You Only Get One Shot! That's Why You Hire a Professional Photographer.

I get phone calls all the time from a Mom or a Dad, asking me to give a price to come out and photograph their son or daughter playing a particular sport or a coach will call me to come and shoot a team in an event.

My prices are not the cheapest. I generally charge between $250-$400 per event, depending on the circumstances.

While I don't get a lot of resistance to my pricing, due to the reputation I have as a sports photographer, I still occasionally do get the; "Wow! That's pretty high."

My response is always one of two questions, depending on what mood I am in.

Response one: "Are you referring to price or cost?" or "What criteria do you use when choosing a professional sports photographer?"

Are you paying for photos or are you paying for memories?

If you are simply buying pictures, find someone with a camera from Best Buy and give them $25 and let them post 400 shots on their website.

If you have a special occasion and you want it captured for a keepsake, you need a professional.

When you hire a professional sports photographer to shoot action photos of a sporting event, you are not only paying for their time and effort, you are paying for their experience, knowledge of the game flow, understanding angles and momentum and anticipation.

You paying a professional sports photographer for their professional grade cameras with extreme low light capabilities. You're renting their high speed professional grade lenses that can run $8000 to $10,000.00.

I've shot tens of thousands of action photos in little league baseball, select ball, football, basketball and other sports.

Every now and then I capture a moment like this.

Eaton, Ohio 8th grade basketball player Donnie Nicodemus was driving to the hoop in the Southwestern Buckeye League Championship game in Camden, Ohio at Preble Shawnee High School recently.

The lighting in the gym was not the worst I've shot in, but it wasn't good either.

I was shooting a Nikon D700 with a Nikor 80-200mm 2.8 lens and 5000 ISO and 1/800th of a second.

When I grabbed this frame and looked at the image, I realized that I had gotten Donnie's Mom in the background.

This wasn't just a picture, but rather a lifetime keepsake for Mom and son.

There is no greater satisfaction as a professional sports photographer than presenting a parent with a shot like this. I've shot a lot of pictures of Donnie as a result of little league photography. One I shot of him this past year was this pitching photo, with the Eaton Express, which became one of my favorites.

Why do you pay a professional photographer vs "Mom or Guy with Best Buy camera", you don't pay a professional for pictures and images. You hire a professional for memories that will hold a special place in your heart and soul for years to come.


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

Vincent Rush is a an Ohio based professional sports photographer that primarily serves as a Dayton Sports Photographer and  Cincinnati sports photographer.

Sports Photography + Portrait Photography = Sportrait Photography

Senior Portrait Photography by Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography

Senior Portrait Photography by Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Senior Portrait Photography by Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Just a few examples of what I refer to as "Sport-Rait" photography. 

As a result of shooting a lot of sports action photography, I am often asked if I can do Senior Portraits.

It's not my niche, but I certainly don't mind doing it. This was a great subject and a result of a simple action photo I took a few years ago of Monroe High School pitcher Jake Little. 

Two years later, his Mom would contact me about shooting his Senior portraits.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

The Marketing Mindset of High Growth Business Leaders

 Valley View Spartans Football by Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Marketing is often misconstrued as little more than advertising – lots of brands jumping up and down and shouting as they try to grab potential customers’ attention. Done right however, marketing will cover every touch point of your business from raising brand awareness (where advertising is often a good tool), to activities that develop trust, drive trial, encourage repeat sales and incentivize them to tell their friends about you.

The key is to create a strong marketing strategy, and the starting point for building such a strategy is to challenge the way you might think of marketing and develop a marketing mindset as part of your business culture.

Think of marketing as everything that touches your customer

One of the biggest challenges facing any CEO wanting to use marketing to grow their business is the fragmentation within the industry, which makes it difficult to navigate successfully, especially with limited budgets. As a result, marketing often ends up consigned to pockets of unaligned activities that fail to deliver their full potential.

Instead as a founder, business owner or appointed marketing person you need to become the linchpin that holds it all together.  PR, branding, advertising, social media, content marketing… they are all just some in a long list of potential marketing activities that can be implemented to your advantage. But it is vital to think of them as being under one umbrella of ‘marketing’ so that everything talks to your customer in the same way; if you don’t the messages gets confused and diluted.

The most successful customer–centric businesses broaden this principle even further and look at every part of the business that comes into contact with their customer.

The passion and knowledge (or lack thereof) which your staff shows for your business and brand are often the customers first in-person interaction and form the front line of your marketing strategy- first impressions really do count!

By thinking of these areas as being under the same marketing umbrella it will make it easier for you to define what should be done and said to customers at every touch point. If you want some inspiration, think Virgin Atlantic, think Zappos, think Apple– they work to make every contact with the customer a good one and the result is loyalty.

Make every business decision with your customer in mind

Those founders, CEOs and managers who actively encourage and embrace a marketing mindset within their teams have the ability to not only understand their customers but also identify new opportunities to grow their business and achieve that all important 20% year on year growth that is the hallmark of a high growth business.

To have a truly customer-centric business mindset there first needs to be a very clear picture of exactly who you are talking to. How succinctly can you describe your customer? Where do they live? Where do they shop? What do they do? What do they read and watch? Who influences them? Can you get a clear mental picture of them as one person? Build your customer profile and that picture can be used to guide the fundamental decisions in your business.

A great example of this customer-centric business approach is five year old Moma breakfasts – founded by Tom Mercer. Tom knew that the fundamental business decision he faced was in understanding where to sell his healthy on-the-go breakfasts and that to do this he needed to get in the mind of his target customers.  He was clear that his new product was all about solving the hunger pains of busy rushed commuters – so he refused to launch the brand until he got his first stall at the end of the platform concourse at Waterloo station – exactly where his hungry commuters were.

Be bold about your brand

Every successful business will get copied in one form or another. That is why business leaders with a strong marketing mindset create brands – not just products. If you create a brand that means something to people…with values, and an identity…competitors will be deterred from copying you and customers will have a reason to stay with you.

