I consider myself a sports shooter and I’m most comfortable with ice hockey. I’ve spent countless hours working on my craft in a dark hockey rink, but I’m not as comfortable with other sports, especially in the sun.

There are workshops everywhere, but there are very few sports workshops other than the ones held by sportsshooter.

I jumped at the chance when I found out that Michael Clark was coming to town and was hosting an Art of Motion weekend with a bay area based photographer. A local workshop and on a weekend?!?!?!? Count me in! My goal wasn’t to obtain photos of sports other than hockey and didn't care if I shot any frames; my goal was to pick Mike’s brain. I wanted to know how he approaches and breaks apart a scene.

I did not go in with very high expectations mainly because I didn’t get any info about the workshop until a day and a half before the start (like where to show up and what time to show up). When I arrived at the first location (a skate park), I discovered the workshop was small (yay!) but filled with nice people who didn’t even know what RAW was and some had never changed a camera lens. I guess I’ve been spoiled by shooting with dgrinners on various shootouts, etc.

At first, we shot bmx in available light with a discussion of what modes to use (e.g. Av, M, Tv in canon speak) since most never shot anything other than fully automatic.

1. BMX – via ranger in an octo


Since I usually shoot wide open in my dark hockey rinks and I don’t notice the dust bunnies on my sensors. Let’s just say that I gasped when I saw the images on my monitor

I also brought my lights, left the group, found the guy they brought in to help at the skateboard (photographer and he skates) and had him round up the skate boarders for me. I started asking what should I look for in a good skate board photo composition since I’m generally follow the mantra “shoot tight, crop tighter” and “face, puck, action, emotion”. However, it’s a bit different for a skate park since the environment is important.

2. My first click after I did a test frame for the lights.


3. Faces are important, but body is too.


4. Environment matters since each park is different.


I’m used to shooting ice hockey, but I approach it PJ style since I have one chance and I better not screw it up, but the world advertisements and editorials are completely different. There is a concept of re-do over and over and over again until you get the shot! It’s a very different way of thinking….

We then drove to a hill and shot some downhill mtb.

Mike shoots more available light than I thought, but thinking about it, it makes sense…. You can’t use strobes if you’re shooting from a helicopter or hanging off of a mountain.

5. Available light


6. I can shoot in sun


7. Or light ‘em up


8. And a trail running shot is pretty much a landscape with a person in it…


I didn’t shoot with the group for most of the workshop since they were working on things like how to focus, but did sit next to Mike for two meals and asked him a ton of questions.

Some nuggets of info from my weekend:

-Athletes tend to push themselves a bit when the lens I placed upon them. As photographers, we need to watch for this and listen to body language on what they can actually do safely versus what they think they can do. We need to quickly figure out what the athlete can and can not do. Observe .

-Mike’s workflow is meticulous and he has an ebook. His photos are processed and tweaked to get every bit of out them. He doesn’t always have the opportunity to wait for perfect light or the perfect situation like when he’s shooting surfers. I saw an image of a surfer taken over a mile away with a ton of salt spray in between. The SOC image was pretty crappy (low contrast, over-exposed), but he was able to skillful bring the image back to life and ended up licensing it to apple for their ads for their MBPs.

-Don’t be afraid to try different angles

-A fishy is your secret weapon

-For sports and sun, a ranger is the way to go. It has the higher power with the shortest flash duration and more waterproof than the profoto.

-Calibration of monitor is key. Don’t even think about working on an image if your monitor isn’t regularly calibrated.

-Be aware of your environment. You don't want to fall off a cliff, or get run over by a bike, or fall into a bowl and get trapped.

-It seems that I can shoot sports other than hockey…..

Thanks for all the info. You most definitely can shoot sports other than hockey! Those shots are awesome!

I think you did really well here. Really well. Would have been fun to go to that workshop for sure.

Nice stuff, and really nicely timed. Sounds like it was a lot of fun and a great learning environment.

Great set I wouldn't have thought it was your first time shooting other than hockey at all.

Fun stuff to look at. I like the wide perspective on some of these a whole lot.

Originally Posted by cletus Thanks for all the info. You most definitely can shoot sports other than hockey! Those shots are awesome!

Thanks! It was a completely different way of thinking about sports.

Originally Posted by ian408 I think you did really well here. Really well. Would have been fun to go to that workshop for sure.

You might be able to catch one next year; Michael Clark might come back and teach another one in the bay area.

Originally Posted by adbsgicom Nice stuff, and really nicely timed. Sounds like it was a lot of fun and a great learning environment.

Workshops and shootout tend to push me outside my comfort zone and every few years, I think it helps my photography because it nudges me to do new things.

Originally Posted by RevLinePhoto Great set I wouldn't have thought it was your first time shooting other than hockey at all.

I shoot other things as well, but it my first time shooting folks on skateboards, on bmx bikes, on mountain bikes and trail runners. I realized that shooting hockey provided a good foundation for sports photography in general since it trained me in focus, tracking and timing.

Originally Posted by Bryce Wilson Fun stuff to look at. I like the wide perspective on some of these a whole lot.

The was one big tidbit from the workshop. For most sports, I tend to reach for a 70-200 or longer lens, but for some subjects, a wide or fishy is a better option.

Michael Clark believes that a fisheye is a sport's secret weapon.

I agree tracking and timing are very important when shooting all sports one millisecond latter and its a totally different image.