Sports Photographers

Participate on a sports team to learn a sport well and build skills. This will later help when sitting on the sidelines and positioning to capture the best images.

Photography clubs provide good practice for shooting and editing pictures and to meet others with similar interests. Joining the school newspaper or yearbook staff is also a great way to gain experience in shooting sporting events. Most yearbooks and newspapers cover their team sports in detail, and photos are what make the stories stand out.

Start a blog that features your photographs of sports events and commentary about sports and the photographic process, or post your photos to the Internet using Instagram or other photo-sharing apps. Be sure to understand the terms of usage before posting photographs for public viewing on social media sites; it is always a good idea to include terms about usage permission. Professional associations can provide language for copyright protection. Another way to explore the field is by talking to sports photographers about their careers. Finally, consider becoming a high school- or college-level member of American Photographic Artists.