Innocent drinks for instance have seen a multitude of competitors entering their market, including many lower priced supermarket versions. But they continue to grow – both in the UK and by expanding into new international markets. Fundamentally, this is down to that brand personality that lives on those little bottles and in everything they do which drives an emotional attraction in that three second decision at the chiller.

The reality is that a brand is so much more than a logo. The most powerful brands mean something to people; they have values and are emotionally attractive to their target audiences. This first starts by identifying what you want your brand to stand for, and what it should stand for to be compelling to your target customers. These questions begin to force decisions about what you want to mean to your target audience. Once you are clear on what you want to mean – you can build a marketing plan to start saying it.

Remain wholeheartedly focused on the end goal

One of the biggest challenges of managing marketing in an ambitious business is the wealth of options open to you – and the confusion they cause. Plus when faced with exciting marketing ideas, new technologies, and a limited budget, it is easy to become distracted and want to try everything. This is when businesses into the trap of being execution led – rather than objectives led – leading to stretched resource, wasted money and sometimes disappointing results.

Starting out with a clear idea of what you want to achieve is key to avoiding these pitfalls. So, before you do anything, first assess what you want to achieve, or where you want to get to: If you want more people to know about you, that is about driving awareness; if you want people to try you out, that is driving trial; or if you want your current customers to buy more, it is all about driving frequency.  But only by creating a business culture where all the business leaders are constantly reviewing actions and progress versus what you want to achieve with your marketing can you keep the business on track to deliver results.

Spot your growth opportunities with a marketing mindset

Any business can look across at the competition and copy what they are doing well. Far fewer have the skill to see the competitions’ weaknesses, understand what customers truly want, and deliver a compelling solution. This ability to recognize opportunity is a key trait of a growth business and of a leader with a strategic vision. The success of the likes of Steve Jobs or Michael Dell rests in their fundamental belief that the purpose of business is to better serve your customer –the very essence of a marketing mindset.

Written by Christina Richardson on Friday, 21 September 2012

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Professional vs Amateur Photographers

Photo by Professional Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Photo by a Register Herald Newspaper Photographer

Today presented me with an excellent opportunity to do a direct comparison between a small town amature newspaper photographer and professional sports photographers photograph. The top photo is my photograph from a game involving the Eaton, Ohio 12U All Star team, and the bottom one is the same player and the photograph the newspaper editor chose to feature.

The write up was even worse, but I'm not a journalist and this is a photo blog.


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

The Importance of Image and Presentation for Youth Sports Photography Businesses

RegarRegardless of what business you’re in, first impressions are everything. A great first impression and a professional look can help a youth sports photography business book more business, and increase its sales on every job.

Presentation when booking the shoot

You will need to adapt your dress and presentation for different situations.

If you’re approaching a coach before a practice, you’ll want to dress more casually (khaki pants or shorts and polo shirts) than you would if you were meeting with league or school officials.

It’s also a necessity that you have professional looking business cards on hand to leave with the person/people that you’re meeting.

Business cards should look professional, not printed at home on card stock, and have a simple layout with all your relevant information clearly visible (address, phone number, email address).

Also, try putting your picture, preferably a nice business portrait, on your business cards. It’s much harder for someone to throw away a business card with a picture on it and it also reminds that person of you.

One mistake that youth sports photographers make when trying to book new business is that they put down their competition. Never be negative about a competitor. This makes you look unprofessional and can cost you the shoot in the end.

Don’t assume that the coach/organization is unhappy with their current photographer. You want to expand upon what your competition is doing and present yourself as a better solution to their needs.

Some other important things to consider:

 Continuity is important. Everything should be branded with your company name and logo.

 No tobacco use in or around school property or the meeting area. Also, no visible tattoos or unacceptable piercings should be showing.

Smile! Be a cheerleader for your business.

Have a professional way to show samples.

Presenting your samples electronically, on an iPad or Laptop, perhaps even with projector, will help you save money on physical samples.

However, you will want to have physical samples of any specialty products that you offer.

When making your presentation to a group of people be sure to have copies of your presentation to pass out. For a one on one meeting, having a single page flyer that outlines your services will suffice.

Know your products and offers thoroughly. Have pricing available that will fit people and areas from all walks of life.

Have a calendar and scheduling agreements with you, in case they want to book with you on the spot.

Everything is about expectations.

Make sure that your expectations regarding a shoot line up with theirs

Do what you say you’re going to do when you’re going to do it.

Your professional image says a lot about you and your business and it can mean the difference between booking a shoot or watching your competition collect the sales. 

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

You’re Charging Too Much For Your Photography

By scottbourne

 

Well not really – but I needed a catchy headline. Chances are you are charging too little. Let me explain.

(Please note this post is written from the perspective of a professional photographer. If you want to do photography for charity or use it to provide social outreach or pure art, this post may not be something you’ll care to read. Thank you.)

Every time – every single time – someone says – “Your price is too high,” it means that you have the wrong prospect. You don’t have the wrong product or price. You have the wrong prospect.
A man with $2000 in his pocket out to buy a car walks into a Jaguar dealership, sees a lovely XJL sedan and says, “I like that. How much is it?” The salesman replies, “$120,000 sir.” The man says, “That’s too much.” Is it? Obviously the problem here is not that the Jaguar isn’t a nice car or that it costs too much. The problem is that the man simply can’t afford a car in this price range. He’s not the right prospect. There will never be a meeting of the minds here.

So this illustrates part one of this problem. Wrong prospect always leads to no sale.

What is the solution? Is the solution to sell a different product or reduce the price? Absolutely not. The solution is to find the person who can afford that price and wants that product.

Photographers often charge too little because they have an “opinion” based on their own experience about what the market will stand for. But that’s the core problem. The photographer isn’t the buyer. The photographer doesn’t necessarily represent the market. You should be aiming higher than your own income bracket if you want to grow your business so find clients who CAN afford your higher prices and sell to them.

Most often it’s your opinion that is the problem. It’s not the price. It’s not the product. It’s your opinion about what the market will stand for.

