Getting Those Summer Shots: Tennis

Now that summer is here and things are warming up it is time to get out there and start shooting some summer time sports. I love to play and shoot tennis.

For the past several years OffWing has covered the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC. In addition to the Legg Mason, we will be covering Washington’s new World Team Tennis Team, the Washington Kastles.

FYI – Clicking on the thumbnails will take you to a larger version of the image.

The Basics:

The great thing about tennis is that players typically hit a lot of shots to win a match, which gives you as the photographer more opportunities to capture some good pictures.

Like most pictures involving people you will want the faces visible and in focus (especially eyes).

You will also typically want to shoot with a higher shutter speed so that you can “stop” the action. Try a shutter speed of 400 to start out. If you have a point-and-shoot camera, put it into “sport mode.”

How To Shoot Different Strokes

Image 1

Groundstrokes (Forehand & Backhand): Shoot across the net or at the net post so that you can see more of the body. There is also a better chance of getting the tennis ball in the shot from this angle. The picture to the left is John Isner, in this shot I have actually went up higher in the stands and shot down on him. This angle also removed the stands with people in the background, making it a very clean shot.

Image 2
Image 3
Image 4

Serve: In the above, are pictures of the serve from different angles. The first image of John Isner (Image 2) is probably the weakest of the three. Image 2 & Image 4 were taken on court, while the second one was taken from the stands. Note how John Inser (Image 2) is somewhat lost in the stands, while Kei Nishikori (Image 3) stands out more. The picture of Kei Nishikori benefits from the angle, but also a nice streak of light that hit him as he hit his serve, while the background is in shadows.

Overcoming Problems

Chain link fence: This is not a concern when shooting pro tennis, but it can be an issue when you are taking shots of your kids on the local court. What typically will happen is that the auto focus may focus in on the fence instead of the on court action. The trick is to place your lens on to the fence and open up the aperture of your lens. You can also try manual focus. NOTE: Do not let the lens touch the fence, use a lens hood to protect your lens.

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Image 7

Distracting backgrounds: Above is a picture of Bob Bryan (Image 5), as he hits a backhand. I like the picture, but the top of his body is lost in the stands. Trying some of the following tips will make your images more powerful.

• Change your location so that the background of the tennis player is also different. If you have a telephoto lens, that may mean moving up and away from the court so that you can shoot down on the action. The picture Gael Monfils (Image 7) is a great example of this technique.
• If you have a Digital SLR shoot with the aperture as wide open as possible, remember this means a lower number. This will have the affect of blurring the background, which will make your player stand out. Here is another shot (Image 6) of John Isner hitting a forehand, but this time I am at ground level, but the people in the stands are out of focus.

Evening/lack of light:

Image 8
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Image 11

As the sun drops down, stopping the action with high shutter speeds becomes more challenging. But that doesn’t mean that you must stop taking pictures. You just have to be a bit more creative. Below are some things that you can try:

• First off, increase the ISO of your camera which will increase the sensitivity of the camera to light. Be careful though, increasing the ISO too high can result in increased “noise” in the photo. The pictures of Andy Roddick (Image 11) as he follows through on his forehand demonstrates this. For this picture I had to increase the ISO to 1000. If you click on the image to get a larger version you will see “noise” which looks like little specks in the shadows and stands in the upper right hand corner of the image.
• Open up your aperture as much as possible and look for pictures that don’t require high shutter speeds. Things like facial reactions after a point, or close-ups in between points can be great. In image 8, Marat Safin is looking up at the scoreboard as they replay a point.
• Be more artistic by lowering your shutter speed to under 100. Arms, legs, racket and ball will begin to blur as they do in Image 9 of James Blake during his service motion.
• I liked the composition and color in image 10. There was no motion so I could use a slow shutter speed. What I saw was the long shadow of the player on the court, and the bright pink hat that popped out because the background was in the shadows.

I hope that you find these tips helpful. Now get outside and play, but don’t forget to bring the camera.

Posted on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 7:54 pm. Filed under: Photography Tips And Tutorials, Tennis Tags: Tennis RSS 2.0 feed.