Sports Photography: The Art of Capturing the Human Body in Motion

All photos are static, which makes it hard to create a photo that instills a sense of motion in the eyes of observers.

Yet skillful photographers do it all the time, and we know that the person is not posing, they are moving, and their movement is frozen in just the right moment, in such a way that we still feel the energy oozing from the picture.

If you wish to create artistic photos of the human body in motion, and capture their gracefulness, then the following article is just what you need.

Here we will provide tricks on how you can successfully photograph athletes, so that they retain their grace even in one image.
 

Use a high quality camera and equipment

Obviously, you cannot hope to take a few shots and end up with a quality sample to work with. Most of the shots will be blurry, and you won’t get anywhere. That being said, blur can be a good thing, as long as it is restricted to the background, since it contributes to the sense of motion in these cases.

You can achieve this desired effect by adjusting the shutter speed, which allows you to capture multiple photos of a person in motion, while background will remain blurry.

The shutter speed should increase in accordance to the speed of the person you are trying to photograph.

Capture the entire body

This is not imperative, of course, but you will get more material to work with if your photos contain the entire body.

The different position of every limb will contribute to your cause to create a perfect image of a moving individual. So, work on your angle and position yourself in a way that will allow you to capture the whole body.

If you do this in a studio, it will be far easier for you.

Edit the photos

Now, to address the issue of editing, if you do take shots in the studio like we mentioned in the previous example, your photos will require a lot more editing. You'll be working in enclosed space,  which will help you control the elements, but prevents you from creating an authentic image of someone who is a runner or a pole jumper.

Make sure your model assumes various poses and then use photo editing tools to add more vibrant colors in the background, to make sure the sweat is visible, make their face look more tired etc.

To achieve just the right look, sometimes you need expert help from a service like SmartPHOTOeditors, who can help make a boring studio appear like an arena.

Use other elements

Last but not least, you can use elements like flour or something similar to create dust or the impression of dirt.

If you have those elements in the studio, then you can affect the look in the background, and the results of the motion are clearly visible.

Final Thought

These were just some simple tips on how to pull motion off in your sports photography. You will need to work on your sports photography skills before you bring a difficult project like this to perfection, but practice makes perfect, so start as soon as possible.

This article was a guest contribution from freelance writer Isabella Foreman