Let me give you another example. If you live in a world where the average income is $50,000 a year, you probably haven’t considered adding a Rolls-Royce Phantom to your garage. This may lead you to believe that since you can’t afford it, nobody can. But that’s wrong-headed thinking. Want proof? Rolls-Royce sells a model called the Phantom. It’s $380,000. Now they also sell a special edition of the Phantom called the “Year of the Dragon” edition. That version of the car costs $1.2 million. Guess what. They completely sold out of those cars – worldwide – in 60 days. So while you may not be able to afford that car, it doesn’t mean someone else can’t.

There are people in this world – in fact in your neighborhood – who can write $100,000 checks without even asking their spouse for permission. There’s plenty of money around, even in a bad economy. You just have to find it.

So study demographics. Which zip code in your area is the most affluent? Where are the country clubs? These are the places where your prospects for high-end photography exist.

Not everyone cares about making a great deal of money in their photography business. Some prefer the social nature of the job or the artistic nature of the job. For them, this isn’t going to resonate. But for those of you who would like to make more money, start thinking about finding the RIGHT prospects – the ones who can value and afford what you do.

An article by Scott Bourne posted on Twitter on Feb 6th, 2012

Re-Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Getting Your Name Out There as a Photographer

  Cincinnati Reds Photography by Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography

 

By skipcohen

 

Over the years I’ve met and talked with thousands of professional photographers. One of the questions that comes up on a regular basis, especially with new photographers, relates to getting your name out there. A few of these I’ve written about before, but let’s see if we can come up with a list of projects to help you get started.

• Decorate the doctor’s office: I’ve been talking about this one for years. How much money do you or did your parents spend on doctor bills, especially with the pediatrician? Well it’s time for payback! The last class doctors takes before getting out of medical school is about decorating their office. They’re taught to not spend more than $50!

Think about your last doctor visit. There wasn’t much on the walls of the waiting room, unless your doc was a high-end neurosurgeon and then maybe they had a few Ansel Adams posters! So, here’s a great idea and it’s perfect for the pediatrician.

Offer to put some images on the walls of the reception area! Kids, family portraits, anything with a sense of children. Then in the corner, on the table next to that 1984 copy of Popular Mechanics put a stack of your business cards or brochures.

Here’s the deal – women make 98% of the purchase decisions to hire a professional photographer. Who takes the kids to the doctor’s office? It’s Mom and she’s sitting there bored, with nothing to read. This is about the subliminal message you can plant with a few well done family and children’s portraits!

• Restaurants and coffee shops: They all need help, especially if you’re a regular customer. Helen Yancy told a group of photographers at Summer School about getting started at a local Coney Island restaurant in her area just by decorating the walls of the restaurant with her images.

• Meet and Greet: Take a couple of days and just wander around your local business area. Get to know the neighborhood and introduce yourself. Local businesses, sooner or later, have imaging needs and you want to let them know you’re there.

• Start your own network luncheon. Contact everyone in the area who has something in common with your target audience. Find an inexpensive diner type restaurant and get together once a month for lunch just to talk about what’s going on in the community.

• Get involved in your community! With or without a camera in your hand, get involved with the people you’re looking to support your business. Join Kiwanis, Rotary, Exchange Club etc.

• Do your own fundraiser! Vicki Taufer did one of the very first pet days in her area three years ago and today she’s one of the best known pet photographers in her community. She tied in with the local animal shelter, but you can set up a fundraiser with any organization.

• Is there a local children’s store? It’s another great one from Vicki Taufer, who when she was first starting, did all the children’s portraits of the clerks and owner of the local children’s clothing shop. They all became her ambassadors.

• Develop promotions and advertise! I know it’s obvious, but this is the first one in the list that will actually cost you some money, but you have to have a plan. If you think you can get away with running just one ad and then waiting to see the results, think again. You need to have consistency in your timing and in the placement/location of the ad.

• Cross-promote with other vendors. It’s easiest to explain within the wedding category, but essentially you’re going to give a discount certificate to any bride for the local florist and the florist is going to give the bride a certificate for something from you, but try and stay away from discounting. Give an hour of extra coverage or an addition 8×10 – go for added value rather than price reductions.

• Contact the PTA at the local schools. Isn’t it time we upgraded the bake sale concept? How about offering family sittings for a holiday card shot. It’s only September and you’ve got time to work with any local association or group and have an image in people’s hands in time for their holiday cards.

• Career Day and Adult Education: All of you are qualified to do a career day at the local school and help motivate an interest in photography with kids. Many of you are also qualified to teach an adult education class on photography. This is about getting involved in the community and don’t forget to do a press release to the local paper with a picture of you interacting with the participants at each event.

• Enter photo contests and competitions. Most of the national associations have some level of print competition. Local chapters have regular print competition as well as portfolio reviews. This is a great way to get feedback outside your immediate circle of family and friends.

It’s not costly to get your name out there, but it is labor intensive. This is where outsourcing comes into play. By not doing everything yourself you can find the time to market your personality and skill set. Your time is best spent getting to know your client base rather than sitting behind a computer editing images!


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

2011 Eaton Little League Highlight Video

2011 Eaton Little League Highlight Video






2011 Eaton Little League Baseball Highlight Video. Photos by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography

“Our Summer Song” by Forever the Sickest Kids

“We are the World Tonight” by an Unidentified Artist and originally played in ESPN’s 2011 Little League World Series Highlight video (My wife thinks it may be the lead singer for The News Boys)

All but a few action photos were shot by Vince Rush in Eaton, Ohio, during the 2011 Little League season.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Tips on Becoming a Great Sports Photographer Part 3

   Big East Track Championships at University of Cincinnati by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

...Part 3

Freezing Action Shots

So far, we have discussed each event and they types of shots to be taken. Safeties generally are taken at times where the action is minimal, and we don't have to concentrate as much on freezing the action. But what sells, and what the viewers want to see are people suspended in mid-air. They want to see the crisp ball laying just off the receivers finger tips. To do that, we must freeze the action.

Freezing the action requires fast shutter speeds. Most modern, high end 35mm SLRs have a top shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second. Except for a speeding bullet, this is about fast enough to catch anything you or I are likely to shoot, even an Indy car blasting around the track at 230mph.

