Portrait Photography, Photography Tutorial

The English have one main love, which is Football. The passion for English football can be captured with a standard SLR camera, provided that you follow a few photography techniques in this article. There are many shots that you can make before, during and after the game which will capture the sheer spirit of this magnificent game.

England’s passion for this sport can be ideally portrayed in black and white photos. Besides capturing players during game play, there are numerous different photos which can depict various angles of the game atmosphere, player camaraderie and spectator enjoyment.

The oldest known photograph of an English football team was discovered by Peter Seddon, a freelance author.  It is dated back to March 4 1876 and depicts an England team before a match against Scotland. It is not known who took the picture, but was sent to the Derbyshire Football Express, a weekly newspaper dedicated to football, by a former England player Edgar Field in 1926.

Modern day leaders are also passionate about English football. Take Gordon Brown for instance. He has been a keen Raith Rovers fan since being taken to games in his early childhood. In his youth he sold football programmes to gain free entry to matches and today he even holds shares in the club. His favourite football moment was when Rovers beat Celtic in the Scottish League Cup in 1994 winning 6-5 on penalties, listening to the game via a friend’s phone with the radio being played down it. Despite the Tartan Army’s support for any team playing against England, Mr Brown swears that he would “root for England should Scotland be knocked out of a major competition”. He was also a strong advocate of bringing the 2018 World Cup to England.

The following black and white images illustrate the informal, “schoolyard” loosely organized matches, played in small English counties as well as professional matches which are witnessed by thousands at a stadium at full-house.

In order to ace your album of English Football photos, ensure that you plan ahead of time. Go to the game, knowing what shots you want and how you will achieve this goal. This means that you need to be familiar with the rules and positions within the game. Also ensure that you plan the best positions to shoot from, the people you want to target and are aware where the sun will be at that time of the day. For Football, you will require a lens of between 200mm and 600mm to adequately capture on-field action as well as a Tripod.

For night photography, you will also require an adequate flash, even if the game is played under lights. After you take the photos, upload them to your computer and use a good Digital Photography software to optimize your photos.

Before you head out to the big game, practice taking shots beforehand. Since the game consists of many moving objects, test your equipment at a park and either shoot your kids playing ball or pets for example. By doing this, you will learn how to track, focus and time your shots so that you skilled for the big game.  In order to fully capture English football players in action, patience is key. The number of shots taken to capture play does not always mean that quality shots are taken. Look out for shots which capture a specific Player action or emotion and snap. There is no need to capture an image for every action.  Position is of utmost importance. Make sure you are several meters behind the line so that you can capture a larger depth of field.  Shots taken before the game can be the most interesting. Arrive up to one hour before the game so that you have ample time to photograph individual Players warming up. It is a great opportunity to get “up close and personal” and capture the coaches interacting with the players and the referees. The afternoon will give a warm golden glow to skin tones of Players which is also a nice effect.  Pre-game, you will be able to shoot the other subjects such as families enjoying their lunch or men chatting over a beer.

The triumph and defeat can also be captured elegantly in black and white photography. There are so many photography techniques that can be applied to capture these emotions. Ensure that you time your shot and are facing the crowd so that you can capture a goal for example. Take different subjects in one shot, such as fathers and sons, old men and young men to provoke interest to the photograph.

Take the scoreboard, the team view under lights and for smaller games, take a shot of players with spectators witnessing a kick from the sideline. Photography capturing the amazement of youth are also quite provoking. Their passion for the sport can be captured perfectly with good time and planning ahead.  There are so many emotions that can be captured as well as the obvious shots such as a goal being struck. Sportsmanship can be captured when a Player congratulates another Player’s score. Frustration can also be captured when a goal narrowly misses or when a Referee awards a penalty.  You can also capture the beauty of the ground and surrounding parkland with a panoramic photo. Set your tripod and use the camera’s Panorama setting to achieve this photography technique.

You can take pictures of fans entering the stadium or interacting with each other during a drinks break. You can take shots of the bar/pub at the ground.You can take shots of players receiving their awards post-game. After the game has concluded, you can sum up the joy or defeat by both the players and spectacors by taking some great shots. The fans will be running, waving flags and jumping for joy. On the other hand, the defeated side will be somber. These shots are priceless and can be achieved with just a little patience, planning and practice.

Portrait Photography, Photography Tutorial
Portrait Photography, Photography Tutorial
Portrait Photography, Photography Tutorial

Portrait Photography, Photography Tutorial

Related terms: Tips for How to Take Good Portraits, Tips for Taking Portraits, Tips for Taking Portrait Photography, About Portrait Photographers, Take Great Portraits, Family Portrait Tutorial, Taking a Portrait, Studio Portrait Photography Tutorial