Sports Photojournalism

Images can be a powerful draw to a story. If an amazing story is coupled with a bad photograph, the readership could suffer. Sports and photojournalism go together so well because both subjects are all about moments. A photograph that captures the right moment can be defining and lasting. So as spring sports are heating up, papers from local to national are sending out their photojournalists to capture the moment. Some do so better than others. The first image I’ve posted at the bottom is from The Red and Black’s website. While the moment is there, and the expression on the player’s face is nice, a few things keep this image from really being successful. It looks a little underexposed and grainy, and the feet are cut off awkwardly. The background could be controlled better in a way that is less distracting and keeps the focus on those two players. I know how hard it is to take a good photo, especially when your subject is moving fast, so overall I wouldn’t say this is a bad image; it does have room for improvement though. In contrast, the photo at the bottom of this post taken by a photographer for USA Today (of course) is the best example I stumbled across of successful sports photography. Here again is a good moment, but this time the background is controlled well in a way that makes the subject pop in a powerful way. Furthermore, the focus is sharp, there are good leading lines, and the ball just happens to be right above the eyes. A few millimeters later and the picture would be ruined, but in this case the photographer’s timing was spot-on. An image like this drove me to a story about basketball, which I care almost nothing about, so that in my opinion is a successful photograph.