But it isn't that simple. Lets first discuss a standard photographic rule of thumb, which is the minimal speed for hand-holding a lens. The minimal shutter speed for hand holding a lens is 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. Thus a 50mm lens should not be hand held any slower than 1/50th of a second. A 300mm lens should not be hand held at less than 1/300th of a second. If your camera does not have shutter speeds between say 1/250 and 1/500, then you round up. So for a 300mm lens, your minimal hand hold speed may be 1/500th of a second. The more proficient you get, the more likely you are to be able to cheat by one shutter speed. A monopod is the preferred way for action photographers to gain additional steadiness. It can generally buy you one to two shutter speeds of hand holding.

Not only has it become more difficult to hand hold these lenses, it becomes harder to freeze the action as well. The lenses get heavier and harder to hold. Your breathing and heart beating and muscle strain are enough to cause still objects hard to capture. Longer lenses not only magnify the scene, they magnify the apparent movement. If a runner passes through the viewfinder with a 50mm lens attached in one second, then at 500mm, the same person moving at the same speed will pass in 1/10th of a second.

Generally, to freeze action, you need at least two full shutter speeds if not more faster than the hand hold speed. So for our 300mm lens, you will need at least 1/1200 to 1/2400 to freeze action with this lens (rounding up, that's 1/2000-1/4000th of a second). Even at these speeds, you may have to follow side to side movement, called panning to have the movement crisp when you expose the film Lets say you are shooting a car racing event. Even at high shutter speeds, if you hold the camera still and wait on the car, you will capture a blur. By matching the movement of the subject with the movement of the lens, you minimize the relative motion between the two.

For subjects coming to you or heading away, their apparent movement isn't as great. Many people make up some of the action freezing by getting things coming toward them.

Film is critical in freezing action. Each increase in film speed gets you one more shutter speed. So if you shoot an event with ISO 100 film and the best you can get is 1/500th of a second, switching to an ISO 400 film gets you to 1/2000th which may be enough to freeze the action. Going to ISO 1600, will take you to 1/8000th of a second.

Adding high shutter speeds, fast films, monopods, panning, or shooting objects as they come toward you, and capturing action at its peak will let you freeze fantastic shots.

Giving the illusion of movement.

Many new action photographers worry about freezing action, trying to get the crispest shots possible. Even veteran photographers will try for crisp shots, but they are not afraid to allow some blurring.

Stop and think about it for a minute. A baseball pitcher throws the ball, the batter swings the bat. Your eyes don't freeze the action precisely, so why should your pictures. A blurring bat, or an elongated ball leaving a blurry arm imply movement. As long as most of the body and the face is crisp a little motion in the hands, feet, and projectiles is acceptable and in many cases desired. This is another little cheat in not having that fast of a shutter speed.

Some times, we slow the shutter speed down intentionally to amplify the movement. We have all seen shots of runners where the background is a blur their arms and legs are a blur, but their body and head are fairly well focused. Combining panning, slower shutter speeds, and predictable movement and you can capture some very dramatic pictures showing all kinds of movement.

These types of shots require patients, work, and a lot of experimenting. Don't hesitate, when at an event to experiment with different techniques . . . after you get your safeties and your primary shots.

Emotion

Shots that lack emotion are ho-hum. They lack energy. They lack story telling ability. If there is no emotion, then there is little desire to view it. Most tight action shots of players will be emotional. Regardless of level, these players, when they are exerting themselves, exhibit emotion. From the little tee-ball player messing with her hair and her helmet, to the strain of a pole vaulter working to get over the cross bar, there is plenty of emotion to be found in sports. You will, from experience be able to edit out the shots that lack emotion and do not tell the story. But it requires shooting and shooting.

You should also look for emotion from other sources. As years of ABC's Wide World of Sports told us . . . The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Make sure to save film to shoot the players after their events. Or during their events, don't always focus on the ball, but on the emotion after the big 360 degree slam dunk. Don't forget to look for emotion in the coaches and the fans. A lot of the best shots come from the crowd.

Where to Start

 It's important to understand that not every photographer will be able to take this information and expect to step onto the field at Great American Ball Park, sit in the press gallery and expect to capture Grade A shots of Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. To get to that level, you have to have a proven sports portfolio and work for an agency who can get you access.

Before you get to that level, you have to shoot a lot of minor sporting events. The best place to start is your local youth leagues. Early in my career, I got broken in on high school sports, but through my experience there, I got to shoot for my college papers and year books. That allowed me access to shoot NCAA Division I sports early on. But I would not have had that opportunity without having developed a portfolio from my early days of shooting.

Local youth leagues provide you great access and opportunities to use smaller lenses to capture shots. As your portfolio develops, you can approach shooting at higher levels. You can get a lot of practice and experience here which is valuable when going to "The Show".

Today, I am back shooting for a small town paper and the highest level of sports that I have reasonable access to is high school. Even though I have been to "The Show", I still enjoy getting pictures of 5 year olds when they catch their first ball or score their first goal.

You may however get opportunities to shoot pro games from a fan's perspective. Depending on your location in the arena, you can get some reasonably good shots. Take your long lens and some high speed film and make the most of it. In these situations, freezing action isn't as important as being able to hand hold the lens. The players will be at such a distance that their movement will be like a person closer to you with a normal lens on. As long as you have enough shutter speed to get a steady shot you should be able to get memorable shots.

Summary

One final note. Don't rush your action assignments. Spend some time, and expect to burn some film. Only through practice and looking at the results and going back to it will you get the timing and skills needed to one day capture world class shots.


Written by Rob Miracle in 1998

Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Know your Sport...Know your Players! Part 2

Karate Black Belt and Olympic hopeful Amanda Joiner photographed in Monroe by Photographer Vincent Rush

Volleyball
Volleyball is a rarely covered event, with beach volleyball getting more press than the traditional gym based variety. Volleyball can yield some rich, colorful and dramatic shots given the need and desire to take them. Your access in volleyball venues will vary drastically. For instance, during a high school game, you may be permitted to shoot along the sidelines, or not far behind the end lines. As the level of competition goes up, you will be moved further and further back. In beach volley ball, you probably will not be permitted in the sand pit at all. So pack a long lens and some sun block (for the beach game).

