are about telling the story of where it is happening. These moments are so historical. They are more than average world championships, they are only held every four years, and most of the time they are the pinnacle for the athletes who have trained for years to get to that exact moment.