Volleyball shots are tricky to use auto focus on. If you are shooting from behind the lines towards the net, the AF could trigger on the net, the back of the opposing players, the back wall, or just about any point in between. It is best to use a vertical sensor for this sport since people are going up and down and there is little side to side movement. For manual focus, you want to zone focus. From behind the end line, most all action at the net will be at the same distance from you, so focus on an area just a little behind the net and leave it there.

For shots along the side lines, it is best to shoot at an angle to capture the faces. These are the best times to capture digs and diving players as you should have a fairly un-obscured view of all the players. Traditionally, volleyball follows the "Bump Set Spike" ritual. Learn who the diggers, setter, and hitters are. Then take your time working on a shot of the individual skill you want to capture. Your setter will be easy to track and get shots of. Digging is a bit tricky since it can come from any were on a given half of the court, be a low or high dig, involve a dive or other less than predictable motion. Hitters/blockers are fairly easy to capture since that area of play is somewhat limited.

Your safeties are the player serving and the setters since they are fairly easy to capture. Next work on your hitters/blockers followed by digs.

Golf
Golf is a fairly easy game to shoot as far as action goes, but it is one of the toughest because of the nature of the game. That is you can get good action shots if you can get there at all. Consider the following. Golf is a long distance, one direction game. It is played over a course of thousands of yards in a some what straight path and it is played from hole to hole. Secondly, it is a quiet game where the slightest distraction is not allowed. Finally, for your safety, your access to swing areas is limited.

The first problem is addressed by one of two methods. First, you can camp at one location, such as a tee box or a green on one hole and shoot multiple people as they pass you. Or alternatively, you can with the permission of the course, use a cart and follow individual golfers. Cart paths are narrow and heading against the grain is difficult. Ideally, you will learn the course and find a spot where you can shoot both green play and a tee box with minimal movement.

Even at 400mm, you may not get close enough for good tight shots. Longer lenses are almost a must for capturing competitive golf. If you are shooting recreational golf, say your beer buddies, you can get closer and a lens in the 200mm range will suffice. Any focus method will work since the players are basically standing still. Golf, in particular at the pro level is very sound sensitive. Turn off the AF (you don't need it any way) and go to a slient manual focus. If you have silent AF lenses, such as the Canon USM or the Nikon AF-S lenses, then you can AF. Some events may require you to use a sound blimp around the camera if your shutter/motor are distracting to the golfers.

There are a few main golf shots, in most all cases, they are individual shots. The primary action golf shots include a shot during the back-swing, a shot near impact of the ball, a shot after the follow-through with the golfer looking for the ball or any time during a putt (but be quiet). However, there are a lot of opportunities for safeties in golf. Any shot of a golfer studying the course, be it looking at the scorecard, messing with the golf bag, talking to the caddie, or lining up a putt are easy shots to get. These are times where the firing of the shutter will be more tolerated. Also, shots after the follow-through are considered safe shots. The action is paused and you know its going to happen so getting them is somewhat easier.

Don't forget that a lot of good golf shots, and other sports for that matter do not involve play at all. One of my personal favorite golf shots was of a greens keeper changing the pins.

Track and Field
Track and Field meets are a lot of fun to shoot. You get a lot of variety of shots, multiple opportunities to shoot most participants and events and there generally is a lot of emotion displayed during a track meet. The most difficult things about track meets are logistical.

Access can be restricted depending on the level of play that is being photographed. At a high school meet, there is little in the way of restrictions. Just stay out of the participants way, or out of the way of projectiles like shot puts and discus and you are okay. As you climb the ladder, access gets tighter and tighter. Even at NCAA Division I level meets, the access is still pretty good. Pro level, Olympic, or Major Events will be more tightly controlled due to the size of the event and the amount of media present. Access will be restricted to particular shooting areas.

Logistically, track meets are hard to cover because multiple events are going on at once. If media movement is controlled, you may only get to shoot one or two events. But at a more relaxed meet, you will have more freedom to scoot from event to event. Because of time, multiple heats/attempts and so on, the track will generally be filled with races while the inside of the track contains the field events.

There are no specific safety shots in a track meet, but the individual events are fairly easy since almost all movement is predictable. Track events all move one direction. Shooting the finish, or turns provides the most dramatic events. For the hurdles, it is pretty easy to time the players as they peak over the hurdles. Relays, with the baton passing is probably the hardest part to capture because the runner taking the baton may obscure the runner handing it off. Use follow focus to catch runners and they move past, or zone focus if you are working on the finish line.

Field events, like wise are very predictable. Events like the high jump, long jump, and pole vault involve participants running towards an object, and then jumping over it. This is a zone focus heaven. Use a little depth of field (F5.6 or so) and focus on the bar for the high jump and pole vault and fire as they start up and over. You should catch them at the peak as they hurdle over the event. If you didn't get that run, don't worry, each player generally takes two or three shots and there are multiple players.


The Long jump, and its cousin, the triple-jump are pretty easy. They are also zone focus events. If you are at the end of the pit, focus just a few feet into the pit and fire when they hit the board and begin their jump. After a few jumps, you should have a feel for when they peak at their jump and will nail a few really good jumps. If you have to shoot from the side, you still zone focus over the middle of the pit, track the runner as they head down the track and fire when they go airborne.

The throwing and hurling events are likewise easy to shoot. The players have to stay within a confined space, so zone focus and you will do well. Try to catch them when their face is towards you and when their emotion is at its best or just after the throw.

If you have good access, you can get some great shots with an 80-200mm lens. If you are restricted you may need a 400mm or longer, but in most cases you can get away with smaller lenses.

Gymnastics and Figure Skating
Gymnastics, as a rule, is a no flash event. While a flash may be tolerated at a basketball game, or a night football or baseball game, its generally a no-no for gymnastics. The participants are easily distracted and the slightest hesitation can cause serious injury. The bad thing is most gymnastics happen is poorly lit situations. Lighting will be covered later.

Like Track and Field, gymnastics is a series of events with individuals performing. The events go on simultaneous to each other and depending on the level of the meet, your access may be limited to minimize distractions. With the exception of the floor program, most of the gymnastics events are kept in a small area which makes focusing easy and the movements are predictable. Even with the vault, your object is to catch the vault itself or the landing. So you will probably want to zone focus most of the events. The floor exercise will require follow focus or auto focus. Your lens choice will vary too much by access, but like other indoor sports you want the fastest glass available.

Events like the balance beam, rings, parallel bars, and the uneven bars provide several opportunities to capture the athletes in artistic, athletic, and emotional poses where capturing the moment is somewhat easier. The vault and floor exercises require more timing to get good shots. However, for the floor exercises, its about emotion anyway, so catching the cute smiles and ballet style poses is critical to telling the story more than catching someone in a tumbling pass.

Figure Skating combines the problems of gymnastics with the problems of hockey. You are limited by your access to off ice and you have to compensate for the white surface. Lighting isn't as good as a hockey game. Frequently, the lighting is spot lights, so knowing stage lighting is important. The programs can be predictable and are generally published before the event so you know when the triple jumps are coming. Lens length is determined by proximity to the surface but again, you want the fastest glass possible. Autofocus is a good idea for Figure Skating, though some success with follow and zone focusing can be achieved.

Motorsports and Racing Events
These sports are generally fairly easy to photograph. They generally occur during the daytime and you can get away with longer slower lenses. AF isn't quite as important because the action occurs in a very precticable fashion. You can follow or zone focus easy enough. Safety shots are the partcipants racing past you. The challenge for racing sports is to show motion which will be covered shortly. You don't want your Forumla 1 car looking like it is sitting still. Also much more importantly, there is a lot to the game other than the cars or horses running around the track. The pits/paddock afford some of the best shots. Be ready for an accident. They can happen at any time.

The biggest problem with racing sports is the distance from the track. You only have the partcipants for a brief time on each lap and in the case of the ponies, you only get them for one lap (per race). You will need big lenses in almost all circumstances for the race itself. Your shorter lenses work well for crowd and off track shots.


Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Know your Sport...Know your Players! Part 1

               Monroe Hornets Sports Photography by Monroe, Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Know your Sport, Know your Players Part 1

Each sport is different in the techniques used to capture the moment. Each sport has a limited number of unique shots. You can only shoot so many basketball games before you start feeling like, "been there, done that". Each sport also has opportunities to get "safeties". A safety is a shot that is easy to get and will give you something to publish if you fail to get good action. For instance, I was shooting a baseball game. In the visitors at bat in the second inning, the skies opened up and it started raining. I had time to shoot the home team in the field and at bat once. Realizing the pending weather, I concentrated on getting some simple usable shots instead of waiting on some excitement at a base, like a steal. Safeties include things like batters batting, pitchers pitching, basketball players shooting free throws, the quarterback under center. Take times when the action is slow to get some good tight shots to use in case no good action materializes. Shoot your safeties first, concentrate on action later. You always want to come back with something.

Its also important to spend some time at an event and not rush the assignment. Many photographers are under intense deadlines and cannot devote enough time to their sporting events and it shows in their work. I expect one usable shot every 20 frames. I like to shoot at least 72 (2 -36's) per event and I can come out with several usable shots and some fantastic ones. If you go to a soccer game and shoot a 1GB chip, don't expect much.

Its very important to know the sport you are covering. You have to know the coach and their coaching style. You have to understand some basic fundamentals of the game or you will become very frustrated. For instance, in football, if its 3rd down and 1 yard to go, don't expect a pass, but point the camera at the full back. In most likelihood, he will be getting the ball, unless its late in the game and they have to pass. Or don't wait on a steal at 2nd base with 2 outs. Coaches hate making the last out of the inning on the base paths.
You also need to know players and their habits. Some players are full of emotion and tend to display their patterned moves. For instance at a local high school girls soccer match, I got a dramatic sequence of a player doing a cartwheel throw in. I knew it was coming and I was prepared for her move when she got the ball.
Knowing your sport goes beyond the rules and players. Know your coaches and what tends to make them emotional. Get fan shots or cheerleader shots with their emotion. A co-worker once told me "even a blind pig gets an acorn once in a while". Any photographer will eventually get the "action" shot, but sometimes you need that crying cheerleader after a loss, or fans in costumes going nuts to completely tell the story. The game goes beyond the boundaries of the field and the rule book.

Baseball
Baseball is one of the hardest sports to shoot. The action is unpredictable. You wait and wait and then when you are half asleep, something happens. Much of the field is out of range of normal zoom and telephoto lenses. Depending on the level of your sport, you will need long lenses. For most regulation fields (90 feet between bases, 350+ feet to the wall), you need 400mm or longer if you are shooting from the dugouts. It lets you shoot all the infield positions reasonably tight from the dugout/press area. The near base can be gotten with a 200-300mm lens. If you are shooting little league, you can get away with a 200-300mm lens because of the smaller fields unless you are trying to catch the outfield. Night baseball is too poorly lit and you need professional long telephotos to capture good images here.

Your safeties in baseball consist of the pitcher, throwing the ball, the batters batting, the catcher catching or getting a sign from the dugout. After these shots, the game becomes a little less predictable. When a batter hits the ball to an infielder, you have to find the play, aim the camera, focus, and fire. Generally its too late. What you have to do is kinda keep the camera pointed at the short stop or the second baseman. Keep the camera near your face, but you need to watch the play. In particular, if you are standing where you can see the batters stomach, you are in risk of getting hit by a foul ball. If you see the batters back, you will rarely see a foul ball. Once you have an idea of where the play is going, you can adjust, focus and fire. If you are shooting from the first base dugout, 3rd and Short Stop should be about the same distance away, so you can zone focus here. Likewise, from the third base dugout, 2nd and 1st are about the same distance.



Basketball
Unlike baseball, basketball is the easiest sport to shoot. Action is contained in a 100 foot x 50 foot area. There are two objects (the nets) where the action always heads. Basketball is a game of limited shots though. You can shoot jump shots, lay ups, free throws, blocks, dribbling, and defense. Zone focus works well in basketball. You know lay ups are going to happen close to the net, so focus on the net and wait on the action to come to you. Your focusing techniques will vary somewhat if you are on the side line or base line. If you are on the baseline, zone focus is the best method. If you are along the side, you can follow focus. Your safeties are free throws and players dribbling or looking to pass. At these times action is minimal and you can get some good tight shots of players.

Basketball (and other gym sports) is probably the worst lighting situation you will get into, however, you can get away with much slower shutter speeds. When a player drives for a lay up or takes a jump shot, they almost pause at the top of their jump. This is the peak of the action and the shot should be taken then. Since they have stopped moving for a millisecond, that is the best time to freeze them. Once you have these shots under your belt, you can then start working on emotion shots, blocks, and other action which may not come along as often.

Generally you can get away with anywhere between a 50mm and 135mm lens with 85-105 being optimal. This lets you cover out to about mid court. If you want to shoot shots under the far basket, you will need a longer lens. However a fast lens, like an 85mm F1.4 is an excellent choice for most of your basketball action shots.

Football
Football is also an easy sport to shoot but may be one of the most equipment intense sports. Most of the time, you will be shooting at night and fast glass is required. Motion is predictable and a student of the game can almost predict the plays to allow you to get ready. Knowing your sports allows you to know if its a passing situation or running situation so you know where to focus your attention. For instance, in a football game, if it is 3rd down with 1 yard to go, you can be pretty comfortable that a running play is coming. So get your lens pointed at the backfield and get ready.

Football affords the fewest safeties. You can get the QB getting ready to pass or the coach on the side lines. However, the action shots are plenty. You will get opportunities to photograph the quarterback throwing the ball and running backs running the ball. Make sure you get these shots. Then you can go hunting pass plays to the receivers.

If you have freedom of movement, you want to set up 5-10 yards down field from the play. That way you get the QB and running backs coming at you. If you are stuck in photo zones between the goal line and the 35 yard marker, you will be limited to shooting plays that occur in that area. Big glass is important to football. If you have freedom of movement, a 300mm F2.8 is the ideal lens. However if you are restricted, you either need a 2x on the 300mm or a 600mm to reach plays on the far end of the field. If you are patient or shooting youth league, you can get away with an 80-200 zoom. You will have to wait on more plays to come your way. You wont get much in the middle or far side of the field.

Since football movement is up and down the field and most photographers shoot from a side line, football is a follow focus sport. It is a pretty easy sport to follow focus because the subject to camera distance changes constantly, so once you start focusing, you should be able to time your turning the focus ring with their movement.

Soccer and Hockey
Auto focus was invented with soccer and hockey in mind. These two sports involve rapid changes in direction. The subject to camera distance changes so fast, its hard to follow focus because in an instant, the play is heading another direction. Zone focusing is a bit more applicable, except there is no guarantee the play will enter your focus zone. AF solves this problem because it tracks the play better than you. These two sports alone are the reason I moved from manual cameras to auto focus.

Soccer is a game where you need long lenses. Generally, you have good access to the side lines. At the major league and college level, there may be some limits, but they probably are not as tight as football because the number of players on the sidelines is much less. You will typically shoot from the touch (or side) lines, though you can get some real good shots from behind the net or along the goal line. The lens of choice for Soccer is a 400mm F2.8 or longer. Many pro soccer photographers will have two cameras. One with the long lens mounted and a second with an 80-200mm zoom. This gives me some flexibility in composition while giving me the length needed to capture this large field game. If play gets close, they can switch bodies and go to the shorter lens.

Soccer is a good game to get some dynamic and exciting photos. Your safeties include players dribbling the ball and throw ins. Get these shots and then work on catching headers, traps, corner kicks, and goalie saves. Soccer headers require the most accurate guessing on timing. The ball will be out of the frame quickly. It takes a lot of practice to capture these.

Hockey, while similar to soccer in its unpredictable movement, has an advantage of being played in a smaller contained area. An 80-200mm lens is good for shooting hockey regardless of where the play is. To get shots on the far end of the rink, up to 300mm may be needed. Hockey however has some quirks that you need to be aware of. Frequently you are limited to shooting through the glass which limits the angles you can shoot or through chain link fence for outdoor roller hockey. Some arenas you are limited to one location and have a small hole to shoot though and you most likely will be competing with other photographers for this real estate.
The ice or deck wrecks havoc with your camera's meter. You will need to overexpose by at least one stop in ice rinks to get white ice. This takes away from your available shutter speed. Your safeties includes face offs, and players skating with the puck/ball. Good shots can be had of the goalies, though many of your shots will be of players on the rink.

Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Tips on Becoming a Great Sports Photographer Part 1

              Yankee Stadium on Closing Night. Posted by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

We have all at one time or another been captivated by sports images. It may be Kirk Gibson's World Series Home run, and the image of him running the bases, overcoming the pain he was in or an image of high flying Michael Jordan slam dunking a basketball with his tongue out. We have all been captured in the moment of human drama. We all like a good action photo and, in particular, if your kids play sports, you want to remember them in their toils.


Quality sports shots are somewhat difficult to come by. Most people have limited access to events to photograph them. The further away you are from the event, the harder it becomes to capture the event in a pleasing manner. Sports are an event where crowd control is important, not only for the crowd's safety, but for the players also. There is nothing more frightening than to be on the sidelines of a football game, focused on a play in the field, when out of the blue a 250 pound line backer drives a player into your legs or a foul ball comes crashing at your $8,000 lens!

World renown sports photographer Rob Miracle shares his knowledge on the subject

Location, Location, Location!

You can only photograph things you can see. The closer you are to someone, the better you can see them. Sports are no different. You have to get as close to what you are shooting as you can. Typically, for a photographer with a press pass, you can get to the sidelines or other similar locations. You generally will not be permitted on the playing field. Depending on the sport, you most likely will be limited to designated locations. For instance, at most Division I football games, the media cannot shoot between the two 35 yard markers. For most people, the situation is even worse. You probably don't have press access and are stuck in the stands for your shots. Get as close a possible. Even if you make it to the sidelines, you will be jostling for space with many other photographers, both still and video who have worked hard to get there and have the same job to do that you have.

You also have to be familiar with the sport to be able to capture the moment. This means knowing where to position yourself for the best action. This is critical because of angular momentum that will be discussed in the section on freezing action. Not only does it matter with the subject, but the background. Look at what is going to be behind your subject. While we will try to minimize the impact that a background has, it will still be unavoidable. So you need to position your self where the background is the most pleasing.

The Decisive Moment

Sports and Action photography is all about timing. Its about reacting. Its about being in the right place at the right time and its about execute. These are all qualities of the athlete and those of the photographer as well. Each sport has predictable and unpredictable moments. Under "Knowing your Sport", you will learn about these moments for individual sports. For instance, in basketball, you will have opportunities to photograph layups, jump shots, free throws, etc. Understanding the timing of these predictable actions allows you to capture the peak moment, when the action is most dramatic.

By knowing these moments you can anticipate the action. This helps in two ways, one it helps you with focus which will be discussed in a later segment, and secondly it helps you snap the shutter at the right time. The saying goes "If you see the action you missed it." This basically means if you wait for the soccer player to head the ball then press the shutter release, the ball most likely will be sailing out of the frame. You have to push the button before the action so that the mirror has time to flip out of the way and the shutter open and close. There is a delay between the image hitting your optical nerve and the shutter closing. You have to, through experience, learn what that time is and adjust for it.

Required Equipment

Most sports are shot on 35mm cameras because of their portability. While some photographers have captured great sports moments with other format cameras, we will concentrate our efforts on the 35mm arena which is the most commonly used gear.

"Its not the equipment but the photographer who makes the picture" is generally a true statement. However with sports and action photography, having the wrong equipment means not getting the shots you want or need. This relates back to the section on location. The further away, the longer the lens is needed to capture the same image in the frame. Different sports require different lens lengths. For instance, basketball is generally shot from the baseline or sideline near the baseline. You generally can get good results with an 85mm lens in this situation. However, by the time the players are at mid court, you need a 135mm to capture them. If they are playing under the far goal, a 200-300mm lens is needed to fill the frame well, yet for shooting a soccer game, a 300-400mm lens is needed for just about anything useful.



Lens speed is also a critical factor. The faster the lens, the faster the shutter speed you can use, which as the lens grows longer, this becomes even more important. This will be covered in the freezing action section in more depth. If you look at the sidelines of any Division 1 college football game or an NFL football game, you will see people with really big lenses. These range from 300mm to 600mm or longer and even then, they may have a 1.4X converter or 2X converter on. You need fast shutter speeds to freeze action with long lenses. Every F Stop you give up requires a faster film or less freezing potential.


Most consumer grade long lenses and zooms have variable apertures, but most are F5.6 at the long end of the lens. F5.6 is good for outdoor day time shots, but becomes very inhibiting for night games and indoor action. Most people use lenses that are F2.8 or faster. These lenses are very expensive. A 400mm F2.8 sells for over $8000 US. They are also very heavy and bulky. Using a monopod is a life saver with these big lenses.

To be continued....

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Breaking The Rules Of Photography — Before You Break The Rules

                  Sunset in Scottsdale Arizona by Cincinnati, Ohio Photographer Vincent Rush

I was having a casual conversation with a renowned photographer. And he proudly said that it was all about breaking the rules – he never follows any rules. He said he does that because if he followed the rules he would never have grown beyond those rules.

Though breaking the rules is creative, lately I’m getting the feeling as if it’s becoming a fashion statement – such statements seem to be lacking depth and knowledge and irresponsible. I have a more conservative approach to “breaking the rule” rule. It is this attitude that prepares you for a long haul at photography. So go ahead and break those rules; but here’s a checklist before you set out to break them.

1. Know the rules

   You can’t break something you don’t know about. You need to understand what the rule is, why is it practiced and what is the barrier it poses to your creativity. Certainly there must be a drawback else why would you bother to invest time in breaking the rule.

2. Perfect the rules

   Understanding the rule is not good enough. You should be perfect at following them. If you are not, you are already neglecting them. That’s breaking the rules in a sense – but it also implies what level of control you have on your art and equipment. Practice till you set some of the best examples for yourself. You will realize, at some level the rule gets in the way of your creativity and results. Now you know you can explore further.

3. Don’t reinvent the wheel

   Most of the times people just end up reinventing the wheel. I asked this photographer “Do you make use of the rule of thirds?” He answered that he never followed any rules. The rule of thirds is a rule of composition that helps you frame shots which are aesthetically more pleasing. This and similar rules are tested by specialists and through big surveys. When you make such a statement saying that you don’t follow the rule of thirds, you are saying you don’t invest efforts in making your composition more aesthetically pleasing. You may make some great compositions and then you may make some other – but in this context they are more of exceptions than rules. At the end of the day after shooting a few hundred shots you realize all the best shots follow some or the other rule of composition.

4. Work to get better results

   Breaking the rules is a great idea provided you get better results than you’d have got following the rules. What’s the point in breaking the rules when you end up with something which doesn’t make sense? Get better results – that’s the way creativity is rewarded.

5. Experiment

   Breaking the rules doesn’t work by itself. You have to spend hours experimenting with light, composition and several other parameters, get creative, visualize and try again. Explore your talent and get creative. Getting creative is the way to breaking the rules. It is when rules get in the way of your visualization and creativity that you have to chose not to follow them. Creativity is what makes a photograph stand out of the thousands. Creativity gives you the edge and you realize the individuality of the photographer within. The more you experiment, the more you get experienced and the better your work becomes.

So go ahead and break the rules. But tick off this list first.


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!